Iowa Cubs fall to Reno Aces in Memorial Day action

The Iowa Cubs scored three times early, but were held scoreless for the final six frames, falling to the Reno Aces 8-3 on an afternoon when the ball flew out of Principal Park, thanks to a strong wind blowing straight out to dead-center.

The visiting Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, plated what proved to be the winning run in the top of the fifth, when Jamie Romak hit a two-run homer off Iowa starter Eric Jokisch (2-2, 3.67), making it 5-3 Reno.

The Aces added one run in the seventh on a Kevin Frandsen RBI single and two more in the eighth, when Peter O’Brien and Nick Evans each drove in runs on base hits against left-handed reliever Drake Britton. On the afternoon, Reno out-hit Iowa by a sizable 17-to-8 margin.

After Reno (20-24) scored in the opening frame on an error by Iowa first baseman Taylor Davis, the I-Cubs answered back in a big way in the bottom of the second. David paired up with Rubi Silva to go back-to-back, propelling Iowa (22-21) on top of the Aces, 2-1.

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Earlier in the contest, Javier Baez narrowly missed a three-run shot, driving a ball to the warning track in right-center field. However, the fly ball scored Arismendy Alcantara, giving Iowa a 3-2 edge that would vanish for good in the fifth.

Jokisch was charged with five runs (four earned) and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings on Monday, striking out three and walking one. Armando Rivero tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings, while Joe Ortiz allowed a tally in one inning of work. Dallas Britton was roughed up for two earned runs on three hits in a lone inning of work and Yoervis Medina finished things out with a scoreless inning of work.

The Aces’ two-through-six hitters all had multiple base hits in the win, with second baseman Jamie Romak going 2-for-4 with two runs and four runs batted in on the afternoon. Kevin Frandsen recorded three hits out of the seven spot for Reno, as well.

The Aces’ starter, Gabriel Arias, tossed six innings of three-run ball, good enough to move to 2-0 on the young season. He did allow seven base hits, but struck out five and did not walk a batter.

For Iowa, Baez went 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Alcantara went 3-for-4 with a run scored in the loss. Adron Chambers and the Cubs’ first baseman Davis also had two hits apiece.

Next: Baez homers twice as I-Cubs top Tacoma