HOW IT HAPPENED:
In the bottom of the second, Round Rock C Julian Brock hustled down the line for an infield single, allowing 1B Jonah Bride to score from third. SS Keyber Rodriguez was later hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, plating another run for the E-Train. CF Orlando Martinez followed with a sacrifice fly and 3B Cody Freeman’s RBI single put the Express ahead 4-0 after two complete.
Round Rock tacked on one more run in the bottom of the seventh. A sacrifice fly from 1B Jonah Bride made it a 5-0 lead.
The trio of LHP Cody Bradford, LHP Anthony Veneziano and RHP Gavin Collyer pitched Round Rock’s first shutout of the season, holding the Aces to seven hits without issuing a walk in their 5-0 win.
E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:
WHERE WE STAND: The Express rejoin the Aces in a tie for 3rd place in the Pacific Coast League’s 2nd half standings, trailing 1st-place Sugar Land by 3.5 games…have won 5 of their last 6, 7 of their last 10 and 9 of their last 15 games.
LHP CODY BRADFORD: (ND, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R-ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 56 pitches, 40 strikes) logged his 5th rehab appearance since being placed on the injured list on 3/27…recorded at least 1 strikeout in each of his 4 innings pitched…struck out the side in the 3rd…recorded 1st-pitch strikes to 11-of-16 batters faced…did not allow a runner to reach 2nd base…of the 46 PCL pitchers to generate 15 whiffs in a game, Bradford is the only one to throw less than 70 pitches…posted a 48% whiff rate with 15 whiffs on 31 swings…in 4 rehab appearances between Round Rock and Frisco (AA) this month, has walked 2 batters and struck out 16 across 10.0 innings.
INF/OF JOHN TAYLOR: reached safely in 3 of his 4 plate appearances with a pair of walks and a double…is now batting .313 this month with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 20 RBI and 12 runs…is 1 of 5 PCL batters with 20 RBI in July.
INF CODY FREEMAN: recorded his 4th 3-hit game in his 16th game with the E-Train this season…has reached safely in each of his last 14 games with Round Rock, slashing .400/.476/.545/1.021 with 12 RBI and 12 R since the streak began on 5/28.
BLANKED ‘EM: Thursday’s win marks the 1st shutout of the season for the Express and their 1st since 9/12/25 vs Sugar Land…is also the …have held opponents to 1 R 7 times…is their 3rd game without issuing a walk.
NOTES: Round Rock’s pitching staff has recorded 40 strikeouts and 8 walks through the 1st 3 games of the series against Reno…their 1.67 ERA and 4 ER leads all PCL clubs this week.
NEXT GAME: Friday, July 31 vs Reno FIRST PITCH: 7:05 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!