Brayan Buelvas had watched a four-run cushion shrink to one, and the Aviators had gone two batters without another hit. With two outs in the ninth, he drove an 0-2 pitch like the insurance run mattered as much as the lead itself.
His sharp liner split the left-center gap and rolled to the fence, bringing Jared Dickey home from second. The double restored Las Vegas’ two-run advantage, and Jared Johnson protected it with a scoreless ninth to finish a 7-5 victory over the Sugar Land Space Cowboys on Thursday at Constellation Field.
Buelvas’ 24th double completed a late answer after a seventh-inning error had turned a comfortable night into an escape.
Las Vegas entered that inning ahead 6-3. Luis Morales allowed a single and two walks but responded with a pair of strikeouts, leaving Sugar Land down to its final out with the bases loaded. Zach Cole bounced a ball up the middle that Jack Winkler backhanded but could not secure. It skipped into left-center as César Salazar and Lucas Spence scored, cutting the lead to 6-5.
Wander Suero replaced Morales and struck out Collin Price to strand two runners, then retired the Space Cowboys in order in the eighth. That gave the Aviators time to find another run.
Dickey, pinch-hitting to open the ninth against Roddery Muñoz, grounded his 14th double into right field. Muñoz struck out the next two hitters, bringing Buelvas to the plate with Las Vegas still clinging to the one-run lead. Buelvas’ drive got past center fielder Cole and traded places with Dickey, making it 7-5.
Johnson made the cushion hold. Spence flew out to left, Pascanel Ferreras popped out in foul territory and Brice Matthews grounded to third as Johnson earned his first save.
The finish recalled the Aviators’ biggest swing of the night, when they answered Sugar Land’s opening run with a five-run second inning.
Jason Schiavone had put the Space Cowboys ahead in the first, driving a ball off the left-field wall after Cavan Biggio’s two-out walk. Las Vegas responded against Bryce Mayer after Devin Taylor walked and Winkler reached on a fielder’s choice.
Bryan Lavastida fought off an 0-2 pitch and lined it into left to score Taylor. Halter followed with a ground-ball single through the right side that brought Winkler home and gave Las Vegas the lead.
After a strikeout, Cole Conn supplied the inning’s emphatic finish. Mayer left a curveball up, and Conn sent it soaring onto the berm beyond right field for his fifth home run. The two-run shot capped the five-run inning and left the Aviators ahead 5-1.
Sugar Land pulled one back in the third before Las Vegas added a run in the fifth, when Taylor reached on Trevor Austin’s fielding error and Conn scored. The Space Cowboys answered with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half.
Matt Sauer kept the lead intact through five innings, allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts and three walks to earn the win. Morales struck out four over 1 2/3 innings, and Suero recorded four outs without allowing an earned run or a walk.
Lavastida and Halter each finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Las Vegas managed seven hits overall, but its last two arrived when the margin had become uncomfortably thin: Dickey created the chance, and Buelvas drove the ball into the gap that finally gave the Aviators room to breathe.