Sacramento rips Aces with 4 homeruns

RENO — Austin Slater hit two of Sacramento’s four home runs as the River Cats routed the Reno Aces, 12-4, on Monday night at Greater Nevada Field. The Sacramento center fielder notched his second multi-homer game of the series and had a run-scoring double for good measure, leaving him with 10 hits — seven for extra bases — through the first three games of the four-game series.

Both teams went quietly in the first, but fireworks quickly came in the following frame. Sacramento’s Jarrett Parker opened the second with a deep drive high off the fence in right-center, originally ruled a double. The umpire crew then met before awarding Parker with a home run. Aces skipper Phil Nevin was promptly ejected after the call was changed.

Following Nevin’s sixth ejection of 2016, Slater lined an opposite-field homer into the River Cats’ right-field bullpen, giving Sacramento back-to-back jacks and a 2-0 advantage.

Sacramento (61-69) hung another four runs — all unearned — on Matt Buschmann in the third. Zach Borenstein dropped a low line drive to set up the outburst. With two on and two down, Slater drove his fourth homer of the series to dead center, and Travis Ishikawa followed suit, belting a solo homer out to right to make it 6-0.