PAPILLION, NEB. – A strong start from MLB rehabber and Las Vegas Aviators (38-26) starter Aaron Civale stifled the Omaha Storm Chasers (29-36) on Thursday, leading to a 5-2 Omaha loss. Civale didn’t allow a baserunner over 4.1 innings, and the Storm Chasers managed just 4 hits against the Aviators’ bullpen in the defeat.
Omaha starter Aaron Sanchez opened the game with a perfect 1st and scoreless 2nd inning, then worked around a pair of singles in the top of the 3rd inning to keep the score 0-0, striking out 3 over 3.0 scoreless frames.
Andrew Pérez (2-3) took over for Sanchez to open the top of the 4th inning, but he allowed a single, double and run-scoring wild pitch to put the Aviators up 1-0.
Pérez managed a scoreless top of the 5th inning and Jose Cuas pitched the 6th inning, but Cuas surrendered an RBI single that extended Las Vegas’ lead to 2-0.
The Aviators added insurance in the top of the 7th inning with a 3-run home run off Storm Chasers reliever Anthony Gose, making it a 5-0 game.
Held hitless through the first six innings, the Storm Chasers got on the board in the bottom of the 7th inning when Brett Squires hit a sacrifice fly to score John Rave and cut the deficit to 5-1. Luca Tresh followed it with an RBI double, further reducing the lead to 5-2.
Gose came back out for the top of the 8th inning and worked a 1-2-3 inning, striking out 2, before Eric Cerantola worked a scoreless top of the 9th inning.
Squires collected a one-out single in the bottom of the 9th inning, but that’s all Omaha managed before Las Vegas closed the door.
The Aviators will return to Werner Park to play the Storm Chasers again for Game 4 of the series on Friday evening. First pitch is set for 7:05 P.M. CT and Bailey Falter is scheduled to start for Omaha.