RENO, NV - The Iowa Cubs (25-40) pitching staff allowed a season-high 18 hits as the Reno Aces (32-36) seized a decisive 13-5 victory and the series win, Friday at Greater Nevada Field.
RENO, NV - The Iowa Cubs (25-40) pitching staff allowed a season-high 18 hits as the Reno Aces (32-36) seized a decisive 13-5 victory and the series win, Friday at Greater Nevada Field.
Iowa started hot, opening the game with back-to-back hits from Mark Zagunis and Mike Freeman. Dave Bote cashed in with a two-RBI double, putting the I-Cubs on top early.
Reno responded with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the inning and it was all Aces from there. The home team would add a pair in the second before sending 10 batters to the plate in the third, coming away with six runs to jump to a 12-3 lead.
Jen-Ho Tseng was chased after just 2.1 innings, allowing a career-high 10 runs, nine earned, on 12 hits. The 23-year-old saw his ERA climb to 8.21 as he fell to 2-7 on the season. Rob Zastryzny was responsible for two of Reno's six third-inning runs, but settled in to hold the Aces scoreless in the fourth and the fifth. Reno would get just one more run off Dakota Mekkes in the seventh, but the damage was done.
Stephen Bruno became the first I-Cubs position player to pitch as he toed the rubber in the eighth. He allowed a leadoff single, but quickly forced two groundouts and a fly out to get out of the inning.
Iowa added runs in the third, fifth and eighth innings, getting RBI from Victor Caratini, Jacob Hannemann and Zagunis but couldn't make up the difference. The team left 10 runners on base and went 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position. The meat of Iowa's order paced the offense as Freeman, Victor Caratini and Bote all tabbed three-hit games from the two, three and four holes. Bote fell a home run shy of the cycle
Iowa travels to Tacoma tomorrow for a four-game series, beginning at 7:05 p.m. CT tomorrow. Follow the action on www.iowacubs.com, AM 940, or MiLB.TV.
