RENO — Justin Marks allowed one run over six innings to lead the Reno Aces to a 2-1 win Saturday night, paving the way to a doubleheader sweep of the Fresno Grizzlies at Aces Ballpark.
The southpaw allowed a solo home run in the first inning to Fresno’s Alex Presley, then nothing the rest of the way. Marks scattered five hits, did not walk a batter, and recorded three strikeouts.
Trailing 1-0 going into the bottom of the first inning, the Aces (35-41) wasted little time getting even. First baseman Nick Evans belted his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot to left-field to tie the game at 1-1.
As Marks settled in, so did Fresno (44-32) starter Dan Straily. The game remained 1-1 until the bottom of the fourth when Reno put another run on the board.
Jamie Romak reached on a one-out base hit and came around to score on a RBI double off the wall in left-center by Peter O’Brien.
With a 2-1 lead, Marks worked around a one-out single in the fifth, and retired the side in order in the top of the sixth inning.
He turned it over to reliever Kaleb Fleck who walked a pair in the seventh but got Max Stassi to bounce into a fielder’s choice to end it.
The Aces busted out the bats and got a brilliant pitching performance in an 8-0 win over the Fresno Grizzlies in game one of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Aces Ballpark.
Right-hander Gabriel Arias threw the fifth complete-game shutout in team history. He scattered five hits and issued two walks and struck out one batter. With the win, Arias improved his record to 4-1 on the season.
Game four of the five-game series is set for this afternoon. Right-hander Aaron Blair (1-1, 7.59) starts for the Aces against right-hander Asher Wojciechowski (5-0, 3.54) for the Grizzlies. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.