Triple-A baseball: El Paso (Mitchell) at Reno (Duplantier)

The Arizona Diamondbacks top-rated pitching prospect Jon Duplantier makes his debut tonight with the Reno Aces.

In the first of a four-game series, the Reno Aces host the El Paso Chihuahuas at 6:35:p.m. at Greater Nevada Field. The Aces are the top minor league club of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Chihuahuas are the top dogs of the San Diego Padres.

Duplantier spent most of last season in Double-A. He began the 2019 with the Dbacks, pitching impressively in two games, allowing no runs in four games with a save.

Today’s Game: Coming off their first series win of the season, the Reno Aces will square off against the Chihuahuas of El Paso tonight at 6:45 p.m. Kevin Cron is coming off a four-RBI, two-hit performance and Travis Snider enters with a .524 average. Reno will face Right-hander Bryan Mitchell in game one of the series. Mitchell was a 16th round draft pick in the 2009 MLB draft by the New York Yankees and made his Major League debut on 8/10/14. He has appeared in 64 games (20 starts) in the Big Leagues and has a 0.00 ERA in 2.1 innings for El Paso this season.

Decker Dingers: First baseman Cody Decker got one step closer to a major milestone last night against the Albuquerque Isotopes. Decker launched the 198th home run of his career, two shy of 200. Decker has 92 Triple-A homers to his name and 10 in an Aces uniform. His season-high came in 2012 with the Padres. Decker hit 25 in the Texas League with San Antonio and four in Triple-A with Tucson.

Sherfy Extends Save Record: Jimmie Sherfy collected his second save of the young season last night, tossing a one-run ninth to give Reno the victory. Sherfy has 49 saves in his Aces career and is the current franchise record holder. Jake Barrett (39), Silvino Bracho (30), Jonathan Albaladejo (25), and Matt Stites (16) round out the top five.

Score ’em: Kevin Cron is batting a team-best .800 with runners in scoring position and less than two outs (4-for-5). He has nine total bases in these situations, two doubles, and one home run. As a team, Reno is batting .333 (15-for-45) with five doubles, one triple (Domingo Leyba), and a home run (Cron). Last season, the Aces hit .250 in this situation (156-for-625) with 14 home runs. Kevin Cron had four of them.

Oh, For What: Reno is 0-2 in games following a win this season. Joel Payamps (Aced Injured List) and Taylor Widener both earned losses in their respective starts. Opponents are batting .366 in these games and have hit five home runs. Travis Snider is batting .714 (5-for-7) with a double and two RBI in these contests.

Don’t Call It a Comebacks: Rubby De La Rosa leads the team in relief appearances through eight games played, appearing in four with 3.2 innings of work. He’s recorded five strikeouts and allowed one hit while allowing opponents to hit .091. De La Rosa is returning from his second Tommy John surgery he had in August 2017.