Cerda Solid Behind Dish but Aces Drop Game Two

RENO, Nev. – A three-run frame in the fifth had brought the Reno Aces within a run on Wednesday, but that was as close as they could come as the Albuquerque Isotopes held for an 8-5 victory.

The Aces (29-35/61-78) found themselves trying to dig out of an early hole after the Isotopes (30-35/69-71) scored twice in the first and second while adding one more in the third. Reno had tried to match by plating one in the bottom of the first just two batters into their swings thanks to the duo of Kristian Robinson and Pavin Smith, the former doubling in front of the latter’s RBI single to left.

That scored held until the fifth when Reno rallied for a trio of runs, the first scoring on a wild pitch by Albuquerque starter Jack Mahoney. Just one batter later and Jose Fernandez drove home a pair, bringing in both Santiago Espinal and Demetrio Crisantes.

Through the end of the game the Aces continued to put runners aboard, including scoring one final run on a Smith solo homer, but they could get no closer after the Isotopes added an insurance run in both the sixth, seventh and ninth innings.

Those runs were all scored despite the best efforts behind the dish of Christian Cerda, who threw out three Isotopes trying to swipe second base in the game. This was just the seventh time in franchise history that an Aces backstop has caught three runners trying to advance, the most in a game by an Ace since Michael Perez also caught three attempted base stealers on Aug. 20, 2024 against Las Vegas.

Aces starter Avery Short (1-1) was unable to keep up his positive momentum, allowing four runs on six hits with two walks and one strikeout en route to his first Triple-A loss.

Tonight’s loss was the fourth in a row for the Aces, their ninth streak of four or more losses this season. However, Reno was able to stop the unfortunate streak of three hits or less in three straight games, producing a total of 11 in the contest.

Of those knocks, seven came from a trio of Aces as Smith, Santiago Espinal, and A.J. Vukovich. Smith led the way with a 3-for-4 effort while driving in two and scoring twice, while Espinal and Vukovich each logged two hits.

Reno will try to get their first win of the series when they meet Albuquerque for game three of the set on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. PT.