YOUR AD HERE »

Aces win three of four games against Fresno Grizzlies

Elyse Brightman
ebrightman@tahoedailytribune.com

The Reno Aces held Fresno to just four hits as they cruised past the Grizzlies 13-0 last Tuesday night in the series opener at Aces Ballpark.

Mike Jacobs started the scoring in the second inning with his 10th homerun of the season, a solo shot to rightfield. Bobby Wilson and Nick Ahmed each added an RBI basehit a few batters later and Nick Evans made it 4-0 by drawing a walk with the basesloaded that scored Wilson.

The next inning, starting pitcher Lucas Harrell knocked a 2-run double, scoring Wilson and Tony Campana for a 6-0 lead. Harrell recorded another RBI, his third of the game, in the fifth inning bringing home Andy Marte.



It became 8-0 in the sixth when Jacobs had a base hit scoring Ahmed.

Wilson had a base hit in the seventh, then advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a groundout by Harrell. The next batter, Didi Gregorious, knocked Harrell in with a base hit.



Danny Dorn came in to bat for Evans after being hit by a pitch and led off the eighth with a solo homerun to rightfield for his first ever at-bat at Aces Ballpark.

Tyler Bortnick, pinch-hitting for pitcher Mark Serrano, capped off the scoring with a 2-run base hit topping off a 13-0 shutout.

Harrell went seven innings on the mound allowing just three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

“It was nice to come home and continue what he’s done on the mound,” said manager Phil Nevin. “It was a tough travel day, but we went about our business and it was good.”

Harrell “was great. It’s tough to pitch with a lead sometimes and a couple lead-off walks were not what we wanted to see, but he came right back and got some ground ball,” Nevin said.

Wednesday’s game two matinee saw Reno over Fresno 9-8 in ten innings thanks to a walk-off double by Ahmed.

The Aces took a 5-0 lead after four innings. The Grizzlies made it 5-5 before Derek Eitel replaced starter Andrew Chafin, then made it 8-5 in the seventh.

Dorn loaded the bases in the eighth after being hit by a pitch bringing up Wilson who singled scoring Jacobs. Fresno’s lead was cut to one by Gregorious with an RBI groundout.

Reno tied the game 8-8 that started with a leadoff walk drawn by Ahmed. He advanced to second on a passed ball, then scored on a base hit by Jacobs.

In the tenth, Ahmed lined a hit to centerfield that scored pinch runner Harrell and gave Reno the second win of the series.

“(Ahmed) had really been swinging the bat well. Obviously, everybody talks about his defense, but I think his offense has kind of gone unnoticed lately. It’s just fun to watch him play right now,” Nevin said.

The day was all about Ahmed who was awarded the 2013 Rawlings Gold Glove in a pre-game ceremony that recognized him as the best defensive player in all of minor league baseball for the 2013 season.

The Aces secured their fifth straight series win Thursday night with a 5-2 final score over Fresno.

Andy Marte started the scoring early with an RBI basehit in the first inning scoring Keishnick, but Fresno answered back in the top of the second to tie the score at one.

In the bottom of the second, Kieshnick hit a high pop foul ball that was dropped by Fresno catcher Guillermo Quiroz. Kieshnick took advantage of his new life and lined an RBI double that scored Blake Lalli, giving the Aces a 2-1 lead.

Ahmed and Bo Shultz made the score 4-1 with an RBI double and sacrifice fly.

After the Grizzlies scored in the fourth, Lalli recorded an RBI single in the fifth scoring Ahmed reaching the final score of 5-2.

Starting pitcher Bo Shultz recorded his third win of the season by going six innings, allowing two runs on nine hits. Matt Stites earned his team-leading sixth save of the season.

“It was a defensive win tonight,” Nevin said. “We got some timely hits, of course. We do that every night, but when you play that kind of defense, you’re going to win a lot of them.”

The Aces fell short of the sweep when they lost to Fresno 10-4 Friday night. The team travels to Las Vegas before returning to Aces Ballpark Thursday night for a four-game series with El Paso.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around the Lake Tahoe Basin and beyond make the Tahoe Tribune's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.