Aces take hot bullpen into home series against Salt Lake
After beating Las Vegas four times in last week’s six-game series, the Reno Aces kick off their final regular-season slate with the Salt Lake Bees on Thursday at Greater Nevada Field. Reno dominated the series with the Las Vegas Aviators, outscoring the opposition, 47-27. The Aces continue to lead Triple-A
After beating Las Vegas four times in last week’s six-game series, the Reno Aces kick off their final regular-season slate with the Salt Lake Bees on Thursday at Greater Nevada Field.
Reno dominated the series with the Las Vegas Aviators, outscoring the opposition, 47-27. The Aces continue to lead Triple-A with a .292 batting average, 783 runs scored, 1151 hits and 252 doubles.
The Aces bullpen has been sharp as of late, in the last 26 innings of work the grouo has allowed just one unearned run on 14 hits. The group enters the series against Salt Lake riding a 20.1-inning scoreless streak.
Leading the way for Reno has been Cooper Hummel, who has been white hot since the start of September. In 12 games, Hummel is slashing .477/.490/.841 with a 1.331 OPS. The outfielder has driven in 17 runs, hit four homers and scored 13 runs himself.
Salt Lake enters its final six-game slate of the regular season having dropped 16 of its last 20 games. The Bees suffered an 11-game losing streak starting with the second doubleheader sweep against the Aces on Aug. 23 to Sept. 3 at Sacramento.
Despite holding the worst record in Triple-A West’s West Division, the visiting team’s offense sits in the middle of the pack with a .270 batting average and 1056 base knocks through 113 games.
Michael Stefanic has emerged as the visiting team’s leader in batting average with his .336 mark while holding the second spot in the division with a .411 on-base percentage. The Bees’ infielder also ranks inside the top-10 with 113 hits (5th).
Salt Lake’s pitchers allowed the second-worst batting average to its opposition with a .290 mark, trailing only Las Vegas (.293).
Thomas Pannone has tossed the most innings in Triple-A West, putting forth 103.1 frames of work for the team from Utah. The left-hander has made 21 appearances for Salt Lake this season, holding a 5-10 record with a 7.05 ERA and 70 strikeouts.
The Aces will return home for Thursday’s game to kick off the six-game stretch. Thursday’s game starts at 6:35 p.m. PT, with tickets available at RenoAces.com or by texting TIXX to 21003. The game can be heard on renoaces.com or locally on KPLY 630 AM with Zack Bayrouty on the call.