HOW IT HAPPENED:
After both teams were held scoreless through the first two innings, C Julian Brock broke open the scoring with a solo home run in the third to give Round Rock an early lead.
The Express added to their tally with three runs in the fourth. 3B John Taylor and 1B Jonah Bride started the inning with walks before DH Diego Castillo delivered an RBI single. The E-Train loaded the bases for 2B Keyber Rodriguez, who brought home a run with a sacrifice fly. Another run came home to score after LF Alejandro Osuna was hit by a pitch with the bases juiced, making it a 4-0 Round Rock advantage.
Albuquerque got on the board with two outs in the seventh inning when RF Conner Capel belted a solo home run off the right-field foul pole. The Express responded immediately with five runs in the bottom half of the inning, all coming with two outs. Bride and Castillo each drove in a run before Rodriguez blasted a three-run home run. Round Rock claimed the series finale with a 9-1 win.
E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:
WHERE WE STAND: The Express managed to split the series with the Isotopes by winning Saturday and Sunday’s contests… have split both series against ABQ at Dell Diamond after winning the six-game series in ABQ in July…posted a 10-8 record against the Isotopes this season… finish the month of August with a 15-11 record… 7 of those wins have come at home… are 2-3 in the last 5 and 6-4 in the last 10… maintain 2nd place in the PCL standings.
LHP DALTON PENCE: (W, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 SO, 2 BB, 69 pitches, 46 strikes) picked up his 2nd win this month…dealt back-to-back scoreless outings this week against ABQ… retired the side in the 2nd and 5th innings… is just the 11th time a Round Rock pitcher this season has tossed 4.0+ innings and recorded 1 SO or less… allowed just 4 balls over 100.0 mph… only 1 resulted in a hit… Pence allowed just 5 H over 9.0 innings this week against the Isotopes.
INF DIEGO CASTILLO: extended his team-high hitting streak to 10 G with an RBI single in the 4th… of the 22 G that Castillo has played in this month, he tallied at least one hit in 18 of them… collected multiple hits in 10 of them… after batting just .267 (20-75) in July, the utilityman has caught fire in August, slashing .357/.396/.476 with 10 RBI, 6 BB and 15 R.
AUGUST: The Express capped off the month of August with a 9-1 win on Sunday afternoon… marks the 15th win this month, the highest tally by the E-Train in a single month since they won 17 G in August of last year… Round Rock slashed .270/.359/.435 with 162 R, 244 H and 158 RBIs this month… the 162 R and 158 RBIs are also season-highs in a month for the Express… the Express pitching staff also saw positive numbers this month, owning a 4.50 ERA (118 ER/236.0 IP)… their 4.50 ERA was the 2nd lowest ERA in the PCL, trailing only OKC.
RHP CARTER BAUMLER: tossed a perfect 6th frame in his 1st outing since 4/28…was sent to Round Rock on a Major League rehab assignment after spending the majority of the season on the Rangers injured list…threw 4 curveballs, 2 sliders and 2 fastballs…recorded 2 of 3 outs with the curveball.
NEXT GAME: Tuesday, September 1 vs Oklahoma City FIRST PITCH: 6:45 p.m. CT BALLPARK: Dell Diamond
For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and X!