Aces Take First Road Series Against the Rainiers

The Reno Aces completed its six-game road series against the Tacoma Rainiers, Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Aces took four out of the six games against Tacoma, their second series win of the season.

In the series opener against Tacoma Tuesday afternoon, the Aces’ bats were bopping and racked up a season-high 14 hits with three homers for an 8-3 win. Two-thirds of Reno’s longballs came from the bat of Juan Graterol, who finished the day with a 3-for-4 performance, including two homers, three runs batted in and three runs scored. On the mound, Corbin Martin made his Aces debut and earned his first win of the year with 5.2 innings of three-run ball on six hits and fanned four batters.

The hitting groove continued for the Aces Wednesday during their 7-6 win over Tacoma. A five-run second inning fueled by RBI singles from Jake McCarthy, Drew Ellis and Stone Garrett allowed the Aces to have enough separation from the Rainiers. An RBI triple from Yonny Hernandez highlighted a two-run seventh that cemented the 7-6 win. Ryne Nelson earned his first Triple-A win on the mound with five innings of two-run ball on six hits and four strikeouts.

The Aces’ power surge returned Saturday in a 9-3 win fueled by three homers. This time, the longballs were courtesy of Dominic Miroglio, Garrett and Braden Bishop. Tied at one in the fourth inning, the Aces went on an offensive raid and scored four runs over the next four innings. Dan Straily took the bump Saturday and improved his pitching record to 2-2 after five innings of three-run ball on five hits and three strikeouts. When their numbers were called, the relief trio of Tyler Holton, Jesus Liranzo and Kevin Ginkel answered with a combined four shutout innings of relief and struck out seven batters.

After a five-hour and 12-minute rain delay Sunday afternoon, the Aces were eager to end the series on a high note and succeeded with a 4-3 win over the Rainiers. With the game tied at three in the seventh, Garrett displayed his light-tower power with a solo shot to left-center for a 4-3 lead. With the one-run lead, relievers Luis Frias and Mitchell Stumpo were dominant on the mound with three shutout innings, allowed no hits and fanned six batters.

The Aces will take on the Rainiers in a six-game homestand at Greater Nevada Field starting on Tuesday, May 31, with the first pitch at 6:35 PST.

Top Performers

Jake McCarthy: Hit .385 (10-for-26) in six games played with a homer, five runs batted in and swiped three bases.

Buddy Kennedy: Appeared in five games and hit. 333 (6-for-18) with three runs batted in, two stolen bases and drew four walks.

Stone Garrett: Started six games for the Aces and hit .292 (7-for-24) with a pair of homers, six runs batted in, five runs scored and three stolen bases.

Dominic Miroglio: Batted .500 (3-for-6) in two games, played behind the dish, slugged two homers, drove in three runs, and doubled.

Corbin Martin: W, 10.0 IP, 5 ER on 11 H, 10 K’s in two starts.

Ryne Nelson: W, 5.0 IP, 2 ER on 6 H, 4 K’s.

Taylor Widener: 2.0 IP, 0 ER on 1 H, 5 K’s.