Aces take lead in Pacific Northern Division
For Immediate Release
Friday, August 29, 2014
SACRAMENTO, Calif.- With three games to play in the 2014 regular season, the Reno Aces own a one game lead in the Pacific Northern Division. The Aces used a pair of home runs from Mike Jacobs and another from Garrett Weber to top the Sacramento River Cats, 7-5, Friday night at Raley Field.
For the second time in as many nights, Reno jumped out to an early lead. A.J. Pollock lined a two-out base hit up the middle in the top of the first inning to score Andy Marte and Jacobs to give the Aces a 2-0 lead.
Reno took advantage of shaky defense by Sacramento in the second inning. Bobby Wilson was at third and Nick Ahmed was at second when Danny Dorn hit a sharp grounder to second baseman Jose Martinez. He threw behind Ahmed who was tagged out by shortstop Tyler Ladendorf for the second out in the inning. Wilson broke for home and an errant throw from Ladendorf allowed Wilson to score and Dorn to advance to second.
Holding a 4-0 lead in the third, Garrett Weber launched his seventh home run of the season, and third in as many games. Weber finished the night 3-for-4 and raised his average to .361.
The River Cats got on the board in the fourth when Anthony Aliotti knocked a two-run single up the middle to cut the Aces' lead to 5-2.
Jacobs got a run back for Reno in the fifth when he blasted a solo home run off Angel Castro with one out in the fifth. He was back at it again in the seventh when he hit another solo shot, his 18th of the season to give the Aces a 7-2 lead. The two home runs gave Jacobs 221 RBI in his Aces career, tying the all-time mark set by Cole Gillespie who played 374 games for Reno from 2009-2012.
Sacramento tallied single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to trim the lead to 7-4. It got tight in the bottom of the ninth when Sacramento brought the tying run to the plate multiple times. A two-out run-scoring single by Bryan Anderson made it a 7-5 game but Jake Barrett retired Alden Carrithers on a fly out to left-field to end the game.
The Aces need to win two of the final three games in Sacramento to win the Pacific Northern Division title. Right-hander Bradin Hagens (1-1, 1.42) starts for Reno against right-hander Zach Neal (7-7, 4.25) for Sacramento in game three of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Tickets for potential playoff games at Aces Ballpark are on sale now. For tickets, visit RenoAces.com or call (775) 334-7000. For up-to-date news and notes throughout the offseason, visit www.RenoAces.com, follow the club on Twitter (@aces) or like the team on Facebook.