Aces crack Quackenbush to knock off Dodgers, 4-3

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Reno Aces forced Oklahoma City Dodgers’ closer Kevin Quackenbush to allow his first earned run of the year in the top of the ninth, knocking off the host club, 4-3, on Friday.

After starting the ninth deadlocked at three, Blake Lalli’s club did something that no other team had done and scored an earned run on Minor League Baseball’s leading closer Quackenbush. Following a one-out walk to Heath, Reno forced a hit-and-run with Vargas lining a single to center and moving Heath to third. With two outs, Ramos snapped Quackenbush’s scoreless-inning streak at 24.2 with an RBI single to center, giving the Biggest Little City’s team an eventual 4-3 win.

The Aces moved to 14-5 on the year in one-run games while scoring their 47th run in the ninth to tie the Houston Astros for the lead in all of professional baseball.

Reno picked up its first win in Oklahoma City since Aug. 11, 2019, when the visiting club downed the Dodgers, 10-2.

Ramos extended his hitting streak to six with his 2-for-4 performance on Friday night. During his six-game hitting stretch, the Aces’ outfielder has yet to record an extra-base hit, smacking 12 singles since July 10. It also marked the fifth multi-hit game in six contests for the 29-year-old.

Tyler Gilbert became just the 10th Aces’ starter to toss at least six innings this season, going six against the Dodgers and allowing one run on seven hits with four strikeouts. The right-hander also hurled his second-straight six-inning game with exactly four punchouts en route to his no-decision outing on Friday.

Reno moved to 8-2 in contests its starter gets through the sixth frame.

After a blank first inning, Ben DeLuzio smacked his fourth triple of the season in the top of the second, marking his first since May 14 when he hit a career-high two against Las Vegas.

In the bottom half of the second, Ildemaro Vargas saved a run on a perfect throw to home on a ground ball off of Cristian Santana’s bat, beating Yoshi Tsutsugo to the plate and keeping the Dodgers off the board.

The Aces threatened in the top of the third after Oklahoma City’s Austin Bibens-Dirkx plunked Drew Ellis and left the game with an injury. Following a Henry Ramos walk to put runners on first and second with no outs, the Dodgers retired three straight batters and staved off Reno’s opportunity to break the scoreless tie.

Both teams were held off the board until the bottom of the fifth when Keibert Ruiz singled to center with two outs and knocked in Sheldon Neuse from third to take a 1-0 advantage.

Oklahoma City could not hold its lead as the Aces took a 2-1 edge on one swing of the bat in the top of the sixth. After Ramos’ one-out single, Jake McCarthy laced a two-run shot over the right-field wall for his third of the season.

Nick Heath took full advantage of Oklahoma City’s mistakes in the seventh to score the Aces’ third run of the game, 3-1. After reaching on a fielder’s choice and advancing to second on a throwing error, the Aces’ outfielder moved to third on a pitch that got away from the catcher before scoring on Logan Salow’s second wild pitch of the at-bat.

The Dodgers capitalized on an Aces’ error in the home half of the seventh and knotted the game at three with a two-run shot by Zach Reks.

After Reno’s one-run ninth to take a 4-3 lead, Miguel Aguilar came on to close out the bottom half with a perfect frame of work, striking out two batters.

Reno returns to action on Saturday against the Dodgers, with the first pitch slated for 5:05 p.m. PT. Saturday’s contest can be heard on renoaces.com or locally on KPLY 630 AM with Zack Bayrouty on the call.