Aviators eye PCL playoff berth in final week of season
The Aviators have plenty to play for in the final week of the season.
A spot in the Pacific Coast League championship series is on the line when the Aviators end the season with a six-game homestand against the El Paso Chihuahuas starting Tuesday at Las Vegas Ballpark.
The Triple-A season is split into halves. The teams with the best winning percentage in both halves meet in a three-game championship series starting Sept. 24.
The PCL winner will face the International League’s championship series winner in a one-game Triple-A championship Sept. 28 at Las Vegas Ballpark.
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys clinched the first half — earning home-field advantage for the championship series — and are on pace to finish with the best record in the second half.
Because that’s the case, the team with the next best winning percentage wins the second-half title.
That’s where the Aviators come in.
The Aviators (36-32, .529) are three games behind the Reno Aces (39-29, .574). Reno ends its season with six games at home against the Albuquerque Isotopes starting Tuesday.
Though Sugar Land will finish with the East Division’s best record, it’s not an East vs. West championship.
That means the Oklahoma City Baseball Club (35-34), while at 6.5 games behind can’t leap the Space Cowboys in the East standings, are mathematically alive to play for the championship if they win at least five of their six games at Salt Lake this week, and the Aviators and Aces stumble.
The Aviators have won nine of their past 12, including five of six last week in Albuquerque.
They scored in double figures in three of those wins. Their only loss was 16-14 on Friday. The Aviators capped the series by outscoring the Isotopes 25-4 in the final two games.
Infielder Logan Davidson was the catalyst, going 14-of-26 with four home runs against the Isotopes. He was named the PCL’s player of the week for the second time this season.
This week’s series will be the first between the Aviators and Chihuahuas since they split a six-game set from June 4 to 9 in El Paso.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.