WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A three-run first and a dominant effort by the pitching staff, including a solid start by Tommy Henry, helped the Reno Aces secure a 7-4 Saturday night victory over the Sacramento River Cats.
Before most fans had found their seats the Aces (34-39/66-82) had snatched a lead, scoring three straight runs before recording an out in the first inning. Santiago Espinal singled while Tommy Troy reached on an error, all setting up a two-RBI double for Adrian Del Castillo.
Before the inning could end, the Aces traded two outs for a run when Del Castillo crossed the plate on a double play ball from Aramis Garcia.
Matt O’Neill tacked one more onto that early lead in the top of the fourth when he ripped a single through the right side, allowing A.J. Vukovich to cross the plate after he had originally doubled to left field with one out.
The River Cats (37-376/79-67) struck back for the first time in the home half of the fourth on a ground ball from Eddys Leonard, scoring Bo Davidson after the latter singled to open the frame.
However, Reno snatched that run back when Kristian Robinson launched a solo blast to straightaway center field, his 15th homer of the campaign. That homer made Robinson the only Ace in franchise history to record a season of 15 homers and 22 stolen bases, as no other Ace has ever eclipsed a 14-homer, 16-stolen base season.
For good measure, the Aces added one more insurance tally in each the eighth and ninth, the first an RBI single from Anderdson Rojas while Garcia matched that in the ninth.
Dominant starting pitching has been a theme for Reno this week, and that continued Saturday as Tommy Henry (6-8) worked five full innings and allowed only the single run on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks.
It has been a history making season for Henry, who is already Reno’s all-time strikeout leader now with 354, but he earned his 24th career Aces victory which is now tied with Zach Kroenke for third place in the Aces record books.
The trio of Dylan Ray, Juan Burgos and Kade Strowd entered after Henry and each punched out one batter in a clean inning, each working successively from the sixth through eighth frames.
On last was Spencer Giesting, who was tagged for both a sacrifice fly and a two-run homer by Eddys Leonard. However, despite Sacramento pulling within three, Reno finally secured the 7-4 final.
Of Reno’s 12 hits in the game, three came from the bat of Rojas who ended his night 3-for-4. Meanwhile, goth Demetrio Crisantes and O’Neill ended with two-hit efforts, the latter of which drove in a run. Del Castillo’s double gave him two RBI to lead Reno on the night, while Vukovich also doubled and scored once.
The 2026 season comes to a close on Sunday, and the Aces have a chance to finish it with a series win when they battle Sacramento for the final time on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.