Aces Back at Friendly Confines to Battle River Cats

RENO, Nev. – After finally completing this season’s longest road trip, the Reno Aces can return to friendly confines where they renew rivalries with their closest geographical opponent in the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, for the third time this season.

Thrice the Aces allowed and lost by double-digit runs in last week’s series against Salt Lake, by they still had a chance to halve their six games with the Bees thanks to an 8-5 win in game three and a last at-bat 6-5 win in game five. Reno was leading in game six when the contest was halted, but it had not completed five innings and thus did not meet the qualifications to count as a full contest.

Thanks to a pair of three-hit games, Manuel Pena led the way at the dish by hitting .636 (7-for-11), but had only one run scored and walked a trio of times. Christian Cerda led the Aces with three RBI and matched Conticello for the team lead in homers with one.

This week marks the third meeting of 2026 between the Aces and River Cats, as they met twice earlier this year in May. Sacramento took two of the first three but Reno was able to salvage a split from May 5-10, and a wild final two games saw the Aces come within outs of another split until the River Cats secured a 4-2 series win.

That leaves the Aces on the wrong end of a 5-7 (.417) margin in the season series, and the Aces are hoping to avoid a similar fate such as when they dropped last year’s combined meetings by a 12-6 total. With 12 games remaining on the schedule against Sacramento, including the final series of the campaign, Reno is looking to return to the 15-9 season series margins they won by in both 2023 and 2024.

In their 12 games, the Aces have compiled a 5.50 ERA against the River Cats which is sixth of their nine total opponents in 2026. However, they have done it without much strikeout success as Reno’s punchout rate of 16.6 percent is their lowest against any opponent this year.

Hitting has also struggled a bit, with Reno’s .268 batting average against the River Cats slotting seventh of their nine opponents at just miniscule points ahead of their near-identical .268 mark against Sugar Land. The Aces have reached double-digit homers, but their 10 big flies rank sixth of nine opponents as does their 60 runs scored.

The River Cats went on to finish the first half in second place at just 1.5 games behind the first half champion Las Vegas Aviators. Sacramento has not quite had the same success in the second half, as they sit in fourth place at 5.0 games behind the PCL leading Sugar Land Space Cowboys despite holding a record of 29-22.

Since the second half of the season started on June 23, Sacramento is hitting .287 which is a mark that is again mere fractions of a point behind Salt Lake for the best in the PCL. Uniquely, the River Cats have done it without help of the long ball as their 50 big flies rank only ahead of the 40 hit by Sugar Land in that same time. In spite of that, the River Cats have the PCL’s second-most doubles with 111 and the fifth-most runs with 301.

From the hill, Sacramento’s 5.16 ERA in this time slots fourth in the PCL. River Cats hurlers have been carving up batters along the way as their 20.8 percent strikeout rate is third in the league, as is their .259 opposing batting average. Sacramento is one of only four teams in the second half to log double-digit saves with 11, one shy of Oklahoma City’s league-leading 12.

He does it again 🤯

Bandura brings another across, this time with an RBI double pic.twitter.com/b6xZ6j1sFA

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) August 20, 2026

On an individual note, no player has more hits in the second half than Sacramento’s Scott Bandura, as he is hitting .364 by going 72-for-198 with 44 runs scored, 16 doubles, seven homers and 42 RBI. Turner Hill has been equally as, if not more, impressive than Bandura, batting .386 with 13 doubles, four triples, four homers and 25 RBI while playing around his MLB debut with San Francisco.

Of the PCL pitchers who have made at least seven starts in the second half, Matt Wilkinson had led the squad with a 5.45 ERA, but he has since been promoted to San Francisco’s MLB rotation. Seth Lonsway stands as the next man up, working to a 1-4 record and 6.69 ERA with 24 strikeouts in the second half.

San Francisco’s farm system was overhauled at the trade deadline, jumping up to a midseason No. 5 ranking per MLB Pipeline. However, with the recent promotion and graduation of some players from prospect status, Sacramento hosts only three of San Francisco’s top-30 prospects.

Tops of that group is outfielder Bo Davidson, a former undrafted free agent who now the No. 8 prospect in the San Francisco system. In 33 games so far at Triple-A, the 24-year-old Davidson is hitting .305 with 23 runs scored, 10 doubles, six homers, 27 RBI, and a .910 OPS.

𝑳𝑬𝑻 '𝑬𝑴 𝑲𝑵𝑶𝑾, 𝑩𝑶 🔥

Congrats to Bo Davidson for being named PCL Player of the Week! pic.twitter.com/MWpP1WKPi4

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) August 17, 2026

This series gets underway at Greater Nevada Field beginning on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 6:35 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.