Diamondbacks Minor-league Round-up September 23-27

The final week of the season, and it’s just the Aces who are left playing. Let’s catch up with their action over the last few days.

September 23: Reno 5, Albuquerque 13. The Aces scored first here, but Kenny Hernandez allowed a three-spot in the bottom of the first. He pitched into the fifth, but was charged with five runs on seven hits, with no walks and four K’s. Reno did come back to take a 5-3 lead in the fourth, with Drew Ellis hitting his 20th homer. However, a three-run fourth for the home team regained their advantage, and was followed by a five-run sixth, as Oscar Pimentel got roughed up. Andrew Young, Stuart Fairchild and Josh Hager each had two hits for Reno, and Alek Thomas got on base three times, with a hit and two walks. But ever Aces’ pitcher gave up at least one earned run.

September 24: Reno 5, Albuquerque 7. This was blown, and blown badly, as a 5-2 lead with two outs in the ninth was squandered. Matt Peacock was the culprit, coughing up five hits, including a walk-off two-run homer. That spoiled a good collective pitching performance, beginning with Matt Tabor’s four innings of one-run ball. Ryan Weiss followed with a pair of scoreless frames, then Jesus Liranzo put up a zero and Taylor Clarke allowed an unearned run to take the Aces to the ninth in good position. Alek Thomas and Gerardo Perdomo each had three hits, although the latter was caught stealing, while Andrew Young drove in three runs on a pair of knocks.

September 25: Reno 1, Albuquerque 3. A rare pitcher’s duel in the PCL, with the two sides combining for a total of only nine hits. Edgar Arredondo got the start and threw four scoreless innings on just one hit, with a walk and two strikeouts. Tyler Holton followed with perfect innings in the fifth and sixth, but Keegan Curtis gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to take the loss, and Brandyn Sittings provided another long ball later in the frame. Mack Lemieux worked a scoreless eighth. Cooper Hummel had two of the Aces’ five hits, and also stole a base in the sixth. That set up Andrew Young to drive in Reno’s only tally with a single, as they were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

September 26: Reno 7, Albuquerque 6. The Aces were down to their final out, but pulled this out of the fire. Alek Thomas singled, then Cooper Hummel delivered his sixth home-run of the year (above) to turn a one-run deficit into the margin of victory. Reno had been 6-2 down after five, Riley Smith giving up all those runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts. But the bullpen gave them four clean innings thereafter, capped off by Jesus Liranzo’s second save, around a one-out single. Josh Hager also homered for the Aces, and there were two hit games for him, Hummel, Stuart Fairchild and Thomas. Miguel Aguilar picked up the decision for his scoreless eighth inning.

September 27: Reno 2, Albuquerque 5. There was to be no joy in the Aces’ final road-game of the 2021 campaign. Matt Bain took the start and a two-run homer in the bottom of the first gave the Isotopes a lead they never relinquished. Bain scattered six hits and a walk across three innings, with five strikeouts and three earned runs allowed. Reno had taken the lead as Alek Thomas led off the game with his eighth home-run (below), and kept it close, making it 3-2 on a fourth inning error. The bullpen gave them four scoreless, but couldn’t make it five, Ryan Weiss being touched for three hits in a two-run eighth. The Aces could muster only three hits; Thomas added two walks to his home-run.

After an off-day tomorrow, the Aces return home to Reno, finishing off their season with a five-game homestand against Las Vegas.