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MLB

Reno Ready to Sting Bees in Salt Lake

By Reno Aces
an hour ago

RENO, Nev. – The Reno Aces exit the All-Star Break looking to keep up the momentum they had built before it started by winning each of their last two series, and first on the list as the season woks towards its end is the Salt Lake Bees, Triple-A affiliate of

RENO, Nev. – The Reno Aces exit the All-Star Break looking to keep up the momentum they had built before it started by winning each of their last two series, and first on the list as the season woks towards its end is the Salt Lake Bees, Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.

By the end of the series the Aces smashed 15 home runs, their most in a series this season and the fourth most in a series in franchise history. There were eight total Aces that hit above .300, five that were above .400, and three that sat above .500 for the week. It was a toss-up to the most impressive, as Del Castillo hit a team-leading .588 (10-for-17) with eight runs scored, five doubles, two homers, five RBI, and a 1.826 OPS.

However, none were more impressive than Tyler Locklear, who batted .560 (14-for-25) and had a 1.953 OPS, all resulting in his being named PCL Player of the Week. For the series, the Maryland native led the league in extra-base hits (nine), home runs (five), total bases (33), OPS (1.953), slugging percentage (1.320), and on-base percentage (.633). He also ranked second in hits (14), and third in average (.560), runs batted in (11), doubles (four) and runs scored (nine).

This week will be the third series of the season between the Aces and the Bees, their first since they met for six in Reno from June 9-14. That series ended 4-2 in favor of Salt Lake, helping the Bees draw the season series between the two teams level at 6-6 after the Aces took the first series win at home from April 7-12.

However, Reno still holds the large edge in the all-time series between the two teams, 157-133 (.541). The 157 wins by Reno against the Bees are the Aces’ third most against any single opponent, and Salt Lake draws ever closer near to being the fourth team to have 300 shared games in Reno’s history.

The Aces have found some of their success on the mound, as their 5.25 ERA all-time against the Bees ranks second highest of the 10 teams that they have played at least 75 games against. Though Reno’s strikeout rate of 19.8 percent is just seventh of those 10 teams, their walk-to-strikeout ratio fares much better in fourth place at 2.04.

At the plate the Aces have been just as solid, as the Bees are one of three teams in which they are hitting above .300. Their .301 mark comes in third of the 10 teams with 75 or more games played, as does their total of 1,121 extra-base hits and 334 home runs. Watch out for Reno to run on the Bees, as their total of 221 stolen bases in franchise history is just four off their franchise record 225 against the Sacramento River Cats.

Salt Lake finished the first half of the season in fourth place in the league at 5.5 games behind the league winner, Las Vegas, thanks to a record of 39-35 (.527). However, the Bees have not had similar success in the second half, getting out to a record of 7-11 (.389) through the first three series leaving them in a tie for sixth place with three others.

Salt Lake had split six with Albuquerque to start the second half but followed with a pair of 4-2 series losses at home against Las Vegas and on the road against Sacramento. In fact, dating back to July 5 the Bees are just 2-5 and have averaged just 5.9 runs per game in that time.

In this second half the Bees have struggled a bit on the mound, as their 6.05 ERA is the third highest of all 10 PCL teams. Hitting has been only slightly better, with their .270 average checking in at sixth place. Strikeouts have been of concern, as their 174 while hitting is just five shy of Sugar Land for the most in the PCL while their 127 on the mound is the fewest of all PCL squads.

Salt Lake has two of the top 20 batting averages in the PCL second half on an individual level, tops among them the .339 mark from Nelson Rada in a tied for 10th place along with Alek Thomas. Though Rada has just three RBI, he has scored 12 runs and lined three doubles while working 10 walks leading to a .433 on-base percentage. He is the highest ranked Los Angeles prospect on Salt Lake currently, checking in at No. 2 in their top-30 prospects.

Amongst Salt Lake starters, George Klassen has been impressive as he has worked to a 1-1 record and a 3.38 ERA, the eighth-best ERA of the PCL pitchers with three or more starts. Klasen joins Rada as the only other top-30 prospect on the Bees, just two spots behind Rada at No. 4. Meanwhile, Brett Kerry has gone 0-3 in his four starts with a 13.02 ERA, but he is tied for the second-most strikeouts of any PCL pitcher with 20.

These two teams get the post-All-Star Break action going tonight with game one of their six-game set in Salt Lake at 5:35 p.m. PT.

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