Reno rolls Las Vegas for four of six in Summerlin

RENO, Nev. – The Reno Aces wrapped up a six game slate with the Las Vegas Aviators last night, winning four of the six. The bullpen shined in the series, and several Aces kept their bats hot.

Cooper Hummel teed off against the host-Bees, going 13-for-25 at the dish with 9 RBIs and 6 runs scored. Since the start of the month, the Aces’ utilityman has slashed .477/.490/.841 with a 1.331 OPS while racking up 13 tallies and driving in 17 on 21 hits. Hummel also rocked a five-game multi-hit streak to open the series.

The Aces’ bullpen dominated the entire six-game slate, tossing 20.1 consecutive scoreless innings of work since two outs in the bottom of the seventh of Friday’s contest. Thirteen of Reno’s 14 relievers to make an appearance did not allow an earned run against Las Vegas.

Ildemaro Vargas put on a show in Utah, unleashing three of his five home runs in September versus Bees’ pitching, including a game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Monday’s game. The Aces’ all-time hits leader put forth a 15-for-29 showing in six starts, registering 9 runs scored and 9 RBIs.

After dropping the opening match, 6-3, the Biggest Little City’s team rebounded with a decisive 11-5 victory in game two. The Aces unloaded six runs in the first inning, the most tallies in the opening frame this season, and never looked back. Juniel Querecuto cracked the franchise’s top-10 triples list with a three-bagger in the home half of the first, marking his 13th triple with the Aces and matching Christian Walker and Zach Borenstein for eighth all-time.

Following a 6-5 loss on Sept. 11, all nine Aces recorded at least one hit and one run scored in its 14-5 downing of the Bees on Sunday. Blake Lalli’s club trailed by a trio of tallies through two innings of play before rattling off five runs in the top of the third and erasing a deficit of three runs or more for the 21st time this season. Reno moved to 14-7 in such contests by putting up nine unanswered ticks over the final five frames to knock off Salt Lake.

Reno escaped Monday’s contest with a 6-3 win on a four-run ninth inning. Hummel launched a two-run shot in the opening frame before the Aces were held off the board for seven straight innings. In the top of the ninth, Vargas smacked a solo homer to tie the game before Drew Ellis took the lead on home run of his own five pitches later. Reno tacked on two more ticks on a fielding error and a Stuart Fairchild RBI base knock to pick up its second win in as many days.

In the final game of the series, Humberto Mejia went seven innings with just two runs allowed to lead the way. The 8-2 win saw seven different Aces record a hit, including a three-RBI night from Juniel Querecuto.

The Aces will return to Greater Nevada Field on Thursday for the final regular-season series against the Salt Lake Bees. First pitch for Thursday’s contest is slated for 6:35 p.m. PT and can be heard on renoaces.com or locally on KPLY 630 AM with Zack Bayrouty on the call.