RENO, Nev. – Fresh off a series in which they scored six or more runs on four occasions while all six games were separated by three runs or less, the Reno Aces make a return trip to Texas as they battle the El Paso Chihuahuas, Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, in their second series of the season.
Despite Reno’s fifth straight series defeat last week against Salt Lake, four different Aces eclipsed the .400 mark, and two even climbed above .500 in Anderdson Rojas and Christian Cerda. Rojas was arguably more impressive, going 10-for-17 (.588) with seven runs scored, one homer and four RBI, while Cerda closed at .556 (5-for-9) with two runs scored, an RBI and three walks.
Though he could not quite recreate his PCL Player of the Week effort from the week prior, Tawa finished his week hitting .280 (7-for-25) with four runs scored, one double, two triples, two homers, a team-leading eight RBI, and a 1.077 OPS.
The Aces now prepare for their second matchup of the campaign with the Chihuahuas, as the two teams met in El Paso earlier this season from April 21-26. Though Reno scored at least five runs in every game and eclipsed double-digit runs once, a loss in the series finale on April 26 denied them a series split after taking games four and five.
Despite the series loss, the Aces still lead the all-time series with El Paso by an extremely slim margin, 77-75 (.507). Of the eight teams that Reno has faced at least 100 times, Reno’s 5.46 ERA ranks right in the middle in fourth place as does Reno’s .288 batting average.
Since the Aces and Chihuahuas last met, El Paso has gone 19-23 (.452) which is just two games better than the Aces (17-25, .405) and the sixth-most wins in the Pacific Coast League. Over that time the Chihuahuas has worked to a 7.07 ERA, a mark that is the second highest in the PCL over that time, trailing just the 7.14 ERA of Albuquerque. They have struggled in strikeouts, as their 309 punchouts rank last in the PCL and second fewest in Triple-A.
While they have struggled at the plate, El Paso has been dominant at the plate as their .302 average since April 28 is tops in all Triple-A, with their 282 runs scored in that time ranking fourth in the PCL but sixth across Triple-A. The Chihuahuas’ 54 home runs and PCL lead-tying 14 triples have helped them to rank first in slugging percentage (.485), and their .863 OPS trails Albuquerque by just points for the PCL lead (.869).
Despite that success at the dish, the Chihuahuas have just two players in the top 20 batting averages of those in the PCL with 25 or more plate appearances. Pacing El Paso in this time is Nick Solak, who’s .371 average ranks 10th across the PCL despite recording the most at-bats of anyone in the top 10. Solak’s eight homers are tied for third over that time while his 38 RBI are tied for seventh.
However, Solak has since been recalled, leaving Carlos Rodríguez as the top offensive El Paso threat. He enters on a 20-game hit streak for El Paso and is the reigning PCL Player of the Week. That hitting streak stands as the current longest active in the PCL, and is just two games shy of matching Cole Carigg (Albuquerque) for the longest in the league this season. Over this 20-game stretch, Rodríguez is batting .341 with six extra-base hits and 18 RBI.
From the mound, El Paso has two of the seven highest starter ERA’s when looking at starting pitchers with five or more outings. Meanwhile, Evan Fitterer’s 5.04 ERA ranks as the best starting ERA on El Paso in that time, but slots just 16th in the PCL.
Currently, El Paso has just one top-30 Padres prospect on their roster, that being right-hander Garrett Hawkins who has worked exclusively as a reliever while logging a 1-0 record and 6.17 ERA with 20 strikeouts to 26 walks.
This six-game set begins tonight at 5:35 p.m. PT from Southwest University Ballpark.