Whitesell propels Aces to win

By LARRY BARKER

Nevada Appeal News Service

RENO - Josh Whitesell hit a double off the top of the wall in right field to score Trent Oeltjen with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Reno Aces edged the Las Vegas 51's, 10-9, in a Friday night slugfest at Aces Ballpark.

Jason Urquidez (3-1) picked up the win in relief. He was the third Aces pitcher in a game that saw the teams combine for 25 hits - 15 by Reno - and 19 runs. Rommie Lewis (1-1) took the loss in relief for Las Vegas. The win moved the Aces over .500 at 45-44 while the 51's dropped to 41-48.

The 51's jumped on Aces starter Brian Barnett for two runs in the first inning.

Walks to Buck Coats and Randy Ruiz, sandwiched around a single by ex-Nevada star Joe Inglett loaded the bases. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Brett Harper and Aaron Mathews brought home the runs.

Barnett settled down after that rough start and, including the two sacrifice flies, set down 14 out of 16 batters through the fifth inning.

"We had to have solid pitching from Barnett, and he started off the game with the bases loaded and no outs, and we're thinking 'Here we go,'" Aces manager Brett Butler said. "But he minimized the damage and went five innings plus."

While Barnett cruised along, the Aces went to work at the plate and built a 9-2 lead through four innings.

Brandon Allen, recently acquired in a Diamondbacks trade with the White Sox, hit a three-run home run in the second inning in his second at-bat with Reno to put the Aces in front, 3-2.

Reno upped its lead to 5-2 in the third on back-to-back doubles by Ryan Roberts and Rusty Ryal, and an RBI single by Whitesell.

Four more Reno runs on five hits, including a double by Chris Roberson to score a run, sent Las Vegas starter TJ Beam to the bench,

Barnett allowed one run in the fourth when Angel Sanchez tripled and then scored on Buck Coats' ground out. He finally ran out of gas in the sixth, giving up four runs.

Brett Harper hit a two-run home run, Kevin Howard clubbed an RBI double and Kyle Phillps brought home a run with a single as the 51's cut the lead to 9-7.

Las Vegas tied the score in the eighth against reliever Jose Marte.

A Jason Lane triple followed a Kevin Howard double to score one run.

Moments later, Lane scored the tying run on a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the inning, Oeltjen led off with a single the moved to second on Roberts' groundout. One out later, Whitesell came up and clubbed the first pitch he saw off the top of the right field wall to score Oeltjen with the winning run.

"That was one of the better swings I've taken in recent weeks," Whitesell said. "It felt good to help the team win a game."

"We know that our offense is going to be in every single ballgame," Butler said. "That's the difference."