Jake McCarthy’s historic night leads Reno to 6-5 win

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Reno Aces topped the Sacramento River Cats tonight 6-5, behind a historic offensive outing from Jake McCarthy and a career night from Tyler Gilbert.

Henry Ramos broke the ice with the first run of the night, hitting a solo shot into right field to make it 1-0 Reno in the top of the fourth.

Aces starter Gilbert was dealing on the mound, earning his sixth strikeout of the night in the fourth inning. The strikeout total tied his season high, and kept the River Cats scoreless through four.

Reno scored again in the fifth, after McCarthy scored from third on an RBI single by Seth Beer. McCarthy was back in on the action in the sixth, singling in a run to make it 3-0. The hit single was McCarthy’s third of the night, tying a career high.

Each of the first three times McCarthy reached base, he stole second as well. The three steals also tied a career best for the young outfielder.

In the bottom of the sixth, Gilbert struck out Jaylin Davis to give him a career-best 10 strikeouts on the night. The total was the high-water mark for all Aces starters this season, topping the previous high of eight.

Sacramento got on the board for the first time in the sixth, scoring one run to make it 3-1.

Gilbert was relieved after the sixth inning, tying his season high for innings with six. In those six frames, the native of Santa Cruz, Calif. allowed one run on just three hits

Reno scored for the fourth-straight inning in the seventh, with Christian Lopes blasting a homer to score Beer and make it a 5-1 Aces lead.

The River Cats scored another lone run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 5-2, but the Aces quickly countered in the eighth.

Jake McCarthy notched his fifth hit in five at bats, setting a new career high, before scoring on a Ben DeLuzio pinch-hit single to make it 6-2.

In the bottom of the eighth, Sacramento rallied with two home runs to make it a 6-5 game. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, and a one-run Aces lead, Brandyn Sittinger entered the game.

Sittinger finished the game, earning his first save as an Ace and striking out four in 1.2 innings pitched. Only one runner reached base, via a walk.

The six-game series continues tomorrow, with Kevin McCanna scheduled to go for Reno. First pitch from Sutter Health Park is at 7:05 p.m. PT, and can be heard on KPLY 630 AM or RenoAces.com with Zack Bayrouty on the call.