Aces Hit Four Homers and Edge OKC, 9-8

Reno Aces — 9

Oklahoma City Baseball Club — 8

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 – Greater Nevada Field – Reno, Nev.

Game Summary: The Reno Aces hit four home runs and needed an incredible game-saving catch by center fielder Albert Almora Jr. to edge the Oklahoma City Baseball Club, 9-8, Wednesday night at Greater Nevada Field. Drew Avans gave Oklahoma City (1-1/41-36) the lead on the first pitch of the game when he hit a home run. The Aces (1-1/36-41) went ahead in the second inning at 2-1, but Jonathan Araúz tied the game in third inning with a RBI double. Deyvison De Los Santos homered in the fourth inning to give Reno a 3-2 lead before Ryan Ward responded with a two-run single in the fifth inning to put OKC back in front at 4-3. The Aces then scored the game’s next six runs, including a grand slam with two outs in the seventh inning by De Los Santos, as Reno led, 9-4. OKC responded with four runs in the eighth inning to close the gap to one run, including a RBI double by James Outman and RBI triple by Ward that was nearly a game-tying home run but hit off the top of the right-center field fence and stayed in play. With two runners on and two outs in the ninth inning, Avans smashed a ball to deep center field, but Almora leapt at the wall to haul in the catch and end the game.

Of Note:

-Oklahoma City fell to 9-13 in June and has yet to win three consecutive games this month. Wednesday also marked the fourth time in June OKC lost despite scoring at least eight runs – something that had not happened this season prior to June 1…Each of OKC’s last three losses have been by one or two runs, as OKC fell to 9-13 in one-run games this season.

-Drew Avans went 2-for-5 with a walk and three runs scored. He homered on the first pitch of the game, collecting his sixth overall homer and second leadoff homer of the season. He also eclipsed 400 hits during his Oklahoma City career…Avans has reached base safely in 21 straight games, batting .330 during that time…He leads the Minor Leagues with 67 runs scored this season.

-Ryan Ward went 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBI, collecting his team-leading 16th multi-RBI game and 11th game with three-plus RBI…Ward has at least one extra-base hit in five of his last six games and has seven RBI during that time.

-James Outman extended his current hitting streak to six games after going 2-for-5 with a RBI double. During the hitting streak, Outman is 10-for-28.

-Austin Gauthier and Jonathan Araúz each reached base four times. Gauthier went 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk and two runs scored…Araúz went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two walks. He is 8-for-23 over his last six games.

Next Up: OKC faces the Aces starting at 8:35 p.m. CT Thurs at Greater Nevada Field. Live radio coverage of each OKC Baseball Club game begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com and through the free iHeartRadio or MiLB First Pitch apps.