RENO, NV. - The night after taking down the Rainiers 6-3, the Reno Aces offense powered past Tacoma for the second night in a row capping off the series with a 9-7 victory. The offense was led by Zach Borenstein who finished 2-for-5 with a double and a go-ahead home
RENO, NV. - The night after taking down the Rainiers 6-3, the Reno Aces offense powered past Tacoma for the second night in a row capping off the series with a 9-7 victory. The offense was led by Zach Borenstein who finished 2-for-5 with a double and a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the 8th inning. Frank Duncan got the win, improving his record to 7-5 on the season. Silvino Bracho picked up his 4th save of the season and lowered his ERA to 3.47 with the Aces.
Reno got into the scoring column in the first inning, plating three on three extra-base hits. Jeremy Hazelbaker got the inning started taking the second pitch he saw from Tacoma right-hander Chase De Jong into the right-center field corner for a triple. Ildemaro Vargas drove Hazelbaker in with a fielder's choice to second base. Back-to-back doubles by Sócrates Brito and Christian Walker brought the score to 2-0 in favor of Reno. After a wild pitch, Zach Borenstein brought in Walker to give the Aces a comfortable 3-0. The bats didn't wait much longer to get going once again. Ronnie Freeman hit a laser down the first base line for a one-out single. After a Hazelbaker flyout, Ildemaro Vargas sent a triple into the alley for his second RBI of the day, extending the Aces lead to 4-0 after two innings of play. In the top of the third, Tacoma plated one off of Reno starter Jake Buchanan. Tuffy Gosewisch singled with two outs, and then Leonys Martin drove him in with a RBI double, his 18th of the year. Tyler O'Neil ended the Tacoma scoring outburst with a RBI single to put the score at 4-2. Triple-A All-Star and Home Run Derby contestant Christian Walker showed the Aces faithful why he was chosen as the Aces representative. Walker sent his 21st homer of the season over the signage in left field with a 415-foot blast to extend the Reno lead to 5-2. Walker now trails only Nashville slugger Renato Núñez by one for the Pacific Coast League lead. Tacoma struck again in the top of the fourth inning, plating a single run on two doubles. Home Run Derby contestant Daniel Vogelbach doubled off the left field wall to get the inning started. After an error by Tony Renda at third base, Rainiers shortstop Tyler Smith doubled off the center field wall to bring the score to 5-3. After tacking on a 6th run in the bottom of the 4th, Tacoma's offense came back quickly. The Rainiers scored four runs on three hits and two walks. Frank Duncan, who is typically a starter by trade, came in to relieve Buchanan in the top half of the 5th. Duncan allowed three earned runs on four hits over four innings of work. In the bottom of the 8th inning, down by one, Reno scored three runs to overtake the Rainiers lead. Back-to-back singles by Ildemaro Vargas and Socrates Brito put runners on first and third for Zach Borenstein. Borenstein hit the 99-MPH fastball from Dan Altavilla 415 feet for his 13th home run of the season. Silvino Bracho entered in the top of the 9th inning and slammed the door to ensure the victory. With the win, Reno moves to 53-34 and six games up on the Fresno Grizzlies in the division standings. The Aces will head to Fresno tomorrow and take on the Grizzlies in a three-game series before heading to their respective homes for the All-Star break. Tickets 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.
