RENO, Nev. – Extra innings were kryptonite once again for the Reno Aces, as despite tying the game in the bottom of the ninth, it was the Salt Lake Bees that managed a pair of runs in the 10th and secured an 8-7 victory on Friday.
In their first set of swings in the game the Bees (334-32) took the lead, plating two after a single from Nelson Rada set the stage for a two-run blast by Josh Lowe. Quickly the Aces (30-37) got to work, catching the home run bug with an Anderdson Rojas solo blast in the home half of the first before a Matt O’Neill single in the bottom of the frame.
Just an inning later and the Aces snatched their first lead of the game, with Rojas striking again on an RBI single after Jacob Amaya had started the frame with a triple. That was the second straight inning starting with a three-bagger and was one of six two-triple games by the Aces this season. Rojas would later come around to score on sacrifice fly from O’Neill.
Salt Lake was up next to draw the game level again, managing a run in both the fourth and fifth frames. The second of those two was yet another home run from Josh Lowe, his second of the game and one of four Bees homers in the contest.
While an Andrew Velazquez RBI single that scored Kristian Robinson put Reno back in front, Christian Moore came up big for the Bees with a pair of solo shots. The first tied the game in the seventh, while the second was a two-out dinger
Down to their final set of swings, a single from Rojas ended up being the game-tying run when Tyler Locklear’s double to deep center allowed Rojas to score all the way from first.
Tasked with facing another extra-innings game, the Aces found themselves in a similar position after they saw the Bees score twice in the top half of the fame. Though Reno was able to push one across on an Amaya single, that was as much as they could muster with the final score resting at 8-7.
Tonight’s loss drops the Aces to 2-6 in extra-innings games this season, with the loss charged to Antonio Menedez (0-2) after he allowed the two 10th inning runs, though one was unearned.
Starring in the game for Reno was Rojas, who was the first Ace this season to reach base in all six of his plate appearances. It has been quite a while since the last Ace did so, as Rojas is the first to achieve the feat since Jake Hager did so April 27, 2023. Rojas closed his night a perfect 5-for-5 from the dish, walked once, and scored three times in addition to his homer and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Velazquez kept up his hot streak by going 3-for-5, doubling and driving one in. Locklear also doubled for his only hit, driving in two with a walk.
This series is once again level at two games apiece, and both teams will try to gain the edge when game five gets underway at 6:35 p.m. PT from Greater Nevada Field on Saturday.