Reno Walks Off Sacramento 5-3 in 11 Innings on Amaya Homer

RENO, Nev. – For the first time since April 24 the Reno Aces secured a victory in extra innings, erasing an early 2-0 deficit to force extra frames where they walked off with a 5-3 victory over the Sacramento River Cats thanks to Jacob Amaya’s three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning on Friday.

Neither side scored over the final two scheduled frames, as the Aces (25-30) scored the game’s last run before extra frames in the seventh thanks to a leadoff pinch-hit homer from Luken Baker. The pitch was crushed, as Baker turned around a 2-0 offering 457 feet to center field for his third homer of the season, and his first since May 2 against Sugar Land.

Even further, that was Reno’s first pinch-hit home run since May 9, 2025 when Aramis Garcia hit a two-run pinch hit homer in the ninth inning against Las Vegas.

The tie held through a scoreless 10th leading to excitement in the 11th inning, as the River Cats (32-21) were able to plate the free runner in the top of the frame to seemingly hold the edge.

A leadoff single in the bottom of the 11th from the rehabbing Pavin Smith put one on in addition to the free runner, and two batters later it was time for Amaya to play the hero as his team-leading sixth homer of the season gave the Aces a 5-3 walk-off victory.

This win represented the second walk-off win of the season for the Aces, both of which have come in extra innings as their last was a 7-6 win in 10 innings at El Paso on April 24.

Tonight’s contest started in an unusual fashion for Reno as starter Mitch Bratt was tagged for a pair of runs during the second inning as the River Cats received an RBI triple from Jake Holton and an RBI single from Turner Hill to break the scoreless tie.

Reno was able to get to Sacramento starter Spencer Bivens in the third, as LuJames Groover delivered a sacrifice fly that pulled the Aces within one while that score held until Baker’s blast in the seventh.

Bratt left after two innings due to concern for injury, but the Reno bullpen was excellent throughout the game as they combined to allow only a single unearned run in the 11th while combining to allow just four hits with 12 strikeouts.

Key in that effort was the first relief effort in the career of Tommy Henry, as he entered in the fourth and rattled off 4.1 run-free innings with just one hit allowed and six strikeouts. Those six strikeouts were the most in a game by Henry at any level since he struck out seven in four innings on May 28, 2025 as a member of the Diamondbacks against Atlanta.

That sixth and final strikeout marked the 300th in the Aces career of Henry, making him one of just two Aces (and the first left-hander) in Reno history to record 300 career strikeouts. The only other to do so in team history is Charles Brewer, who holds the team record with 307 punchouts.

Entering last but earning the win was Yilber Díaz (3-1), who yielded the only run by the bullpen when the free runner scored, striking out one without a walk.

Tonight marked the fourth straight multi-hit game for Tyler Locklear, as he finished 2-for-5 with a double to become the 18th player in the PCL this season to log a streak that long.

Two others had multiple hits as both Pavin Smith and Amaya were 2-for-5 with a run scored, though Amaya’s three-run homer proved to be the difference.

Reno’s victory tonight was their first of the series, and they will look to keep up the momentum in game five of the series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. PT from Greater Nevada Field.