Reno Rides to Sacramento to Start 2026 Season Series with River Cats
RENO, Nev. – Riding the momentum of a series win that saw several impressive performances, the Reno Aces travel down Interstate-80 to start a six-game set on Tuesday with the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. All six games last series with the Sugar Land Space
RENO, Nev. – Riding the momentum of a series win that saw several impressive performances, the Reno Aces travel down Interstate-80 to start a six-game set on Tuesday with the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.
All six games last series with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys were decided by three runs or fewer, including three consecutive one-run games in the middle of the series. Reno hung tough all series and walked away with wins in four of those games, including their first walk-off win of the year on May 1 thanks to a 4-3 victory.
LuJames Groover reached base safely in all six games this series and extended his team-leading streak to 26 consecutive games, a mark that is also second best in the Pacific Coast League. Jacob Amaya had the best average over the week at .421 (8-for-19), scoring six runs with two doubles, one homer and three RBI. Luken Baker also had a fine series, doing a little bit of everything by hitting .348 (8-for-23) with five runs scored, a double, a triple, a homer, five RBI, and a 1.053 OPS.
This week’s series against Sacramento will be the first meeting of the two teams in 2026, a matchup that is always intriguing as the two teams have had traded success through the recent seasons. Both teams have earned sweeps over the other, as the Aces took six straight from Sacramento around the fourth of July in 2024 while the River Cats returned the favor last season.
Unfortunately for Reno, the Aces lost the season series last year by a lopsided 6-12 (.333) margin which included a 10-game losing streak against Sacramento from May 4 through Aug. 28. As a team the Aces pitched to just a 7.03 ERA, their second highest against any opponent in 2025. At the dish, Reno batted just .276 with 108 runs scored, with the average ranking sixth best of nine opponents while the runs scored slotted fifth.
Though Sacramento had the edge last season, Reno won the season series by a 15-9 (.625) margin in each 2023 and 2024. Since the start of the 2021 campaign, it is Reno that holds a slight edge by a 63-59 (.516) margin. However, the all-time series record still remains in favor of Sacramento by a 145-152 (.488) edge.
Of opponents in franchise history with 75 or more games against Reno, the Aces ERA of 5.68 against Sacramento ranks eighth of 10 opponents desite having pitched the thrid-most innings in team history against the River Cats (2,629.2 innings). However, Reno has been able to carve up the River Cats as their 2,422 strikeouts is a franchise best against any opponent.
Hitting has not quite been the same, as Reno’s .275 batting average ranks seventh of 10 opponents with 75 or more games played. However, that mark sits right between an identical .275 clip against Fresno and the .276 mark against Albuquerque. Sacramento is one of four teams that the Aces have hit more than 300 homers against, while the 217 stolen bases are a franchise record.
Sacramento enters this series at 17-14, sitting in second place in the PCL standings at just one game behind the Las Vegas Aviators in first place (and one game ahead of Reno in fourth). The River Cats have two less games played, along with the Aviators, compared to the rest of the PCL after the two teams had a pair of games rained out and ultimately cancelled.
Most recently the River Cats split a six-game set in Salt Lake, winning the first two games by scores of 5-2 and 17-7 before grabbing game five, 7-4. Sacramento’s .288 average last week ranked fourth in the PCL, but they had the power going as they slugged eight homers to rank second in the league. Pitching was a different story, as their 7.49 ERA was the second highest for the week and their 1.70 WHIP the fourth highest.
On an individual level, it was Bryce Eldridge that led the way by crushing to a .474 average with two homers and eight RBI, logging a 1.389 OPS. Reno will not need to worry about the large left-handed hitter, as the Giants’ top prospect has been recalled by San Francisco following the series. Even still, the River Cats had fourth others hit over the .300 mark including Grant McCray and Victor Bericoto.
"GRAND" McCRAY ❗❗❗❗❗
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) April 30, 2026
Grant McCray's four-run homer puts us up 10-2! pic.twitter.com/nb4gSN1So3
Sacramento’s rotation is still solid, boasting former and current top-30 prospects in Carson Seymour (former) and Carson Whisenhunt (current), while the bullpen features those with MLB service time in Spencer Bivens, Blade Tidwell, and Joel Peguero. However, the bullpen was 0-1 with a 8.23 ERA last week in Salt Lake.
In all, the River Cats feature five top-30 prospects (and one former in Seymour), though most are pitchers. Sacramento’s top position player is No. 18 prospect Jesus Rodriguez, who was acquired in a deadline trade with the New York Yankees in 2025.
This week’s series starts on Tuesday at Sutter Health Park, with game one of the set getting underway at 6:45 p.m. PT.
Single-game and season tickets are currently on sale for the 2026 season. For more information, fans can visit RenoAces.com or call the ticket office at (775) 334-7000.