Aces Defend Their Hive, Take Series from Bees

RENO, Nev. – In the Salt Lake Bees's (15-24, 52-61) first of two trips to Greater Nevada Field this season, the Reno Aces (21-18, 65-49) played to a 5-1series victory in the Biggest Little City.

Reno tallied 18 hits in an explosive game-one victory. Dominic Fletcher stole the show, going 2-for-4 with a double, a homer, and five driven in. In a showdown with his brother David, Fletcher sent a tape measure three-run blast to the berm to break the game open in the fourth. The Bees kept battling and even took the lead late, but the Aces wouldn’t be denied a series-opening win. Six hitters in Reno’s order notched multiple hits, including Fletcher, Diego Castillo, Kyle Lewis, Phillip Evans, Ali Sánchez, and Jorge Barrosa. Reno’s fireballer Justin Martínez closed it out with a clean ninth inning.

Lewis has been exceedingly tremendous for Reno. The Georgia peach crushed a two-run homer in the first inning of Wednesday’s loss, his 12th of the season. Lewis went 5-for-8 with a homer, three driven in, and a walk through the first two games of the series. Fletcher and Barrosa each computed multiple hits in game two with a double each. Despite a strong bookend from the dynamic outfielders, Salt Lake kept traffic on the bases and delivered continuously while the Aces offense went quiet in a 12-3 loss. Aaron Sánchez recorded 13 outs in his BLC Nine debut.

Adrian Del Castillo reached another milestone in his professional career with a 436-foot homer late in Thursday’s Aces win. It was Del Castillo’s first homer at Triple-A and was one of six extra-base hits for Reno, including a triple and a home run from Pavin Smith. Buddy Kennedy scurried around the bases and scored on a triple and an error in an electric sequence. The Aces scored 13 runs and went 6-for-8 with runners in scoring position, a much better mark than the 4-for-16 effort in Wednesday’s loss.

Manager Blake Lalli’s bullpen delivered massively in the game three victory. Andrew Saalfrank struck out five straight Bees hitters across 1 ⅔ scoreless innings. Saalfrank was nasty and has been all season, building on a great start in Amarillo and continuing his breakout year in Reno. The former Indiana Hoosier has become one of the stingiest relievers in any bullpen in the PCL. The Aces held the Bees to five runs on nine hits en route to a 2-1 series lead heading into the weekend.

Fletcher showcased an incredibly memorable game in Friday’s win. Fletcher went 4-for-4 with three doubles, a homer, and two walks. Through the first four games of the set, the dynamic outfielder went 9-for-16 with five doubles, two homers, and four walks. The Aces tallied 21 at-bats with runners in scoring position and cashed in seven times as part of a 14-run output. Kennedy reached five times and received the call to join the Diamondbacks after a fantastic night at the plate.

Lewis was heroic on a Marvel Saturday night, delivering the swing of the series late. With the bases loaded and the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Lewis belted the first pitch to left center to clear the bases and blow open the game. Lewis drove in five runs in the series-clinching win. Blake Walston spun six scoreless innings in the affair, lowering his home ERA to a sturdy 3.06 in 11 starts at Greater Nevada Field. Pavin Smith went 2-for-2 and drew three walks, while Lewis, Dominic Fletcher, and Ali Sánchez also tallied multiple hits in an 8-6 victory.

Reno trailed 1-0 until the sixth in Sunday’s series finale when Pavin Smith lined a single to right to spark a one-out rally. Evans and Sánchez each banged two-baggers off the left-center field wall to score the game-tying and go-ahead runs. Smith had multiple hits, while Sánchez added both a single and a double. The Aces entered the game hitting a Minor League-leading .348 from the clean-up spot, and Evans kept that number chugging with the double. Reno improved to 10-2 in August after a walk-off walk from Sánchez in the 10th.

The Aces will remain home for six games with the Las Vegas Aviators, the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. The series begins Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. PT from Greater Nevada Field.

Single Game tickets are on sale at RenoAces.com, the Greater Nevada Field Ticket Office, or by texting “TIXX” to 21003. Season Memberships are available via RenoAces.com, texting “MEMBER” to 21003, or calling (775) 334-7000.

-ACES