Aces baseball recap: El Paso comes up clutch in 10th inning, top Reno 6-5
After a tough 10-4 loss to El Paso, the Aces looked to rebound in a hurry Saturday, July 15th in Greater Nevada Field. With a small sample size of outings under their belts, starting pitchers Matt Koch (Reno) and Kyle Lloyd (El Paso) took the mound hoping to break the 1-1 tie in the four-game series.
El Paso’s offense carried their hot-streak at the plate early in the first inning, as a leadoff double from Franchy Cordero lead to a two-run bomb from Nick Buss. Giving them a 2-0 advantage and marking Buss’ 8th home-run of the season. During the top-half of the 3rd inning, Diego Goris smacked his 38th RBI of the year to right- center adding to the Chihuahuas’ lead. A walk by Koch with the bases-loaded tacked on another run in El Paso’s favor, making the score 4-0.
Jeremy Hazelbaker’s effective baserunning skills cut the Reno deficit to 3 runs, as two stolen bases and a throwing error from Catcher Tony Cruz advanced him home during the bottom-half of the 3rd inning. A rough night on the mound, (5 IP, 4 ER, 5H, 4BB, 5K) brought Louis Coleman to the action in relief for Koch during the 6th inning, with the 4-1 lead firmly in El Paso’s grasp.
Oswaldo Arcia’s 21st home run of the 2017 campaign sliced the Chihuahua lead to just one-run, putting the Aces back in the game and springing the 7,082 fans in attendance back on their feet. During the three-hit, two-run rally, Lloyd (5 ⅓ IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, 9K) was relieved of his duties by Logan Bawcom.
The comeback was in full-stride for the Aces, as two walks by Brad Wieck put runners in scoring position in the bottom of the 8th, Zach Borenstein answered the call with an RBI single that scored Arcia, tying the game at 4-runs apiece. Aces took the lead next at-bat with a fielder’s choice that advanced Christian Walker home to take a 5-4 lead late in the intense matchup.
The pendulum soon swung in the top of the ninth, as Ryan Schimpf took Closer Jimmie Sherfy deep to right-center to tie the game at 5-5, keeping the doors wide-open for an exciting affair heading into extra-innings.
Franchy Cordero’s 9th home- run of the year couldn’t have come at a better time, as his 496 foot blast off Jared Miller put El Paso up with a 6-5 lead in the top of the 10th inning. Reno’s offense failed to answer the next half-inning, as the El Paso Chihuahuas took a 2-1 series lead with their 6-5 win over the Aces. Jason Jester earned his fourth win of the season, the third game of the intense four-game matchup will be Sunday, July 16 1:05PM in Greater Nevada Field.