HOW IT HAPPENED:
After a scoreless first inning, Round Rock struck first in the top of the second. 2B John Taylor worked an 11-pitch at-bat before launching his first Triple-A home run, giving the Express an early 1-0 lead.
The E-Train plated another run in the fourth to double their advantage. 3B Diego Castillo singled and stole second base to start the inning. Castillo came around to score on Taylor’s second RBI of the game, making it a 2-0 edge.
The Express struck again in the fifth with a solo home run by SS Keyber Rodriguez to grow the advantage to three.
Oklahoma City got on the board with a pair of runs in the fifth. The Comets loaded the bases and scored two runs on a single by LF Zach Erhard and a throwing error by Rodriguez to cut the deficit to one.
Round Rock’s bullpen silenced the Comets’ bats through the final four innings, hanging on to a 3-2 victory and claiming the series opener against Oklahoma City.
E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:
WHERE WE STAND: The Express take game one of the six-game series … first series-opening victory at Oklahoma City since June 6th, 2024…move to 4-7 in series openers and 3-3 on the road… 10 G under .500 and with a win tomorrow would be better than 10 games below .500 for the first time since May 13 when they were 16-25… 13-14 on the road this year.
RHP DAVID DAVALILLO: (ND, 4.1 IP, 2 H, R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 80 total pitches, 41 strikes) made the fourth career start of his Triple-A career… first start against Oklahoma City…Rangers' No. 7 prospect according to MLB.com allowed lone run in the fifth inning on a single by Zach Ehrhard… first outing this season with the Express to allow one run or fewer… went to his sinker 39% (31 pitches) of the time and generated a 61% strike rate (19/31)… retired the side in order in the second and third inning… retired seven consecutive batters.
NEW GUYS: INF John Taylor (2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI) and INF Keyber Rodriguez (2-for-4, R, HR, RBI) drove in all three of the E-Train’s runs on Tuesday night… Taylor worked an 11-pitch at-bat in the second inning before launching his first career Triple-A homer… T-1st in most pitches seen in a PCL at-bat that resulted in a home run (11 pitches; Ryan Ward, April 16 at Albuquerque).
BACK END BULLPEN: RHP Aidan Anderson (W, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 SO, 28 total pitches, 21 strikes), RHP Emiliano Teodo (H, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, SO, 17 total pitches, 10 strikes) and RHP Alexis Díaz (SV, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, SO, 11 total pitches, 7 strikes) combined to toss the final four innings on Tuesday night without allowing a run…Anderson’s 7th consecutive scoreless outing this season… Teodo went to his sinker 71% of the time… also generated a 75% strike rate on his slider… Díaz went to his fastball 82% with a 78% strike rate… earned his first save of the season.
NOTES: Round Rock moves to 8-15 in one-run contests this season… 4-1 in last 5 G decided by one run.
NEXT GAME: Wednesday, June 3 at Oklahoma City FIRST PITCH: 7:05 p.m. CT BALLPARK: Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark
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!