RENO, Nev. – The last series before the All-Star break was one full of offense as the Reno Aces had one of their best weeks of the year at the dish, leading them to take four of six games in friendly confines against the Round Rock Express, Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
Tuesday’s series opener almost saw the most impressive of comebacks as the Aces nearly eliminated at 10-0 deficit thanks to nine straight runs, but Reno’s late push fell just shy as the Express added on late for a 14-9 win on July 7.
All the Reno scoring started with an RBI groundout from Kristian Robinson in the fifth, then the Aces added three more in the sixth thanks to a pair of homers from Tyler Locklear and Angel Ortiz. The first left the bat of Locklear in solo fashion to left field, while Ortiz lifted a two-run blast out to right center.
A five-run seventh nearly completed the comeback, which would have been tied for the largest in franchise history, but a four-run ninth by Round Rock sealed game.
Aramis Garcia had a hard liner to the right-center gap and turned on the speed to third base for his first triple since he had two during the 2019 season as a member of the Sacramento River Cats.
Eight of nine Aces in the starting lineup had a hit in the game and scored a run, while seven of the nine drove in at least one run. Leading the way in hits was Robinson as he closed his game 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored
Trailing by five runs with just two sets of swings remaining on July 8, Reno saved their best for last and used a game-tying grand slam to set up their second walk-off walk of the season, all resulting in a 14-13 win over Round Rock.
Reno slugged four homers which was their most in a game this season (at the time), and their most since they also hit four on Sept. 9, 2025 against Las Vegas. Even further, today’s game featured 35 combined hits between the two teams, just four hits shy of the Greater Nevada Field all-time record. The last time it happened was June 24, 2025 when the Aces hosted Salt Lake.
Seven of nine Aces logged hits in the game including four from Del Castillo in his first game back with Reno since being optioned on Monday. Del Castillo finished his day with three RBI and a double in addition to his homer and two RBI.
Locklear was also key in the contest for Reno, ending his day 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two doubles, and two RBI. Pena also had a trio of hits and RBI including his homer, while Ortiz had a four-RBI day with his homer representing his only hit of the game.
Of the five pitchers Reno used, the win belonged to Gerardo Carrillo (6-3) as he tossed the final five outs and allowed one hit and walk each while punching out three.
The Aces got to the scoring early and often on July 9, often by launching an impressive home run, plating at least one run in each of the first six innings leading to a comfortable 12-6 win over the Express at Greater Nevada Field.
Reno followed their four-homer game with a five-homer contest, yet again setting their season best while hitting their most homers in a game since also hitting five against Sugar Land on June 14, 2025.
Both Anderdson Rojas and Locklear had two homers in the contest, the first in Rojas’ career and the seventh for Locklear. They became the second and third Aces this season to have a multi-homer game along with Jacob Amaya.
Manuel Pena tallied the other blast in the game, his second in as many days and a two-run shot with two outs in the frame. It also represented the 29th homer of the season for Pena (between both Double-A and Triple-A), which was tied for second most at all levels of affiliated baseball.
Reno totaled 19 hits on the night, a new season high and their most in a game since they also had 19 during a 15-13 loss in 11 innings at home against Sacramento on July 6, 2025. Eight of nine Aces in the starting lineup had hits, with seven of those eight logging multi-hit games.
A contest filled with offense at the beginning faded down the stretch, but not before the Aces scored in each of their first four sets of swings to put themselves on the path to an 8-6 win over Round Rock on July 10.
Reno slowed down and had just one homer in the game, a two-run blast thanks to Locklear in the home half of the first. That marked his fourth homer of the series and bumped his season total up to seven. It also marked the 12th home run of the series through four games for the Aces.
Though he allowed six runs on 10 hits, Reno’s starter Tommy Henry (2-5) worked five full frames and struck out two while claiming his second win of the season. The Aces’ bullpen combined to work the final four frames without allowing a run while yielding just one hit and one walk.
The Reno offense stayed scorching hot on July 11 as they produced a trio of two-run innings which, combined with a solid effort from the Aces’ bullpen, resulted in an 8-2 win over the Express.
Finally in the bottom of the second Reno struck first, reached the scoreboard, with Tyler Locklear opening the scoring in familiar fashion as he launched his fifth homer of the season to start the inning. That marked his fifth homer of the series against the Express, which is the most by an Ace in a six-game series in team history.
Not through with the inning, Gavin Conticello introduced himself to the Reno crowd by ripping an RBI single in his first at-bat that scored Kristian Robinson, who had reached on a walk. Reno continued to add to their lead late including the first Triple-A home run from Conticello, making him the fourth Ace this season to homer in his Triple-A debut.
Following a walk to Anderdson Rojas in the third, Adrian Del Castillo connected with a cutter and launched a 481-foot home run out to right field that quickly put Reno back in front. That homer by Del Castillo is the longest tracked home run in professional baseball this season and is the third longest home run in Greater Nevada Field history since daily tracking began in 2022.
Four Aces had multi-hit games including a perfect 3-for-3 game in the debut of Conticello, as he scored twice and drove in two in addition to his homer.
Aiming for a 5-1 series victory, the Aces’ bats started to run out of juice late despite another three-hit game from Tyler Locklear as the Express claimed a 5-2 victory in the series finale on July 12.
Twice Locklear drove in LuJames Groover, once with a double in the first and once with a single in the sixth. A double in the eighth helped Locklear end the game with three hits, giving him 14 for the series after logging multiple hits in all six games. Locklear’s impressive week saw him slug five homers, tally nine extra-base hits, and drive in a total of 11 runs. Those nine extra-base hits are tied for the most in a series all-time by a Reno Ace.
The loss may have prevented the Acs from earning their first 5-1 series win since the end of the 2024 season, but they have still won consecutive series for the first time since set Nos. 2 and 3 this season when they took four of six each at Albuquerque (March 31-April 5) before doing it again against Salt Lake (April 8-12).
By the end of the series the Aces smashed 15 home runs, their most in a series this season and the fourth most in a series in franchise history.
There were eight total Aces that hit above .300, five that were above .400, and three that sat above .500 for the week. It was a toss-up to the most impressive, as Del Castillo hit a team-leading .588 (10-for-17) with eight runs scored, five doubles, two homers, five RBI, and a 1.826 OPS.
Not to be outdone, Locklear batted .560 (14-for-25) with his impressive production totals and a 1.953 OPS, which was the OPS of all PCL hitters that logged 10 or more plate appearances.
Following a well-deserved four days off for the All-Star break, the Aces will return to the field on July 17 when they travel to Salt Lake to take on the Bees in a three-game set.