Aviators Pound Sacramento 11-4, Grab 2-1 Series Lead
The Aviators have spent a good portion of the 2019 season beating up on the Sacramento River Cats, winning 13 of 19 head-to-head meetings. If they can do it one more time, they'll deliver the Las Vegas franchise its first Pacific Coast League playoff series triumph in 31 years.Outfielders Skye
The Aviators have spent a good portion of the 2019 season beating up on the Sacramento River Cats, winning 13 of 19 head-to-head meetings. If they can do it one more time, they'll deliver the Las Vegas franchise its first Pacific Coast League playoff series triumph in 31 years.
Outfielders
With one more victory in either Game 4 on Saturday or Game 5 on Sunday, the franchise will clinch its first postseason series since 1988.
"Just an all-around great performance by our club tonight," Aviators manager Fran Riordan said. "We put up 11 runs, got a great start out of Jesús and the bullpen came in and did their job. And we also made a lot of great defensive plays that saved runs."
Las Vegas racked up a total of 14 hits, with Bolt (2-for-4) and Payton (3-for-5) leading a crop of six Aviators who finished with multiple hits. In what was the definition of a complete team victory, everyone in the lineup reached base safely at least once by the sixth inning; the team went 7-for-13 with runners in scoring position; Luzardo and relief pitcher
About the only thing the Aviators didn't do well was make the score even more lopsided, as they left 10 runners on base, including one in every inning but the seventh.
"Everybody contributed," said Payton, who now has an 11-game hitting streak dating back to the regular season. "One through nine in the lineup, the defense with the double plays we turned, Luzardo pitched great, and the rest of the pitching staff did its job."
The game actually started ominously for the Aviators, as Sacramento leadoff hitter
After
Payton lit the fuse when he led off with an opposite-field home run to left field, his first of the playoffs and 31st of the season. The 27-year-old Illinois native added a single as part of a three-run eighth inning, finished the night 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, and is now batting .462 in the playoffs. As if that wasn't enough, in the top of the fourth inning, he threw out Sacramento catcher Francisco Peña, who tried to stretch a single into a double, and four batters later he made ran down a line drive near the warning track that ended the inning and saved two runs.
"You can't say enough about the year that Mark has had," Riordan said. "He's been so consistent on both sides of the ball and been just a great contributor to the team. It doesn't matter where in the lineup he hits, it doesn't matter what position he plays, he's going to produce for you. It's been a lot of fun watching the kind of year he's had."
After Payton's home run, Garneau drew a walk and one out later,
The River Cats finally kept Las Vegas off the scoreboard in the fourth, but Bolt made sure his team wouldn't post another goose egg in the fifth, leading off with a solo homer off Sacramento reliever
Those three home runs match the same number of hits Bolt had in his final 46 at-bats of the regular season.
"It's great to see, because the way [Bolt] finished the season wasn't ideal from a personal standpoint," Riordan said. "But he stuck with it, never lost confidence and never stopped working to get back to being the hitter he knows he's capable of being. And now you see the results in what he's done so far in the playoffs.
While the offense took care of its business, so too did Luzardo. After surrendering Avelino's leadoff homer, he allowed
McNutt replaced Luzardo and pitched through the seventh inning, allowing just one baserunner on a hit batter. Then in the eighth, the River Cats finally ended their offensive drought by scoring three times off Aviators reliever
"We're close," Riordan said. "But this River Cats team has shown the ability to keep fighting and keep battling, and it's not going to be an easy task for us tomorrow. We've got to come and play a great game."
GAME NOTES: Besides Bolt and Payton, Fowler (2-for-5, 1 run, 1 RBI), Campbell (2-for-5, 2 runs), Garneau (2-for-3, 2 walks, 3 RBI) and Heim (2-for-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI) had multiple hits. … Las Vegas, which set a franchise record with 250 home runs in the regular season, has added eight more through its first three playoff games. … During his 11-game hitting streak, Payton is batting .457 (21-for-46) with two home runs, five doubles and eight RBI. He has multiple hits in nine of those 11 contests. … The Aviators have now outscored the River Cats this season by a cumulative score of 140-89. … The Iowa Cubs defeated the Round Rock Express 3-2 on Friday to stay alive in the PCL American Conference Championship Series. Round Rock leads the series 2-1, with all three games being decided by one run.
ON DECK: Game 4 of the series will feature a battle of right-handers, with the Aviators'
Holmes will be making his second start for Las Vegas since being called up from Double-A Midland (Texas). In his Triple-A debut on August 31, the hard-throwing 23-year-old allowed one run - a first-inning solo homer - on six hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out five.
Meanwhile, Navas appeared in 15 games (five starts) with the River Cats in the regular season, going 0-5 with a 5.08 ERA. In two appearances against the Aviators (both in Sacramento), Navas surrendered six runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
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