Las Vegas, Nev. - Christian Walker and Sócrates Brito's back-to-back home runs in the top of the fifth inning pushed Reno past Las Vegas Friday night, 5-4. Walker's home run was his fourth in the last eight games and his ninth of the season. Brito's solo-blast was his eighth. Anthony
Las Vegas, Nev. - Christian Walker and Sócrates Brito's back-to-back home runs in the top of the fifth inning pushed Reno past Las Vegas Friday night, 5-4. Walker's home run was his fourth in the last eight games and his ninth of the season. Brito's solo-blast was his eighth. Anthony Vasquez kept the 51's offense at bay, yielding just one earned run in six innings of work with six strikeouts. Braden Shipley struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh inning out of the bullpen. The Nevada alum relied heavily on his fastball, which ranged between 93 and 95 MPH on the in-stadium radar gun. The combination of Braden Shipley, Jimmie Sherfy, Albert Suárez, and Jared Miller allowed three runs, but came away with the victory. Jared Miller picked up his first win of the season in to move the Aces to a record of 34-40 on the season and 4-3 against their in-state foes.
Three consecutive singles off Vasquez in the bottom of the second inning loaded the bases with no outs for Christian Colón. Colon did not see a strike and drew an RBI base-on-balls to plate the first Las Vegas run of the contest. The southpaw worked around the trouble with a strikeout and a double-play. The Aces responded, albeit a few innings later, using the home run ball to their advantage. The reigning Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player launched a two-run bomb over the left-field wall to give Reno a 2-1 lead. Brito followed six pitches later with a homer of his own. The Aces scored again in the top of the, but had three Las Vegas runs score in the bottom half. With the score tied at four, Ildemaro Vargas tripled with one out in the top of the ninth and advanced on a wild pitch the very next at-bat. Jared Miller closed things out in the bottom half to seal the victory.
Top Performers - Reno
• Christian Walker (1-for-5, 2 RBI, HR)
• Rey Fuentes (2-for-3)
• Sócrates Brito (2-for-3, HR, 2 R)
Top Performers - Las Vegas
• Patrick Kivlehan (3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI)
• Peter Alonso (1-for-3, R, RBI)
• Ty Kelly (2-for-4)
Tomorrow's Matchup
Notes & Information
Back-to-Back Jacks: Christian Walker and Socrates Brito became the third duo to hit back-to-back home runs for the Aces this season. Marcus Littlewood/Kristopher Negron accomplished the feat on April 27, in Sacramento and Anthony Recker/Daniel Robertson did so three days later in El Paso. The Aces hit back-to-back home runs five times last season and Christian Walker was a part of two of them.
Comeback Kids: The Arizona Diamondbacks 13-inning marathon ended with former Reno Aces shortstop Ketel Marte's RBI single to center in the off Tyler Glasnow to score Jon Jay from second. Marte has turned his season around at the plate since his average fell to .212 on May 27. After Friday's game, it was up to .244, and he has 15 extra-base hits over that stretch.
