RENO, Nev. – After coming within two outs of a series split in their last set, the Reno Aces focus their attention on their southern rival as the Aces and the Las Vegas Aviators, Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics, face off in the Silver State rivalry for the third and final time in 2026.
Though there ended up being seven different Aces that batted over .300 for the week, the Sacramento River Cats won each of the first three games including an extra-innings win in the series opener. Reno came back to win games four and five, and were two outs away from securing a series split when Sacramento mounted a ninth-inning rally.
This week’s series with the Aviators is the third meeting in the first half of the season, and it will also be the last as the two teams do not face each other in the second half. Reno will have some work to do if they want to avoid a season series loss, as Las Vegas leads this year’s meetings 8-4 after taking four of six both times in the Biggest Little City from April 14-21 and May 12-17.
Despite this year’s tough record, the Aces still lead the Aviators in the all-time series, 161-148 (.521). The 309 nine games played against Las Vegas are tied for the most in Reno team history along with last week’s opponent, Sacramento, but the Aces sit above the .500 mark against Las Vegas unlike the River Cats (150-159, .485). Currently those are the only two teams that Reno has played 300 or more times, though Tacoma will cross that mark in their next series later this season.
Similar to last week’s opponent, the Aviators have been on an impressive run since they last saw the Aces, winning nine of 12 games which includes their current seven-game winning streak. After taking the finale of split six-game set against Albuquerque, Las Vegas won all six they played against Tacoma. All six wins in that series were by two runs or less, with each of the first four being decided by one run (five one-run wins on current winning streak).
Over the past two weeks Las Vegas has worked to a 4.50 ERA, a mark that ranked third in the Pacific Coast League along with their 104 strikeouts. The Aviators allowed the second-fewest runs in total at 56, trailing only the 30 yielded by Oklahoma City which is a total that ranked second fewest in all the Minors.
At the dish, the Aviators have totaled 134 hits over the past two weeks which is tied for the second most in all MiLB along with El Paso, trailing only the 148 hits of Single-A Ontario. Las Vegas’ .304 average over that span ranks fourth in Triple-A (trailing all PCL squads), but they have done it without the power game as their 11 home runs in that time is tied for sixth in the PCL and 19th in Triple-A. However, they do lead Triple-A in doubles with 34 and are tied for fifth in stolen bases (18).
On an individual level, Michael Stefanic ranks third in the PCL in batting average among players with five or more games played over the past two weeks, hitting .432 with six runs scored, a pair of doubles and three RBI. Familiar PCL name Cade Marlowe finds himself on the Aviators and ninth on that same list with Stefanic, batting .400 with a PCL-high tying 15 runs scored, three doubles, one triple, one home run, and nine RBI.
University of Nevada alum Kade Morris has been impressive in that time as well, allowing just one run in his past 13.0 innings for a 0.69 ERA with 10 strikeouts to five walks. He is one of three PCL starters to have a sub-1.00 ERA in that time with two or more starts. Out of the bullpen, three Aviators relievers have not allowed a run while making three or more appearances, including Elvis Alvarado who has gone five straight games without a run allowed and two hits surrendered.
This series gets underway on Tuesday with game one at Las Vegas Ballpark beginning at 7:05 p.m. PT.