RENO, Nev. – One of the highest scoring teams in the Pacific Coast League since the end of June, the Reno Aces put on another offensive display during their six-game series with the Tacoma Rainiers last week by scoring seven runs in five of six contests, all resulting in a 4-2 series victory.
Three multi-run frames through the first five innings had the Aces in the driver’s seat during their series opener with the Rainiers, but five runs in the top of the ninth helped Tacoma steal a 9-7 decision at Greater Nevada Field on July 21.
Right-hander Ashton Izzi, now Arizona’s No. 12 prospect, made his Triple-A debut and yielded three runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 2.1 innings. Arizona’s No. 1 prospect Demetrio Crisantes also made his Triple-A debut in the contest, finishing his game 1-for-5 with a run scored.
Kristian Robinson and LuJames Groover both doubled home runs during the fourth, the latter delivering his with two outs. Both ended their respective efforts with three hits, one double, and an RBI, the only difference being that Robinson scored twice to the once of Groover.
Hits were the theme of the evening for Reno on July 22 as they ended their night with 20 total knocks, including one from every Ace, resulting in 10 runs to hand Tacoma a 10-7 defeat.
The Aces plated all their runs over three consecutive frames from the fourth through the sixth in response to the Rainiers breaking the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. Reno notched a total of six hits during the sixth, matching their most in an inning this season.
After scoring thrice in the fifth frame, Reno doubled that total when they dropped six runs in the sixth inning, doing so on the strength of an inning that featured two triples. The first came from Danny Serretti as he opened the inning, quickly scoring on a Christian Cerda single.
Anderdson Rojas was there to deliver the other after the first out of the frame, as his fly ball to right field got lost in the lights by Rainiers outfielder Connor Joe. That was the first time that the Aces have hit two triples in the same inning since they did so in the seventh inning of a 15-1 win at Albuquerque on July 18, 2025.
Starter Yu-Min Lin ended as the pitcher of record, working into the sixth inning after allowing only three runs on five hits with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. There to convert his first save of the season was Isaiah Campbell as he locked down the final six outs of the game without allowing a hit and striking out two.
A brief pause in the contest on July 23 helped the Aces to plate their only two runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh, but those pair of tallies fell shy in what resulted in a 7-2 Rainiers victory.
Tonight’s contest featured a 35-minute delay in the top of the seventh due to a power outage, but it was a break that Reno needed as they proceeded to plate a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame.
Doing the damage for Reno was Kristian Robinson as his eighth blast of the season not only tied him for the team lead but drove home Matt O’Neill, who had singled in the at-bat directly in front of Robinson.
O’Neill led the way in hits for the Aces with a 3-for-4 effort in addition to the run scored. That blast was the only hit of the night for Robinson, ending his game 1-for-3. Meanwhile, the trio of Anderdson Rojas, Manuel Pena, and Jose Fernandez all doubled once, though the first of those three also logged a pair of hits.
The Aces did all their damage on July 24 with the long ball and matched their season high in homers with five, the last of which was a walk-off blast from Gavin Conticello that lifted Reno to a 7-6 win over Tacoma.
LuJames Groover homered in each of his first two at-bats, both of which were leadoff shots as he started the second and fourth innings with a bang. That made Groover the fourth Ace this season with a two-homer game, the fourth of his professional career.
Anderdson Rojas, who is one of the three prior Aces with a multi-homer game, joined the dinger party by launching his fourth of the season out to right field in two-run fashion.
Down but not out, the Aces kept up the fighting spirit and battled back with their final set of swings in the ninth, continuing to do all their damage with the big fly. Following a lineout, the returning A.J. Vukovich launched his sixth homer of the season in solo fashion to bring the game within a run.
A walk to Danny Serretti kept the situation in peril for the Rainiers, and Gavin Conticello delivered the final blow in a pinch-hit appearance for the Aces by mashing a full count offering from Troy Taylor deep over the fence in right field to give Reno a walk-off 7-6 victory.
Conticello’s home run was the second walk-off homer of the season, joining Jacob Amaya from May 29 against Sacramento, and the 27th in team history. Additionally, it was the third pinch-hit homer of the season, matching Luken Baker and Tim Tawa, as well as the 37th in franchise history. However, this was just the third pinch-hit, walk-off home run in Aces history, the first since Ed Easley hit a walk-off grand slam on June 18, 2013.
It was the second time this season that Reno hit five homers in a game, matching their season best initially reached on July 9 at home against Round Rock. Collecting the win was Juan Burgos, who entered and tossed a clean top of the ninth while striking out one batter in the process.
The offensive force was strong on Star Wars Night at Greater Nevada Field as the Aces exploded for 13 runs, the majority of which scored on RBI singles, leading Reno to drop the Rainiers by a 13-11 final on July 25.
The two teams combined to score in eight of the first nine half innings, as the Rainiers produced runs in the first through fifth innings while the Aces dropped multi-run frames from the second through the fourth. Just one night after launching five dingers and scoring all their runs via the home run, the pendulum swung back the other way as Reno produced 12 of 13 runs on RBI singles and the other on a bases-loaded walk.
Reno had just two extra-base hits in the contest, a double each from the duo of Groover and Pavin Smith. Groover and Smith both finished with two hits, though Smith scored three times while Groover crossed the plate only twice.
Of the 13 runs scored in the game by Reno, nine came from the trio of Smith, Conticello and Robinson, the first time that three Aces have scored three runs each in a single game this season. The Aces had not achieved that feat since Trey Mancini, Nicky Lopez, and Jorge Barrosa did so on June 24, 2025.
Robinson also totaled five RBI in the contest, and he has now accounted for two of the three-RBI games by an Ace this season. All the production came from the No. 9 spot in the batting order, making him the fifth player in team history to do so and the first since Bryson Brigman on Aug. 25, 2024.
The duo of Isaiah Campbell and Philip Abner slammed the door shut on the Rainiers over the final 2.2 frames. Campbell entered and tossed 1.1 innings while allowing a single unearned run, striking out two along the way. Meanwhile, Abner converted his first save of the season by yielding only one hit with one punchout by recording the game’s final four outs.
Two different Aces finished just one leg shy of hitting for the cycle on Sunday, but the combined six hits and seven RBI from Jose Fernandez and A.J. Vukovich still powered Reno to an 11-5 win in the series finale against Tacoma.
Fernandez launched a two-run blast with two outs in the first, doubled in the third, and brought home two with a triple in the seventh, leaving him just a single shy of the cycle. Those two RBI were part of a five-run frame in that seventh for the Aces, which broke the 5-5 tie at the start of the inning.
Meanwhile, Vukovich nearly matched him as he doubled in the first, drove home two with a single in the third, and mashed his seventh homer of the season in solo fashion during the sixth to fall a triple shy of the cycle. That was the second homer in as many games for Vukovich after also homering on Friday.
Rojas posted a solid effort by ending 2-for-4 with two runs scored and his homer, while Robison was the only other with a multi-hit game at 2-for-4 with three runs scored. This was the second consecutive game that Robinson scored three runs, the first Ace to do so this season and the eighth player in the PCL this season.
Sunday’s victory helped the Aces claim a 4-2 victory in the series, their third set win in the past four series.
In a week full of offense, no Ace stood out more than Groover as he ended the week hitting .520 with a total of 13 hits, eight runs scored, a team-best five doubles, one triple, two homers, seven RBI, and a 1.592 OPS. All that production has resulted in him being named the PCL Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Robinson also ended with at least one hit in every two at-bats, hitting .579 with a team-high 10 runs scored, two doubles, one homer, a team-high tying eight RBI, and a 1.461 OPS. Fernandez matched Robinson in RBI while hitting .391 with four doubles and one homer, and Rojas trailed shortly behind hitting .381 with five runs scored, two homers and seven RBI.
The Aces now head east to Round Rock, Texas as they prepare for a six-game series with the Express at Dell Diamond beginning on Tuesday, July 28 at 4:45 p.m. PT.