RENO, NV (July 26, 2026) — The Tacoma Rainiers (11-16/44-58) and Reno Aces (16-11/48-54) were tied after six innings on Sunday night at Greater Nevada Field, but the Aces pulled away late to take the series finale 11-5. Stuart Fairchild, Miles Mastrobuoni and Victor Labrada each tallied multi-hit games out of the seven, eight and nine spots, respectively, accounting for six of Tacoma’s 10 hits in the loss.
The Aces struck first in the home half of the opening frame. Kristian Robinson got the inning started with a leadoff single. After Jhonathan Díaz retired the next two batters, Jose Fernandez (5) hit a two-run home run to left field, putting the Aces on top, 2-0.
Tacoma got one run back in the top of the second inning. Lazaro Montes ripped a leadoff double to right field. Stuart Fairchild got Tacoma on the board as he lined a single to right, driving in Montes and making it a 2-1 game.
Reno plated another pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning, doing all the damage with two outs. The first two batters of the frame were retired, but LuJames Groover walked and Jose Fernandez hit a ground-rule double to right-center field to put two in scoring position. A.J. Vukovich added to the Aces lead as he ripped a two-run single to left field, giving Reno a 4-1 advantage.
The Rainiers capitalized on a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game. With one out, three consecutive hitters reached: Fairchild walked, Mastrobuoni doubled to the left-center gap and Labrada was hit by a pitch. Bliss took advantage with a single to left field to move everyone up 90 feet and cut the deficit to 4-2. Rob Refsnyder did the same with a line drive to right field to make it 4-3. Michael Arroyo tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left, bringing in Labrada to knot the game at four.
Tacoma’s momentum carried into the sixth inning to take the lead, getting back-to-back, two-out doubles. Mastrobuoni doubled off the right field wall and Labrada drove him in with a double down the left field line to put the Rainiers on top, 5-4.
The Aces countered in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Vukovich (7) clubbed a solo home run to left-center field, tying the game at five.
Reno manufactured the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Anderson Rojas reached on a leadoff infield single, bringing the end of the start for Díaz and bringing Charlie Beilenson in for relief. Robinson singled to left field and Demetrio Crisantes laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Rojas beat Beilenson’s throw to third, loading the bases with no outs. Groover put Reno in front with a sacrifice fly to left field, and Fernandez added on with a two-run triple to the right-center gap, extending the Aces lead to 8-5.
Rojas (5) added on in the bottom of the eighth inning with a two-out, solo home run to push Reno’s lead to 9-5. Robinson extended the inning with a walk and scored on a Crisantes RBI single to make it 10-5. Groover followed with a triple to right-center field, driving in Crisantes for the third run of the inning, making it an 11-5 game.
Labrada led off the ninth inning with a double, but that would be all for Tacoma’s offense as they dropped the series finale 11-5. The Rainiers return home to Cheney Stadium on Tuesday, July 28, for a 12:05 PM first pitch against the Sacramento River Cats. Gabe Mosser is scheduled to make the start on the mound for Tacoma.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- OF Lazaro Montes doubled in the first inning on Sunday, his fourth consecutive game with a double, the longest streak by a Rainiers hitter this season, and tied for the longest streak in the PCL…it’s the longest doubles streak by a Tacoma hitter since INF Tyler Locklear doubled in four straight games from April 23-26, 2025.
- INF Miles Mastrobuoni matched his career-high with a pair of doubles on Sunday, doing so for the 17th time in his career…it’s the first time this season that Mastrobuoni has logged back-to-back multi-hit games, and first time since September 16-17, 2025 with Tacoma against Oklahoma City.
- INF Ryan Bliss extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a two-hit night on Sunday, his third consecutive multi-hit game, the third time this season Bliss has recorded three straight multi-hit games…Bliss’ 17-game on-base streak is the second-longest of the season for Tacoma, trailing only Jhonny Pereda’s 22-game streak from April 29-July 11.
- The bottom third of Tacoma’s lineup (Stuart Fairchild, Miles Mastrobuoni and Victor Labrada) combined to go 6-for-10 with four doubles and a triple on Sunday, the most extra-base hits for Tacoma’s bottom third of the order this season, and most since April 20, 2019 at Albuquerque, when Kristopher Negrón, Ian Miller and Tim Lopes combined for five doubles.