A week ago, the Las Vegas Aviators took three of four games against the Salt Lake Bees in the Las Vegas Ballpark. The Bees get a chance at revenge beginning today when the teams face off in a five-game series in Utah.
Just like when they met last week, the Aviators are in second place in the Pacific Coast League Pacific Southern Division at 23-17, 4.5 games behind first-place El Paso. And just like their last meeting, the Bees are in last place, at 15-23, already 11.5 games out of first.
Second baseman Corban Joseph leads the Aviators in hitting with a .387 average, while shortstop Jorge Mateo is hitting .326. Seth Brown has a team-high 10 home runs, while left fielder Mark Payton has 34 runs batted in.
Paul Blackburn, who will start Thursday’s opener, leads the Aviators with a 4-1 record and carries a 4.37 earned run average. Reliever Brian Schlitter has a team-high 7 saves and also has three wins.
Salt Lake right fielder Cesar Puello leads his team with a .325 average. Outfielder Jared Walsh has 10 home runs while third-baseman Jose Rojas has 29 runs batted in.
The five-game sets begins Thursday and runs through Monday, with all games except Sunday (noon) beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Pitching matchups are as follows:
Thursday: the Aviators Blackburn (4-1, 4.37 ERA) faces Patrick. Sandoval (0-0, 4.70)
Friday:Tyler Alexander (1-2, 6.61) of Las Vegas against. Jose Suarez (1-0, 0.90).
Las Vegas pitchers have not been named as of Thursday afternoon for the last three games, while the Bees will throw Nick Tropeono (0-1, 8.83) on Saturday, Jaime Barrie (1-0, 7.11) on Sunday and Parker Bridwell (1-3, 10.90) on Monday.