Reno Stalls Against El Paso on Cars Night Despite Del Castillo Grand Slam

RENO, Nev. – A grand slam from Adrian Del Castillo in the fourth inning had knotted the contest for the Reno Aces on Friday, but four final runs from the El Paso Chihuahuas in the final two frames resulted in Reno running out of gas late in a 9-5 defeat

Both teams plated a run with their first set of swings, as the Chihuahuas (11-26/46-66) pushed home the game’s first run on a double play while Demetrio Crisantes matched it for the Aces (20-18/52-61) with a sacrifice fly.

A long top of the third inning saw El Paso rally for four runs, the first three of which scored from a Dustin Harris RBI triple and an Ethan Salas two-RBI double.

Though it took until the bottom of the fourth for Reno to equalize, they plated all four at once as the third homer of the season from Del Castillo was blasted in grand slam fashion. Sitting in a fresh count, Del Castillo hammered a slider deep over the wall in right to knot the contest with the third grand slam of his professional career.

That score held until the top of the eighth inning when a leadoff single from Harris came around to score the go-ahead run as he swiped second base and moved up to third on a throwing error from Del Castillo. There, it was a Nick Solak sacrifice fly that brought Harris home.

During the top of the ninth the Chihuahuas added insurance, scoring three times to push their lead to a four-run cushion. Among the hits in the frame was a two-RBI double off the wall in center field by Bryce Johnson, pushing the game to its final of 9-5.

Charged with the loss was Blake Walston (1-1), and he has now factored into the decision in both appearances of his rehab assignment. The single tally he allowed was unearned, and he punched out one with one hit allowed in the process.

Reno finished the night with 11 total hits, six from the duo of Anderdson Rojas and LuJames Groover. Rojas closed his night 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Groove3r was 3-for-5. Del Castillo had the most production of any Ace, finishing with a double in addition to his grand slam in the fourth.

Tonight’s win yet again delayed the Aces from outright winning the series, but they will have one final attempt in the series finale with El Paso on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.