Aces baseball recap: El Paso tallies 17 total hits, swarm Reno 10-3
Submitted by Isaiah Burrows on Sun, 07/16/2017 - 4:09pm
Event Date:
July 16, 2017 - 1:00pm
With a Pacific Northern Division-leading record of 55-38, the Reno Aces looked to conclude the four-game home-stand against the El Paso Chihuahuas with a win, tying the series at 2-2. Aces starting pitcher Frank Duncan (7-5, 6.11 ERA) hoped to tack on a team-leading 8th win of the season before another four-game series against the Salt Lake Bees.
After two scoreless innings, action resumed during the top of the third, as left-fielder Franchy Cordero recorded his 31st RBI of the year to shallow center field that scored shortstop Dusty Coleman. Third-baseman Christian Villanueva added two more runs to the El Paso lead with an RBI double that cleared the bases, capping-off a four-hit, three-run inning. Another quick inning from El Paso starting pitcher Michael Kelly (1-1, 6.48 ERA) kept the Chihuahuas’ 3-0 lead spotless to conclude the bottom half of the series ending matchup.
During the top of the fifth inning, a leadoff double from second-baseman Chase d’Arnaud lead to Christian Villanueva’s 54th RBI of the 2017 campaign, adding to his stuffed stat-sheet and tacking on another run for El Paso. A sacrifice RBI from Rafael Ortega added a total of two runs to the scoring column, making the score 5-0 heading into the bottom-half of the fifth inning.
A 3-6-3 DP advanced left-fielder Rudy Flores home, trimming Reno’s deficit to 5-1 with four innings left of play. After surrendering a career high in hits, (5 ⅓ IP, 5 ER, 13 H, 1 BB, 4 K) Frank Duncan was relieved of his duties by lefty reliever Aaron Laffey. After the substitution, the Aces continued to cut into the El Paso lead, as an RBI triple from right-fielder Zach Borenstein brought the game to a 5-2 faceoff. It also marked the 49th RBI of Borenstein’s season.
The Chihuahuas answered back with a vengeance the very next inning. With RBI’s from Rocky Gale (Single, 2 RBI’s) and Dusty Coleman (Home Run, 3 RBI’s) capping off another 3-hit, 5- run inning, giving El Paso a commanding 10-2 lead. Eric Jokisch, who came in relief for Laffey (1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 ER) stopped the bleeding with a flyout to center-field. After an impressive outing on the mound, (7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) Kelly was replaced by Christian Bethancourt in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Jeremy Hazelbaker’s pinch-hit RBI double wasn’t enough, as the Reno Aces dropped the four-game series 3-1 with the loss to the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Key performers for El Paso included: Dusty Coleman (2 for 3, double, home run, 3 RBI’s), Christian Villanueva (3 for 5, double, 2 singles, 3 RBI’s), and Rocky Gale (1 for 5, single 2 RBI’s). Winning pitcher: Michael Kelly (2-1)
Key performers for Reno included: Zach Borenstein (1 for 4, RBI triple), Jeremy Hazelbaker (RBI double), and Tony Renda (2 for 4, 2 singles). Losing pitcher: Frank Duncan (7-6)
Seventeen total hits ultimately took its toll on Reno, as they fell by a score of 10-3. Reno will look to rebound from the tough series, as they will host another four-game series against the Salt Lake Bees July 17-20.
