The Las Vegas Aviators never gave up the lead as they defeated the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 8-4 at Las Vegas Ballpark on Tuesday night.
Aviators starter Kyle Muller picked up the win in front of a crowd of 5,412 fans. His final line would be he gave up three runs, two of them earned, five walks, and six strikeouts in five innings of work. That earned him his second win of the season with Las Vegas.
Space Cowboys starter Misael Tamarez was tagged with his sixth loss of the season and he has yet to record a win. He allowed five runs, three walks, two home runs, and six strikeouts in just three innings of work.
The Aviators got off to a hot start. In the bottom of the first, Lawrence Butler hit a solo shot that landed beyond the center field wall to make it 1-0. Manny Pina then drew a walk, which set the stage for Conner Capel. He hit his sixth home run of the season to right field and gave Las Vegas a 3-0 lead to start the game.
In the third, Butler got things going again with a single. He advanced to second on a throwing error after a wild throw from the pitcher in a pickoff attempt. Manny Pina singled before Yohel Pozo drew a walk to load the bases. (In case you missed it, Pozo was also named a Pacific Coast Player of the Week for his play last week.) Capel singled to bring in one run while a sacrifice fly from Trenton Brooks scored another run to make it 5-0 through three innings.
Sugar Land tried to make a dent in the lead and sent seven batters to the plate in the top of the fourth. Three were able to come home to score. However, the Aviators continued to tack on to its lead. Greg Diechmann hit a home run to center field to add one run. In the fifth, Brooks hopped aboard with a single before a pair of ground outs moved him into scoring position. He scored after Butler hit a single to right to give Las Vegas a 7-3 lead through five innings.
In the seventh, Brooks hit a solo home run for the last Las Vegas run of the night to make it 8-3. In the next half of the frame, Jon Singleton answered back with a solo home run of his own but it wasn’t enough as the Aviators kept the Space Cowboys off the board for the rest of the game to seal the 8-4 victory.
Both teams are back in action at Las Vegas Ballpark on Wednesday night.
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