RENO, Nev. – The Reno Aces were trending on their way to a series split with the Salt Lake Bees when rain force an early end to the series finale resulting in a cancellation that handed the Bees a 3-2 series victory.
Thrice the Aces allowed and lost by double-digit runs in the series, by they still had a chance to halve their six games with the Bees thanks to an 8-5 win in game three and a last at-bat 6-5 win in game five.
Though Reno was leading game six when the game was halted, the contest had not completed five innings and thus did not meet the qualifications to count as a full contest. Thus, all stats from the game are discarded and the game was cancelled with no chance for rescheduling.
Despite this final series loss, the Aces still finished the year with an 11-9 season series victory over the Bees, and the 11 wins currently tied for their second most against any opponent in 2026 with two others.
Reno found a way to stay close in the early goings of their series opener with Salt Lake, but Salt Lake pulled away down the stretch leading to a 17-4 decision on Aug. 18.
A three-run third inning for the Aces helped them equalize the three runs scored by the Bees in the home half of the second, but Reno still trailed by one after Salt Lake’s game-opening tally in the first.
Two walks and an Anderdson Rojas single loaded the bases with no outs for Reno, with the first run scoring on a wild pitch from Bees starter Sam Aldegheri. Another free pass kept the bases full with one out where Tyler Locklear, who made his return to the Aces lineup, singled through the left side to drove home two.
A two-out RBI single from Adrian Del Castillo was the only run the Aces could produce during a 12-1 defeat at the hands of the Bees on Aug. 19.
Though the Aces (21-26/53-69) had an inning-opening walk to Kristian Robinson erased on a double play, the still capitalized in that third frame with three straight hits to score a run. Pavin Smith started the train and came around to score, while the rehabbing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. kept the line moving in front of Del Castillo.
The loss was the sixth in a row for Reno, their longest losing streak of the season and the longest by the Aces since they dropped a franchise record 12 consecutive games last season from Aug. 7-20, 2025.
A six-run fourth and back-to-back homers in the fifth helped the Aces put their six-game losing streak behind them, outlasting the Bees by an 8-5 final in game three of their series on Aug. 20.
Following three scoreless frames, Reno broke the game open with six runs in the top of the fourth, only to see Salt Lake snatch four right back in the bottom half.
Highlighting that six-run fourth for Reno was an RBI double from Anderdson Rojas, which directly succeeded a two-RBI single from Christian Cerda on a ball down the left field. Gavin Conticello’s groundout brought the game’s first run home after Reno had loaded the bases with no outs, while Pavin Smith was responsible for the final two tallies with a knock into right field.
Conticello and Cerda struck again in the fifth, leaving the yard in back-to-back at-bats and becoming the third pair of Aces to do so this season. The last time Reno did so was from the duo of Aramis Garcia and Angel Ortiz on June 28 against Oklahoma City.
Reno’s bullpen was sharp in locking down the game, allowing just one combined run in 5.1 innings of work. That includes the quartet of Derek Law, Kade Strowd, Bryce Jarvis and Gerardo Carrillo, who yielded only one hit (Strowd) while punching out three. Collecting the win with a run-free sixth was Law while Carrillo converted his fifth save of the night in a perfect ninth, and both struck out one.
While Reno opened the scoring on Aug. 21 with Salt Lake, the Bees buzzed back to secure an 11-1 victory over Reno in game four of their series.
The rehabbing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was the primary source of the Aces’ first and only run of the night, as his sacrifice fly drove home Pavin Smith who had kicked off the game with a single to center field.
Only Landon Sims tossed a scoreless outing from the bullpen, retiring both batters he faced to end the eighth.
Reno managed just five hits in the contest, with the only extra-base knock going to Anderdson Rojas thanks to his double in the top half of the third. Each of the top three spots in Reno’s order had a hit in Smith, LuJames Groover, and Adrian Del Castillo, all of which were singles while Smith scored the run.
After battling back-and-forth all game on Aug. 22, Demetrio Crisantes was the hero on with an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning to give Reno a 6-5 victory at Salt Lake.
Reno scored once on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. RBI single in the top of the third, then again the BLC-Nine had an answer to keep the score close in the fifth as three straight singles capped off by an RBI knock from Crisantes plated Reno’s second run of the night.
The Aces kept the offense going in the fifth with a pair of runs giving them a 4-3 lead, their first lead in the series since the fourth inning of Thursday’s game. LuJames Groover added an insurance run in the top of the seventh with an RBI single, his third hit of the night.
Unfortunately, the lead would not hold as Salt Lake clubbed back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie things up before the tarp was pulled and the game entered a rain delay in the night, tied 5-5.
Following a brief delay, Adrian Del Castillo and Manuel Pena recorded one-out singles to set the scene for Crisantes’ game-winner before Isaiah Campbell tossed a scoreless frame to close it out.
Rain played spoiler in Sunday’s offensive explosion of a game in Salt Lake as the series finale between the Aces and Bees was suspended due to the weather.
After starting late due to rain, Reno and Salt Lake combined for six home runs in four innings before the rain returned to ultimately suspend the game and bring an abrupt end to the series.
The suspension is the first time a game has been suspended or cancelled for the Aces since July 14, 2024.
Thanks to a pair of three-hit games, Manuel Pena led the way at the dish by hitting .636 (7-for-11), but had only one run scored and walked a trio of times. Christian Cerda led the Aces with three RBI and matched Conticello for the team lead in homers with one.
The BLC-Nine will return home from their two-week road trip this week, hosting the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Game one begins on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. from Greater Nevada Field.