Aviators lose to Sacramento on Finn bobblehead night
Francisco Pena’s sacrifice fly broke a ninth-inning tie Saturday and the Sacramento River Cats edged the Aviators 4-3 in a Pacific Coast League game in front of 10,143 fans at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Las Vegas (41-34) dropped its second straight game after winning five straight. The Aviators got the tying run to third base in the bottom of the ninth but Sheldon Neuse whiffed for the final out.
The River Cats (38-36) broke a 3-3 tie when Levi Michael was hit by a pitch from Las Vegas reliever Norge Ruiz (2-3) to open the ninth, Mike Gerber walked and Michael moved to third on Austin Slater’s forceout. Pena then lofted a one-ball, two-strike pitch into right field for the run-scoring fly.
Franklin Barreto led the Aviators with a double and a single.
Aramis Garcia paced Sacramento with two hits, including his 11th home run, a solo shot in the second inning.
River Cats reliever Ray Black (1-0) worked one inning for the victory, while Tyler Rogers escaped the ninth-inning jam for his second save.
The first 2,500 fans received a bobblehead of Finn the Bat Dog, the popular 6-year-old black Labrador retriever.
Thanks @AviatorsLV! pic.twitter.com/19zksiUnNq
— Dennis Rudner (@Vegasrabbi) June 23, 2019