Reno offense sputters, Mitch Bratt shines in series-opening loss to Las Vegas

Mitch Bratt gave Reno exactly the kind of start a club wants in a rivalry opener, then watched it evaporate because the Aces could not find a second hit, a second run or a way to cash in his work. Ryan Waldschmidt’s fifth-inning single was the only knock Las Vegas allowed in a 3-0 Aviators win, saving Reno from the first no-hitter in franchise history but not from a shutout in the Silver State Diamond Challenge.

Bratt was sharp enough to win almost any other night. He worked five no-hit innings, faced only three batters over the minimum and entered the game with a 6.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the second-best mark among Minor League Baseball starting pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched. The left-hander did issue three walks, and in a game with no run support, that was enough traffic to put him on the wrong side of the decision. Reno simply never turned the outing into anything the scorebook could reward.

The loss stung because this is not supposed to be a series where Reno gets overwhelmed. The rivalry, officially branded the Silver State Diamond Challenge, has carried the Silver Plate Trophy since 2009, when the first 16-game set ended 8-8 and was decided by a symbolic draw of the cards between Oscar Goodman and Bob Cashell. Reno entered this series having won each of the previous five season sets against Las Vegas and owning a 74-47 edge since the start of 2021. In that same span, the Aces had hit .305 against the Aviators, with 184 home runs and 274 doubles, their best marks against any opponent.

That context made the rest of the series feel even sharper. On Jackie Robinson Day, Reno finally strung together some offense, scoring five times in the fifth after going quiet through four innings. Waldschmidt went 2-for-2 with two walks, Kristian Robinson finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, and still Las Vegas held on for an 8-5 win. Two days later, LuJames Groover, celebrating his 24th birthday in his first game played on his birthday as a pro, went 3-for-3 with two runs and a walk. Reno had a 4-1 lead by the end of the sixth, then watched Las Vegas score nine runs in the seventh, a collapse that became just the 16th time in franchise history the Aces allowed nine or more runs in one inning.

Reno did salvage the finale with a 6-4 win on April 19, when Jacob Amaya and Jack Hurley drove in the decisive runs in the seventh. But the series still told the same story: Waldschmidt and Groover gave Reno real upside, while the group around them let too many innings, and too many games, get away in a league where mistakes get magnified fast.