Aces Offense Erupts in 20-7 Blowout Over Bees

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Reno Aces came out swinging and never looked back in a dominant 20-7 rout of the Salt Lake Bees on Saturday afternoon.

Reno Aces 20, Salt Lake Bees 7

WP: Taylor Rashi (1 - 0)

LP: Brett Kerry (1 - 1)

Game Summary

Right out of the gate Reno shortstop Jordan Lawlar doubled to left-center, setting the table for what would become a nightmare inning for Salt Lake starter Brett Kerry. Following a walk and an RBI single by Trey Mancini, Blaze Alexander’s first hit of the series turned out to be a two-run double which made it 3-0. With the bases loaded and two outs, Connor Kaiser delivered the knockout blow—ripping a three-run double to left field putting the Aces up 6-0.

The Bees quickly answered with some firepower of their own. After singles by Zach Neto and Gustavo Campero, Matthew Lugo crushed a three-run homer down the left field line to trim the lead to 6-3.

Reno exploded again in the third, loading the bases with one out. Barrosa and Lawler drew a bases-loaded walk just before Vargas cleared the bases with a three-run triple. Mancini added an RBI single to stretch the lead to 12-3 to give Reno its second six-run inning through three.

Carter Kieboom briefly cut the deficit with a solo homer in the bottom half, but the Bees remained in a deep hole.

In the 4th, René Pinto added to the barrage with a solo homer. Then in the 6th, the Aces put up four more. Alexander singled and scored on a Vukovich double. Pinto kept rolling with an RBI double of his own, and later came around on an RBI single by Vargas, extending the lead to 17-6.

Salt Lake’s bats were quieted by a solid Reno bullpen, while the Aces tacked on insurance. A sac fly by Vargas in the 8th brought in Reno's 18th run. In the ninth, Pinto struck again with a two-run double, capping his incredible day at the plate and sealing a 20-run effort.

Salt Lake scraped across a final run in the bottom of the 9th thanks to a single by Niko Kavadas but things would close there as Reno cruised to a 20-7 on Saturday.

Game Notes

• Salt Lake fell short of winning three in a row after allowing the most runs by an opponent since Sept. 18 in a 20-6 loss to Oklahoma City.
• Reno put up six runs in the opening frame and once again in the third as the Aces sent at least nine batters to the plate three different times.
• Niko Kavadas went yard for the team-leading fourth time this year with a two-run bomb in the fifth. Kavadas tallied a season-best three hits with three runs batted in, earning multiple RBIs for the third time this season.
• Zach Neto and Gustavo Campero led off the bottom of the first with a pair of singles as Neto reached and scored for the sixth straight game while Campero extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
• Matthew Lugo entered the game 3-for-14 in the series and delivered a first inning three-run shot to cut the deficit in half. The home run was Lugo’s first of the season as his three RBI tied for the most this season with his performance on Apr. 1 at Albuquerque.
• Carter Kieboom put together a multi-hit day for the fifth time this season going 2-for-4 with his third home run of the season. In the series against Reno, Kieboom has batted a blistering 10-for-21 (.476) with two home runs, two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored.
• Despite the loss, Salt Lake’s offense showed up on Saturday having its second-highest hit total of the season with 14 on the day to tab the sixth straight game with 10 or more hits.

Up Next

The series finale between the Salt Lake Bees and Reno Aces will take place at 12:05 as Salt Lake will look to clinch the series win while the Aces look to salvage a split. Shaun Anderson and Billy Corcoran will face off one again on the mound to wrap up the first ever series at The Ballpark at America First Square.