‘We’re having a good time’: Aviators win 1st PCL title since 1988 — PHOTOS
Ryan Lasko must have felt a bit of deja vu.
Lasko, a night after hitting a big home run to lead the Aviators to a win in Game 1 of the Pacific Coast League championship series, did it again Wednesday to help give his team the title.
The center fielder’s two-run homer to left-center field in the second inning gave Las Vegas, the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics, a three-run lead over the Tacoma Rainiers. The Aviators didn’t look back in a 7-3 win at Las Vegas Ballpark that gave them their third PCL title and first since 1988.
“PCL champs, (no) better place to do it than Las Vegas,” said Aviators manager Fran Riordan, drenched after the team made a visit to the pool in center field to celebrate the win. “What a great group to celebrate with.”
The first-half PCL champion Aviators (85-67), who won 7-1 in Game 1 on Tuesday, advanced to the Triple-A championship game at 7:07 p.m. Saturday at Las Vegas Ballpark. They will face the International League champion, either Jacksonville (Miami Marlins) or Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (New York Yankees). The two teams will play a decisive Game 3 on Thursday.
“It’s a culmination of a great season and a lot of great things happened the last two nights,” Riordan said. “We’re celebrating. We’re having a good time.”
After Lasko’s homer padded the Aviators’ early lead, third baseman Luke Mann delivered the dagger. The Rainiers (86-66), the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, chipped away at their deficit with two runs in the third inning.
Then Mann, who didn’t play in Game 1, hit a three-run homer in the sixth to extend his team’s lead to 7-3.
“It’s great,” Mann said. “We just gave everything we got today. The whole series was: Forget about what happened in the regular season. Just go out, nothing matters, except for two wins this week.”
Said Riordan of Mann’s home run: “There was nothing better than that three-run home run he hit. The ball, I don’t even know where it landed, but it was absolutely demolished. We’re clinging to a 4-3 lead, looking for some wiggle room, and he comes up with a huge home run to give us that space we needed to finish the job.”
The Aviators’ bullpen locked things down from there. Three relief pitchers retired 16 batters in a row at one point and were perfect in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Right-hander Tyler Baum had three strikeouts in 1⅔ innings to gain the win, while left-hander David Leal didn’t allow a baserunner in three innings.
“They dominated the rest of the game,” Lasko said of the bullpen. “We were up one (run) early in the game and they came in and they shut the door. That’s all you can ask for the bullpen. Those guys did a hell of a job coming in and getting outs like they’ve done all year.”
Las Vegas jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a two-out rally.
Nick Martini walked and then scored when Bryan Lavastida doubled. Junior Perez followed with a single that brought Lavastida to the plate.
Tacoma got on the board in the second when leadoff hitter Leody Taveras reached first on a single and later scored with two outs when Blake Hunt doubled.
The Aviators took a 4-1 lead when Daniel Susac singled before Lasko’s homer.
“This is my first playoff experience since I’ve been with this organization, so it was exciting,” Lasko said. “It was an exciting two games. I kept talking about wanting to contribute and I’m glad I got to do that.”
The Rainiers scored two runs in the third with an RBI single from Ben Williamson and an RBI double by Taveras. That led the Aviators to pull starter Aaron Brooks for Baum, who issued a walk to load the bases before getting a pop out to end the threat.
Baum pitched a perfect fourth before handing the ball to Leal. Right-hander Jake Walkinshaw finished the game for the Aviators with two scoreless innings. The only baserunner he allowed came on a leadoff walk in the ninth.
“They were the best versions of themselves and we needed them to be that and they came through,” Riordan said of the bullpen. “It was a fantastic performance from the bullpen. So much credit goes to them.”
Mann finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Lasko was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Cooper Bowman also went 2-for-4 for the Aviators.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Mann said. “A lot of these guys I played in Double-A with. It’s nice to get a playoff series in here. A lot of new faces that I haven’t met yet, so just glad to bring it all together.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
