HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Chihuahuas took a 2-0 lead with a run in each of the first two frames. LF Pablo Reyes led off the night with a double and later scored on a 1B Marcos Castañon groundout. In the second, C Anthony Vilar belted an RBI double.
Round Rock got on the board behind a two-out RBI double from RF Alejandro Osuna.
El Paso RF Nick Schnell then opened the fourth with a solo homer. Schnell’s 11th round-tripper gave the Chihuahuas a 3-1 advantage.
The Express got a run back in the bottom of the 5th, cutting the deficit to one. 2B Cam Cauley tripled for the second time this season. 1B Josh Smith then tallied a sacrifice fly on the 12th pitch of his plate appearance.
The Chihuahuas tacked on a run in the top half of the eighth. With Vilar at the plate, SS Mason McCoy stole third and came home on a C Cooper Johnson throwing error, extending their lead to 4-2.
McCoy then drove in a run with his single in the ninth for a 5-2 edge.
Round Rock plated a run with an RBI single from CF Jarred Kelenic in the bottom of the ninth. El Paso LHP Kyle Hart replaced RHP Evan Fitterer and retired the final two batters for a 5-3 victory in the series opener.
E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:
WHERE WE STAND: The Express are now 4-8 in series openers and 10-21 at home…are 5-5 in their last 10, 9-6 in their last 15 and 11-9 in their last 20 G…
RHP JOSH STEPHAN: (L, 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO __ pitches, __ strikes) was the losing pitcher in his team-leading 13th start on Tuesday night…struck out 5+ batters for the 7th time this season, tying LHP Carson Whisenhunt and RHP Kade Morris for the league lead…is 2nd in the PCL in strikeouts (65) and T-6th in innings pitched (60.2)…among league pitchers with 50.0+ IP, ranks 4th with 2.84 walks per 9 innings…recorded first-pitch strikes to 12 of 22 batters (55%)…struck out 2 batters with his changeup and 3 other punchouts came on the sinker, slider and 4-seam fastball.
INF JOSH SMITH: (0-3, RBI) appeared in the 3rd game of his Major League Rehab assignment and 1st with the Express after playing in both games of a doubleheader with Double-A Frisco on 6/7…was hit by a pitch in the 1st, grounded out in the 3rd, recorded an RBI with his sacrifice fly in the 5th and flied out in the 7th and 9th.
OF ALEJANDRO OSUNA: (1-3, 2B, RBI, BB) appeared in his 3rd game with Round Rock since being optioned on 6/4…has recorded a hit in all 3 games (4-11)…owns an 18-game on-base streak, 1 game short of INF Jonah Bride’s 19-game streak (5/8-31), the longest from an Express batter this season…slashing .290/.375/.377/.752 with 10 walks, 12 strikeouts and 5 stolen bases during the on-base streak.
RHP JOE ROSS: (2.1 IP, 2 H, BB, SO, 32 pitches, 23 strikes) posted his 5th straight scoreless outing, totaling 8.2 innings without a run since 5/29…allowed 5 hits and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts during the scoreless streak…prior to 5/29, allowed 6 hits and 4 earned runs in 1st 2 outings (3.2 IP) with Round Rock…10 batters faced ties his most with the club since his E-Train debut on 5/22 at El Paso…owns a 2.92 ERA (4 ER/12.1 IP) in 7 relief outings with the Express.