Lin Deals Aces to Victory Over River Cats

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A dominant start from Yu-Min Lin allowed the Reno offense a chance to build a slim but sturdy lead, one that withstood a ninth inning push by the Sacramento River Cats to ultimately end in a 3-2 victory for the Aces on Thursday.

The star of the night for the Aces (32-38/64-81) was southpaw starter Yu-Min Lin (9-9), who was stellar in his final outing of the 2026 campaign. Lin retired each of the first 12 batters he faced through the first four innings, with the streak ultimately breaking on a fifth-inning leadoff triple from Parks Harber.

Though Harber would score in the next at-bat on an RBI groundout, that was the only blemish of Lin’s effort as he continued to work through the seventh inning while allowing only one hit. That made the Lin the first Ace to pitch seven or more innings since Roman Angelo did it at the end of last season in Albuquerque on Sept. 18, 2025.

Even further, Lin was the first Ace to do so at Sutter Health Park since Slade Cecconi accomplished the feat on July 3, 2023. Lin did not walk a batter in the outing, making him the first Ace to work seven or more innings without a walk since Cecconi on July 27, 2023 against Oklahoma City.

All that effort resulted in Lin’s seventh quality start of the season, which is the most by an Ace since both Tommy Henry and Brandon Pfaadt each also tallied seven in the 2022 season.

Lin had the strikeout material working as he punched out six River Cats (36-35/78-65) without a walk, the fourth Ace to do so this season. That also helped Lin become the 10th pitcher in Aces history to record a final line of seven or more innings, two or fewer hits, one or fewer runs, and six or more strikeouts. The last to do so was Blake Walston on May 9, 2023 at Tacoma.

While Lin was dealing on the mound, the offense found just enough run support to supply him the victory. All three runs were tallied in the fifth inning, the first two of which with one swing of the bat as Adrian Del Castillo launched his sixth homer of the Triple-A campaign. Also scoring was Santiago Espinal, who had drawn a walk to start the inning.

Consecutive doubles were responsible for the final run of the frame as Demetrio Crisantes put himself in scoring position on a two-bagger to left field, quickly trading places with Kristian Robinson after the latter ripped his own double to left.

Taking the baton from Lin was Juan Burgos, who worked around a pair of walks to keep Sacramento off the scoreboard in the eighth. Though he allowed one run in the ninth on a pair of hits, Kade Strowd (S, 4) closed the door and converted his fourth save of the season.

The home run from Del Castillo was one of the biggest hits of the night, and his only knock in four trips. Outside of the doubles by Crisantes and Robinson, the Aces had just one other hit in the form of a single from the recently optioned Tommy Troy.

Reno has drawn the series level at one game apiece and will look to take the edge in the set when these two teams play game three at Sutter Health Park starting at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday.