Hjelle, bullpen punch out 12 to lift River Cats past Aces 

West Sacramento, Calif. — Two two-run innings, paired with a well-pitched game by righty Sean Hjelle (6-7) and the bullpen powered the Sacramento River Cats (52-67) to a 4-2 victory over the first place Reno Aces (67-52) on Wednesday.

After Reno opened the scoring in the first with an unearned run, Sacramento quickly responded with two runs on back-to-back RBI singles.

With two on, first baseman Yermín Mercedes beat the shift with a single to right field to tie the game. Three pitches later, designated hitter Willie Calhoun lined an RBI single to plate second baseman Jason Vosler.

Sacramento added on in the third with a clutch two-out two-run RBI single by right fielder Steele Walker to plate Calhoun and catcher Andrew Knapp.

Hjelle was superb, earning his team-leading sixth win of the season. The 25-year-old avoided major danger in the first with just one unearned run. He finished with five strikeouts and eight ground outs, while allowing three hits and two walks in 5.0 innings.

Righty Shelby Miller capped off 4.0 innings by the bullpen with two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning for his sixth save.

Stanford product, righty Tristan Beck (5-7, 5.40), will try to tie Hjelle for the team-lead with his sixth win on Thursday. He’ll take on a fellow Pac-12 alum, righty Ryne Nelson (9-5, 5.69) at 6:45 p.m. (PT). Listen to Johnny Doskow call the game online at rivercats.com or on the MiLB First Pitch app.

Additional Notes

• Right-hander Cole Waites, San Francisco’s No. 29 prospect on MLB Pipeline, made his Triple-A debut, striking out two in a scoreless sixth inning.
• Veteran righty Ken Giles also debuted for Sacramento, striking out one while allowing one run on a solo homer to MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 prospect Corbin Carroll in 0.2 innings.