Week 20: August 18th – 24th
Game 124 vs Phoenix Talons
8/18 vs Phoenix W 9-4 (32,938)
Series wins are like buses, you wait ages for one and then two come along together. Having a series win against Boise Wichita now win the third game against Phoenix to seal the series win against them. Three runs in the bottom of the first by the Aviators gave them a good start and three 2-run innings gave them a 9-1 lead after six innings. The teams shared 10 hits each and Jason Bowen went 2-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving two runs in. Rule 5 pick Sergio Rojas improves his record to 4-5 after pitching into the seventh innings. He gave up six hits and a walk while striking out two batters, he allowed just one run.
Games 125, 126 & 127 @ San Antonio Outlaws
8/19 @ San Antonio L 1-3
8/20 @ San Antonio W 4-2
8/21 @ San Antonio L 1-6
In the opening game in San Antonio the home side had already scratched out a sixth inning run when they made it 3-0 with a 2-run homer. Jim Gouzzie went 3-4 driving in Luis Maldonado for Aviators only run in the seventh innings. Wichita tied the series with a second game win, tied at 1-1 mid-second before the outlaws retook the lead in the sixth. A Maldonado 3-run shot in the top of the eighth wrapped it all up though for the Aviators, he went 2-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in those three runs. After Maldonado’s homer Tony Alomar took the mound and pitched two scoreless innings for his 18th save of 2043. The final game of the series was finished as soon as it started, four runs by San Antonio in the first was enough to win the game & the series. Aviators registered just five hits all game, two of those (and two walks) got Kinara Cobley home in the ninth innings for Wichita’s only run of the game.
Games 128 & 129 vs Edmonton Jackrabbits
8/23 vs Edmonton L 0-5 (36,050)
8/24 vs Edmonton W 6-5 (32,438)
Opening up against Edmonton in front of a good crowd, all the game’s offense came in the top of the fourth innings. Jackrabbits sent eight to the plate and ended up scoring five runs. Again, Aviators were shy about damaging their bats, collecting four hits all game. Luis Maldonado had two of those four hits, taking his season’s tally to 110 hits. Takanori Goto had one of those short games, picked up the loss and dropped his record to 8-8. Wichita made it 1-0 in the bottom of the first, but when Edmonton hit three in the seventh to make it 5-1 the game looked all over. The Aviators though sent eight to the plate in the next innings and took advantage of four hits and an error to score four, tying the game at 5-5. In the bottom of the ninth, with two on and two out, a Sean Maguire single got Jason Bowen home for the walkoff run and for the second consecutive week Wichita post three wins. Bowen went 4-4 with a walk as well, his only run though was that winning run. Tony Alomar had pitched a clean top of the ninth and improved his record to 5-7
Regular Season Standings (August 24th)
2043 Record v Johnson League
| Frontier | HW | HL | AW | AL | Atlantic | HW | HL | AW | AL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise | 3 | 6 | 0 | 4 | Atlantic City | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Calgary | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | Brooklyn | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Edmonton | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | Charlotte | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| Las Vegas | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | Charm City | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Mexico City | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | Jacksonville | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Phoenix | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | Montreal | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| San Antonio | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | New Orleans | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Wichita | X | X | X | X | Rockville | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| TOTALS | 11 | 31 | 19 | 29 | TOTALS | 6 | 11 | 7 | 15 |
Pitcher of the Week: 23-yr-old Jose Montoya is on a real hot streak at the moment but just didn’t have the luck with him this week. Pitching into the sixth in his one start he allowed three hits and his first walk for three games, unfortunately he gave up an unearned run and that got him tagged with his 13th loss of the season.
Batter of the Week: 30-yr-old Luis Maldonado hit two of the team’s three homers this week and ended up driving in five runs and scoring six times in his six games. He walked once too as well as an intentional walk and was hit by pitches twice, his triple slash line was .364/.440/.682.