Aviators strike early, often in victory at Sacramento

Luis Barrera had three hits and drove in three runs, and Frank Swindell, Francisco Pena and Cody Thomas hit solo home runs in the fifth inning as the Aviators beat the Sacramento River Cats 11-7 in a Triple-A West game Monday at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, California.

Barrera had a double and two singles and had the first of his three RBIs in a five-run second that staked the Aviators (12-11) to a 5-1 lead.

Las Vegas went up 8-2 in the fifth when Swindell led off with his fifth home run and, one out later, Pena (fifth) and Thomas (second) went back to back.

After the River Cats (9-14) pulled to within 8-7 in the fifth, the Aviators added two runs in the seventh on Barrera’s second single and a final run in the ninth on Edwin Diaz’s second homer of the season.

With starter Grant Holmes going only four innings, the victory was credited to Aviators reliever Argenis Angulo (2-0), who pitched one inning and gave up two hits with a strikeout.

Phil Pfeifer (0-3) suffered the loss in relief of injured Sacramento starter John Brebbia, who worked only the first inning. Pfeifer yielded all five second-inning runs.

Joey Bart paced the River Cats with three hits.

Both teams finished with 15 hits.