Pena, Kepler Debut While Cerda Drives in One for Aces Against Chihuahuas

EL PASO, Texas – Christian Cerda’s sacrifice fly in the second inning gave the Reno Aces the first lead in their series with the El Paso Chihuahuas, but El Paso scored six straight runs to take the game one victory by a 6-1 final.

Cerda’s sacrifice fly for the Aces (30-40) came with no outs and two aboard in the second frame, scoring Manuel Pena who had drawn a leadoff walk and moved up to third on Jacob Amaya’s single into center. For Pena it was the first of two times on base during his Triple-A debut.

However, an inning-ending double play ended the rally and Reno failed to score from that point on, leaving the Chihuahuas (32-38) to score the final six runs of the game.

After an impressive start where he retired each of the first eight batters he faced including seven straight via the strikeout, Aces starter Kohl Drake (1-5) saw things fall apart with two outs in the third and allowed each of the next six batters to reach via a hit or walk leading to his early exit.

Unfortunately for Drake, he was responsible for all five runs scored in that frame, though two inherited runners did score following his exit.

El Paso added one final insurance tally in the fourth to bring the score to 6-1, then cruised to the finish line. Following the second inning the Aces had just four more hits, all from different bats and none for extra bases.

Pena closed his Triple-A debut contest 1-for-3 with Reno’s only run scored, while Max Kepler also made his Aces debut and finished the game 1-for-2 before checking out of the contest.

Reno will look to rebound in game two of the set on Wednesday at 5:35 p.m. PT from Southwest University Park.