Aces kick off Final Stretch at Albuquerque

The Reno Aces will travel to Albuquerque to take on the Isotopes for a five game series as part of the Triple-A Final Stretch tournament starting on Thursday. The Aces are coming off a series win against the Salt Lake Bees, where the team from the Biggest Little City captured victories in four of the six games. Reno is bringing a stellar offense to Albuquerque with a .296 team batting average that currently leads all of professional baseball.

Alek Thomas and Cooper Hummel have been driving the Aces’ offense and have combined for five of the team’s ten triples in the last two games. Thomas has become a leader in Reno’s lineup with a .371 batting average since joining the team in mid-August. The center fielder goes into the series with a seven-game hitting streak, while Hummel is on a ten-game hitting streak, driving in 16 runs on that streak.

Reigning Triple-A West Player of the Week, Juniel Querecuto slashed .462/.500/.846 and drove in 10 runs during the week of Sept. 13, earning the weekly accolade for the first time in his career.

Reno’s third baseman, Drew Ellis has been crushing the ball and is going into the series slashing .304/.411/.627. In the six games against Salt Lake, an eye-popping nine of Ellis’ 11 hits were extra-base knocks. In the series finale, the 25 year-old went a perfect five-for-five at the dish, finishing just shy of the cycle with a single, three doubles, and a triple.

The five-game series begins Thursday at 5:35 p.m. PT from Isotopes Park in Albuquerque. The series marks the second time the two teams meet this season, with the Aces taking the previous series 5-1 in June from Greater Nevada Field. All five games can be heard, with Zack Bayrouty on the call, on KPLY 630 AM or RenoAces.com.