El Paso’s early three-run lead slipped away Friday night, as the Chihuahuas fell to the Reno Aces 6-5. The Aces scored four runs in a seven-batter fifth inning against Casey Kelly, who suffered his second Triple-A loss of the season.
Hunter Renfroe went 4-for-5 with two RBIs in the loss for El Paso.
The Chihuahuas scored twice in the third on back-to-back, two-out RBI hits from Renfroe and Ramiro Pena. Jason Hagerty’s two-out, two-strike single put El Paso ahead 3-0 in the fourth. After Reno got on the board with a single run in the bottom of the fourth, Renfroe came through again in the fifth with an RBI single to put El Paso’s lead at 4-1. Reno’s big fifth inning kept the Aces ahead to stay.
Reno manager Phil Nevin was ejected in the fifth inning by first base umpire Travis Eggert.
Las Vegas beat Tacoma on Friday night at Cashman Field, holding El Paso’s magic number at four. The Chihuahuas have four games remaining in the regular season while the 51s have three.
As a reminder, if the Chihuahuas and 51s finish with identical records, El Paso wins the Southern Division as a result of the head-to-head record tiebreaker.
Gameday Box Score: http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2015_09_04_elpaaa_renaaa_1&mode=gameday
Team Records: El Paso (75-65), Reno (69-71)
Next Game: Saturday, 6:05 p.m., doubleheader at Aces Ballpark in Reno. Game coverage begins at 5:55 p.m. on 600 ESPN El Paso and www.epchihuahuas.com.
Reno 6 El Paso 5 – Friday
WP: Webster (4-6)
LP: Kelly (1-2)
S: Fleck (7)
Time: 2:51
Attn: 5,539
