The last time they faced the Reno Aces, the Aviators were teetering on the brink of a lost season. It was mid-July, and Las Vegas had dropped the final two games of a six-game series in Reno to fall two games under .500 (29-31) and — more disturbingly — nine games behind the instate rival Aces in the Western Division standings of Triple-A West.

Nearly two months later, the fortunes of both teams have changed dramatically: The Aviators, despite capping an otherwise successful 12-game road trip with three straight narrow defeats to the Sugar Land Skeeters, are 58-50 and within six games of first place. Meanwhile, Reno has dropped seven of 10 (including four in a row) and has tumbled out of first place for the first time all season.

As they return to Las Vegas Ballpark for the final time this season for a six-game series that begins tonight at 7:05, the Aces (61-45) find themselves two games back of first-place Tacoma and only four games ahead of Las Vegas. In other words, the Aviators have made up five games on Reno since the teams last met.

Because both clubs have been heading in opposite directions, Las Vegas is in position to leapfrog the Aces in the standings while simultaneously putting pressure on Tacoma as the 2021 season heads down the home stretch. If they are to rally for a second straight division title, though, the Aviators will have to return to their winning ways.

Prior to suffering three straight tough losses at Sugar Land, Las Vegas had been on a torrid 15-4 hot streak that began with a 14-0 rout of the Rainiers in Tacoma on August 15 and ended with Saturday’s 4-3 victory over the Skeeters. With a little bit of good fortune in Texas, that 15-4 run easily could’ve been an 18-1 run had the Aviators not lost four times in Sugar Land by a total of six runs (final scores of 3-1, 3-2, 3-1 and 2-1).

That Las Vegas’ hot bats cooled off in the searing southern Texas heat wasn’t all that unexpected, as the Skeeters have the stingiest pitching staff in the entire 10-team Triple-A West. In fact, the 491 runs Sugar Land has surrendered this season are 60 fewer than any other team, and their plus-113 run differential is far and away league’s best (Tacoma is second at plus-52).

The silver lining for the Aviators heading into this all-important six-game set against Reno? It’s at Las Vegas Ballpark, where they have been tearing the cover off the ball recently. In nine home games dating back to August 8, Las Vegas has scored 94 runs (10.4 runs per game). Most importantly, the Aviators converted all those runs into eight victories.

Another reason to believe Las Vegas’ bats will wake up as soon as tonight: The Aces’ pitching staff is the polar opposite of Sugar Land’s. Reno has given up a league-high 706 runs and has been especially generous of late, yielding 34 runs during its current four-game slide and an average of 7.1 runs during its 3-7 slump.

On the flip side, though, the Aviators’ pitchers have had trouble taming the Aces’ bats. In 18 head-to-head matchups, Reno has scored 113 runs, including 71 in six games at Las Vegas Ballpark. Thanks to their offense, the Aces lead the season series 11-7.

“I know Reno has struggled a little bit recently, but we’re very aware of how dangerous their lineup is,” Aviators manager Fran Riordan said. “So our pitchers are going to have to be on point with their control, mix up their pitches and attack the zone while limiting the mistakes that lead to big innings.”

If that happens — and if the offense continues to light up the Las Vegas Ballpark scoreboard — the Aviators just might continue their late-season climb up the standings.

“The good news is we’re playing our best baseball of the season,” Riordan said. “The road trip didn’t end like we wanted, but I’m confident our guys will bounce back, especially in front of our home crowd. It should be a fun series, and if we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll have a chance to make things interesting over the final two weeks of the season.”

CATCHING ON: For most of the 2021 campaign, the Aviators’ offense has been powered by bunch of catchers, and that was true once again during the team’s road trip to Oklahoma City and Sugar Land.

Carlos Pèrez (playing mostly left field), Francisco Peña (playing mostly first base) and Amaris Garcia combined to bat .306 (37-for-121) with nine homers and 23 RBI on the trip.

Pèrez did the bulk of the damage, going 15-for-48 (.313) with seven homers and 14 RBI while hitting safely in nine of 12 games, including a seven-game hitting streak from August 29-Sunday. The 30-year-old from Venezuela, who on Monday was named Triple-A West Player of the Week, now leads the league with 28 homers and 78 RBI. Pèrez, who was batting .247 on July 1, also has lifted his batting average to .285 and has a team-best 28 multi-hit games.

Before going hitless in the final three games in Sugar Land, Peña was riding a season-high 13-game hitting streak during which he hit .345 with four homers and 12 RBI. That includes going 10-for-31 (.323) in the first seven games of the trip. Peña leads Las Vegas in runs scored (59) and trails only Pèrez in home runs (21) and RBI (69).

Like Peña, Garcia started the road trip strong, hitting safely in each of his first six games (12-for-21) before going hitless in the final three. Still, Garcia compiled a nine-game hitting streak from August 20-Saturday, going 16-for-33 (.485). During the streak, he raised his Las Vegas batting average from .167 to .319.

Then there’s catcher Austin Allen, who started the trip with the Aviators before being recalled to the Oakland A’s on September 1 when major league rosters expanded. Allen appeared in 71 games with Las Vegas (mostly at catcher and designated hitter) and hit .321 with 20 homers and 53 RBI.

PITCHING IN: The Aviators’ pitching staff, which struggled mightily through the season’s first two months, continued its second-half resurgence with a terrific road trip. Las Vegas hurlers yielded a total of 43 runs (3.6 per game), including four runs or fewer in nine of the 12 contests.

Only once did the Aviators allow more than five runs—and that was in a 10-9 win in Oklahoma City.

TRANSACTION ACTION: There was a flurry of roster activity during Las Vegas’ two-week jaunt to Oklahoma and Texas. Here’s a rundown:

• Pitcher Brady Feigel and catcher Colin Theroux (who spent part of 2019 with the Aviators) were promoted from Double-A Midland (Texas).

• Pitcher Parker Dunshee, who had been sidelined with an arm injury since May 30, was activated and joined the team in Sugar Land. The right-hander pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings Sunday, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out four of the eight hitters he faced.

• Pitcher Daulton Jefferies (August 27) and outfielder Skye Bolt (August 31) were promoted to Oakland to plug the roster spots of two players (Seth Brown and Mitch Moreland) who were placed on the injured list.

• Joining Allen as a September 1 callup was outfielder/designated hitter Khris Davis, whose promotion came one day after he was named Triple-A West Player of the Week (August 23-29).

• Relief pitcher Sam Moll was promoted to Oakland on Friday, then was optioned back to Las Vegas on Monday.

• Finally, on Wednesday, pitcher Miguel Romero was called up to Oakland and reliever A.J. Puk was sent back to Las Vegas.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS: Promotions are planned throughout the six-game series against Reno, including:

• $2 Beer Night (Thursday)

• Fireworks Night (Friday)

• Aviators Fleece Vest giveaway (Saturday)

• Mutt Mondays (dogs allowed at the park) and Epilepsy Foundation Night (Monday)

• Reyes de Plata night (Tuesday)

Tickets are available for all six games and can be purchased via the team’s ticketing page. First pitch for each contest is 7:05 p.m.

Catch every Aviators game throughout the season on Raider Nation Radio 920-AM, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @AviatorsLV. Follow Aviators beat writer Matt Jacob on Twitter @MattRJacob.