RENO, Nev. – The Reno Aces had to battle through the final out on Friday as their seven-run lead nearly disappeared, but in the end, Reno was able to secure a 9-8 victory over the Las Vegas Aviators to level their series at 2-2.
The Aviators (21-20) gave a rude awakening to Aces (22-21) starter Dylan Ray, who was making his return from the Injured List, by launching a solo home run to lead off the game from Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. That ended up being the only blemish on Ray’s final line, working the next three innings without a run allowed while ending his night with four punchouts and four hits allowed with two walks.
Reno quickly got Ray off the hook, producing magic with their leadoff batter as Kristian Robinson ripped a triple to deep center field. Robinson waited on base just briefly, scoring on an RBI groundout from Tommy Troy.
That marked the second leadoff triple of the season for Robinson, as he also did so against this same Las Vegas squad during a 10-7 win on April 17. Overall, this is the third straight season in which an Ace has hit at least two leadoff triples, joining the duo of Jake McCarthy (2025) and Albert Almora Jr. (2024).
Locked at 1-1, doubles from Troy and Luken Baker broke the tie and gave the Aces a lead they would never give back. Tyler Locklear was hit by a pitch between those two-baggers, allowing Baker to drive in both on his liner to left field. Two batters later and the newest Reno Ace, Luis Urías, earned an RBI on a single down the left-field line.
Though the Aviators plated one in the top of the fifth, Reno continued to pour it on with three more in the bottom of the sixth. Key in that frame was Kristian Robinson, who singled with two outs to drive home both Urías and Andrew Velazquez and then found himself on second thanks to a throwing error.
Quickly Robinson stole third, sitting just 90 feet from home where he eventually scored thanks to a wild pitch by Nick Hernandez.
Urías struck again in the home half of the seventh, making Las Vegas pay for a leadoff walk to Baker by launching his first Reno home run of 2026 out to left field.
Las Vegas made the affair interesting in the final moments as the Aviators mounted a pair of rallies that nearly swung the contest in their favor. Las Vegas scored six times in the final two frames including four runs in the eighth, and the Aviators had the game-tying run on base in the bottom of the ninth when the game ended.
Collecting the win for the Aces in relief was Isaiah Campbell (1-1), his first of the season after he went a full inning and allowed one run on three hits with a strikeout. Drey Jameson also appeared in relief but saw both his six-game hitless streak and seven-game scoreless streak come to ends.
Both Baker and Urías ended their night with three hits, the former going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI, a double and a walk. Meanwhile, Urías was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, a homer and three RBI. Two others had multi-hit nights, including two two-baggers from Troy as he finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and RBI.
Tonight’s win evened the set at two games apiece, and both sides will look to gain the edge in this Silver State rivalry when they line up for game five of this series on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. PT at Greater Nevada Field.
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