Aces stay afloat, knock off El Paso with hit parade
RENO - The Reno Aces continued their daytime success with a 17-hit performance en route to a 15-12 slugfest victory over the El Paso Chihuahuas on Tuesday afternoon at Greater Nevada Field. Ed Lucas (@ELuke21) reached base five times and scored three runs to propel Reno past the league's highest-scoring offense.
The Aces (42-37) staked themselves to an 8-0 lead after two innings, thanks to a pair of four-run innings against El Paso right-hander Daniel McCutchen. Kyle Jensen (@TheKJensen42) clubbed a two-run homer in the first to make it 2-0, and Carlos Rivero (@Carlos_Rivero3) doubled the lead to four with a two-out, two-run single to left.
In the second, two errors by the Chihuahuas (46-33) set up Reno's second four-run frame. Edwin Escobar doubled to open the inning and later scored on a dropped fly ball by left fielder Jason Hagerty. Zach Borenstein then lined a single to left, pushing the lead to six. One out later, Lucas drove a run-scoring single into left, before El Paso committed their second error of the inning when an infield fly rule pop-up was misplayed and thrown away by first baseman Taylor Lindsey, leading to Reno's eighth run.
After cruising through the first two innings, Escobar labored in the third and fourth and left with a no-decision. El Paso tallied one run in the third on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Renfroe, and their rally continued through the fourth with another six runs, three coming on Austin Hedges' home run over the wall in left. Hedges' blast greeted Matt Buschmann (@Busch26) out of the bullpen, making the score 8-7.
El Paso took a brief lead in the fifth on consecutive two-out RBI singles from Carlos Asuaje and Diego Goris, but the Aces answered with three runs in the bottom half, securing the lead for good.
Hedges started the sixth with a solo homer off Enrique Burgos, his ninth home run over 11 games. The solo shot brought El Paso within one at 11-10.
In the home half, Reno scored four times against left-hander Daniel Moskos, extending the lead back to five. Todd Glaesmann (@toddglaesmann22) and Sean Jamieson (@SeanJay04) each picked up RBI doubles to highlight the frame.
Jabari Blash capped the scoring with a two-run homer off Evan Marshall (@emarsh31) in the eighth, his second in as many games.
Buschmann (5-6) earned the win in his first minor league relief appearance since July 12, 2014, against Reno while pitching for Sacramento. McCutchen (8-4) was tagged with his first loss in June after allowing 11 runs - seven earned - on 12 hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings. Dominic Leone (@DLeone54) worked a scoreless ninth for his first save of 2016.
Jensen's homer was his 15th of the season and 10th in the month of June. The slugger added two RBI to his June total of 39, a franchise record.
The win moved Reno's day game record to 15-3 for the season.
Following a league-wide off day on Wednesday, the Aces and Chihuahuas meet for another four games beginning Thursday at Southwest University Park. First pitch for game one is slated for 6:05 p.m. PT. Right-hander Zack Godley (2-0, 2.70) gets the nod for Reno, while righty Carlos Pimentel (7-4, 6.39) will start for El Paso.
Ticket packages are on-sale now at www.renoaces.com or by calling (775) 334-4700. Follow the club all season long on Twitter (@Aces) or like the team on Facebook.