Lin Quality, Aces Blast Three Homers Against Chihuahuas

RENO, Nev. – The offense got to work by blasting three home runs while the pitching staff, led by the fifth quality start of the season from Yu-Min Lin, kept the opposition at bay leading the Reno Aces to a 7-5 victory over the El Paso Chihuahuas.

Wednesday’s contest followed a similar script as Tuesday with the Chihuahuas (9-25/44-65) breaking the scoreless tie before the Aces (19-16/51-59) used a four-run frame to never look back. Tonight’s big frame came in response in the bottom of the third, highlighted by a pair of homers.

Leaving the yard first was Kristian Robinson, and he did so in a hurry as his one-out blast on the first pitch of the at-bat had an exit velocity of 114.5 mph. That marked the hardest hit ball by an Ace this season and was the fifth hardest hit home run in Greater Nevada Field history since daily tacking began in 2022.

Doing the rest of the damage in the inning was A.J. Vukovich, as he crushed a three-run homer out to center field from an 0-1 count. That was the eighth homer of the season for Vukovich, and the Aces are a perfect 8-0 when he leaves the yard. Even further, this was the 10th time this season Reno hit homers in the same inning and was their 11th multi-homer game since the start of July.

While the Chihuahuas scored once in the fifth courtesy a Nick Solak RBI single, the Aces matched it and then some with and RBI groundout from Jose Fernandez and a Pavin Smith sacrifice fly in the home half of the frame.

An error on a stolen base by Bryce Johnson led to El Paso’s final run, as Johnson trotted home as the ball skipped into left field.

There was enough time for the Aces to squeeze in one last home run in the bottom of the eighth, the fifth of the season from Danny Serretti as he ripped a 419-foot homer out to the right field berm beyond the bullpens.

El Paso made the contest interesting as they made one final push in the top of the ninth, scoring twice thanks to a Solak groundout and Marcos Castañon single, but the Chihuahuas could come no closer than the game’s 7-5 final.

The offense was provided the opportunity to work thanks to Reno starter Yu-Min Lin (6-8), who picked up his second consecutive and fifth quality start of the season by allowing just two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks in six full frames. Those five quality starts leads the Aces as he has five of Reno’s eight such starts in 2026.

Vukovich and Conticello both ended their nights with two hits, the former going 2-for-2 with his trio of RBI. Outside of Robinson and Seretti’s solo homers, the only other extra-base hit was a double from LuJames Groover who ended the game 1-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk.

Reno will try to make it three straight victories against the Chihuahuas when the two teams meet for game three of this series on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. PT.