HOW IT HAPPENED:
Round Rock wasted no time and jumped out to an early two-run lead. 2B Cam Cauley singled and brought DH Logan O’Hoppe to the plate. O’Hoppe blasted a two-run homer to left field, giving the Express a 2-0 edge.
The Express doubled their lead in the third. 1B Alejandro Osuna and O’Hoppe each drew walks to put runners at first and second. LF Aaron Zavala drove in Osuna with an RBI single. The E-Train weren’t finished in the inning as 3B Jonah Bride drew a walk to load the bases. SS Keyber Rodriguez delivered an infield single, scoring O’Hoppe from third. Round Rock led 4-0 after three frames.
The E-Train tallied four more runs in the fourth to grow the lead. C Julian Brock and Cauley walked and then came around to score on a double from O’Hoppe. The inning continued as CF John Taylor and Zavala walked, and both runners scored on Bride’s double. Round Rock held an eight-run advantage after four.
El Paso got on the board in the fifth after LF Dustin Harris singled and then came around to score on RF Carlos Rodríguez’s groundout.
In the sixth, the Express loaded the bases after two walks and a single. RF Orlando Martinez cleared the bases with a grand slam, extending the Round Rock lead to 12-1.
The Chihuahuas exploded for five runs in the seventh, cutting the deficit in half. Harris drove in a pair with a double and later came around to score on a double from 1B Nick Solak. C Blake Hunt, who entered the game in the fifth inning, launched a two-run home run to cap off the inning.
The Express added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth courtesy of a solo home run from Cauley and a two-run homer from Zavala.
El Paso pushed across one run in the bottom half of the inning but was not enough as the Express secure a 15-7 win on Friday night.
E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:
WHERE WE STAND: The Express cruised to a win on Friday night, securing at least a split of the six-game series… have also secured the season series over the Chihuahuas (13-9)… have won 4 of the last 5 G… and 5-5 in the last 10… the E-Train move to 3rd place and are -6.0 G behind 1st place SUG… tonight’s game was the 15th game the Express have scored 10+ R in a game… 4 of those have come against ELP… 12 of the 15 games have come on the road.
LHP ADAM MACKO: (ND, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 SO, 49 pitches, 33 strikes) started his 1st game as a member of the Express… started 1 game earlier this season with TOR on 5/29 against BAL… both of his starts this season he allowed 3 H without surrendering a run… tonight’s outing was his longest with the Express… 2nd scoreless outing… now back-to-back outings with 4 SO after tossing 3.1 innings without a strikeout through his first 3 appearances with Round Rock… went to his slider 49 % (24/49) of the outing and generated a 53 % whiff rate (8/15)… fastball topped off at 95.7 mph… allowed just 2 balls over 100.0 mph… 1 was a groundball and the other was SS Mason McCoy’s single in the 3rd.
DH LOGAN O’HOPPE: blasted his 3rd home run in an Express uniform in the 2nd inning… 2nd home run this series… owns 4 of the 5 hardest-hit balls by a Round Rock hitter this month… 2 have been hits… owns a 93.1 mph average exit velocity, which is the highest among E-Train batters this month and also leads PCL catchers (min. 10 PA)… raises his on-base streak to 14 G (since 8/5)… slashing .339/.426/.644 with 18 RBI, 3 HR, 9 2B and 14 R in that span.
OF ORLANDO MARTINEZ: belted a grand slam in the 6th… 3rd grand slam hit by an Express batter this season (Also C. Cauley and J. Taylor) 2 of the 3 grand slams have come at Southwest University Park… marks his 2nd homer with the Express and his 4th of the season (2 w/ Double-A Frisco)… 2nd home run in 4 G after not homering through his first 10 G with Round Rock… owns a 4-G hitting streak, batting .444 (8-for-18) with 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB and 9 R…. 4 of his 8 H have gone for extra-bases.
RHP JOSH SBORZ: (W, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 SO, 10 pitches, 7 strikes) picked up the win with his scoreless inning in relief on Friday night… has won 2 G in his last 4 appearances after not picking up a win through his first 25 outings with Round Rock… made his 2nd appearance since being reactivated from the Development List on 8/18… has not surrendered a run through his past 5 appearances (Since 7/19)… owns a 2-0 record with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/4.2 IP) with 5 SO and 2 BB in that span.
INF JONAH BRIDE: finished Friday night going 2-for-4 with a double and 2 BB… drove in 2 RBI, marking his 17th multi-RBI game of the season… Bride continues to lead Round Rock hitters with 62 RBIs this season… since rejoining the Express on 8/15, he owns a 7-G on-base streak, the 2nd-longest active streak on the team… slashing .267/.542/.467 with 3 doubles, 2 RBI, 7 BB and 3 R in that span.
NOTES: Round Rock walked 13 times on the night matching a season-high they’ve accomplished twice previously (5/2 and 5/20)… 11 of those walks coming in the first 6.0 innings… matches a high they accomplished on 4/23 at SUG (2) when they earned 11 free passes through 6.0 innings… 8 of the 9 Round Rock starters earned at least 1 walk and 4 of the 8 worked multiple walks on the night… the Express homered 4 times on Friday night, marking the 6th multi-home run game of August for the E-Train… 1st 4 HR game since 6/16 at LV… 3 of those 6 games have come against ELP… are 5-1 in those contests.
NEXT GAME: Saturday, August 22 at El Paso FIRST PITCH: 7:35 p.m. CT BALLPARK: Southwest University Park
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