Khris Davis belts two more HRs, Aviators rout Isotopes 9-4 for fifth straight victory

It took the Aviators precisely 60 days to notch their second four-game winning streak of the 2021 season. It took them less than 24 hours to stretch that streak to a season-high five in a row.

Red-hot designated hitter Khris Davis went 3-for-4 with two home runs, a triple and three RBI, while starting pitcher Miguel Romero and two relievers limited the Albuquerque Isotopes to five hits as the Aviators overcame an early 3-0 deficit and cruised to a 9-4 victory Tuesday before a crowd of 6,846 at Las Vegas Ballpark.

After dropping the opener of the six-game series against Albuquerque on Thursday, Las Vegas (51-45) rallied to win the next five straight. Throw in last week’s three victories in Tacoma and the Aviators are on an 8-1 run, by far their best nine-game stretch of the season.

Fittingly, Tuesday’s victory was a complete team effort, as the Aviators — playing as their alter ego, the Reyes de Plata (“Silver Kings”) — got outstanding pitching, turned three double plays, and got contributions up and down the lineup (eight of the nine batters had at least one hit, and seven scored at least one run). In fact, Las Vegas hit for the cycle (one single, two doubles, one triple, two homers) and scored six runs before making eight outs.

However, the unquestioned star of the game — and the series — was Davis, who tormented the Isotopes for the fifth consecutive night. It started in the bottom of the first inning when the veteran power hitter smacked a two-run homer to left field — his third homer to the exact same spot in as many games — to tie the game at 3-3.

Davis returned to the plate in the third inning, tripled off the top of the same part of the wall he cleared in the first inning and scored moments later on catcher Aramis Garcia’s bloop single to center. Then in his final at-bat in the seventh, Davis launched a solo homer into the Isotopes’ bullpen in right-center field. That blast capped the scoring for the night as well as an impressive five-game stretch during which Davis went 9-for-22 with five homers, eight runs and 12 RBI.

As noted, though, Davis wasn’t the only one who came up big for the Reyes de Plata on Tuesday. First baseman Francisco Peña preceded Davis’ third-inning triple with a booming solo homer (his 19th of the season); Las Vegas’ infield turned three double plays in the span of four innings; and Romero and southpaw relievers Adam Kolarek and Reymin Guduan cooled off an Albuquerque lineup that had scored 40 runs on 66 hits in the first five games of the series.

Romero’s night actually got off to a very shaky start. After Albuquerque right fielder Ryan Vilade led off the game with an infield single, the right-hander beaned shortstop Alan Trejo, then served up a three-run homer to designated hitter Greg Bird.

As Bird’s blast landed on the pool deck in center field, it appeared Romero was headed for a repeat of his start against the Isotopes on Thursday, when he surrendered six runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings and suffered the 8-6 loss. Instead, the 27-year-old immediately regrouped and retired the next six hitters in a row and 15 of the final 19 batters he faced.

Romero yielded three hits, a walk and balked in a run over that 19-batter stretch, but he only faced one batter over the minimum because his defense turned those double plays in the third, fourth and six innings. Following the latter twin-killing, Romero struck out Albuquerque left fielder Taylor Snyder to end his sixth and final inning of work. His final numbers: four runs, five hits, one walk and three strikeouts.

Kolarek (one inning) and Guduan (two innings) took over from there, retiring nine of the 10 batters they faced, with the only baserunner reaching on a fielding error.

Just how dominant was the trio of Romero, Kolarek and Guduan? After Bird’s homer with no outs in the first inning, the Isotopes produced just five baserunners the rest of the night.

GAME NOTES: Las Vegas, which scored in each of the first four innings Tuesday, tallied 55 runs and 74 hits in the six-game series. In all, the teams combined for 99 runs and 145 hits. … The Aviators’ five-game winning streak remains the longest in Triple-A West. Despite the hot run, they’ve gained only one game in the standings on first-place Reno, which beat Salt Lake in 10 innings Tuesday to remain seven games ahead of Las Vegas in the Western Division. … Since joining the Aviators on August 12, Davis is batting .326 with six homers, 10 runs and 16 RBI. The 33-year-old California native also has scored at least one run in seven consecutive games. … Las Vegas shortstop Nick Allen, who entered the game batting just in .121 (4-for-33) in 10 games since being promoted from Double-A Midland (Texas), doubled in the second inning for the first extra-base hit of his Triple-A career. … The Aviators turned nine double plays in the series against Albuquerque, including seven in the final three contests. … Las Vegas won the season series against the Isotopes, 9-3.

GONE STREAKING: Right fielder Luis Barrera — whose two-out, two-strike infield single in his only at-bat Monday scored two runs to give the Aviators a 7-6 walk-off victory — singled in the seventh inning to stretch his hitting streak to 10 games.

Four other Aviators also extended their hitting streaks Tuesday: Carlos Pèrez (2-for-4, run, RBI) has hit safely in seven consecutive games in which he’s had at least one plate appearance; Peña (1-for-3, run, two RBI) has hit safely in six straight; Davis has hit safely in five straight; and Mickey McDonald (1-for-4) has hit safely in three straight.

During their respective streaks, Barrera is batting .432 (16-for-37) with eight RBI; Pèrez is batting .400 (12-for-30) with four doubles, four homers, 11 runs and 10 RBI; Peña is batting .375 (9-for-24) with two homers and seven RBI; Davis is batting .409 (9-for-22) with five homers, eight runs and 12 RBI; and McDonald is batting .500 (7-for-14) with five runs and two RBI.

Also, McDonald has at least one hit in eight consecutive games in which he’s started, going 17-for-38 (.447) with six doubles, 14 runs and four RBI.

ON DECK: Following their scheduled day off Wednesday, the Aviators will embark on a 12-game road trip to face the Oklahoma City Dodgers (Thursday-Tuesday) and Sugar Land Skeeters (Sept. 2-7). They’ll return to Las Vegas Ballpark on Sept. 9 to kick off a six-game series against the first-place Reno Aces.

To purchase tickets to any of the Aviators’ final 11 home games, visit the team’s ticketing page.

Catch every Aviators game throughout the season on Raider Nation Radio 920-AM, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @AviatorsLV. Follow Aviators beat writer Matt Jacob on Twitter @MattRJacob.