HOW IT HAPPENED:
Tacoma 1B Connor Joe opened the scoring with a home run in the top of the second for a 1-0 advantage.
Round Rock CF Cam Cauley tied it up with a solo homer in the third before DH Patrick Wisdom responded with his league-leading 35th round-tripper in the fourth.
The Express grabbed their first lead of the night on a two-run shot from DH Kyle Higashioka in the fifth frame. Round Rock led 3-2.
An inning later, Round Rock doubled their output for a 6-2 edge. SS Keyber Rodriguez scored on a fielding error then C Cooper Johnson and 3B John Taylor tacked on RBI singles.
2B Frainyer Chavez added another with his RBI double in the bottom of the seventh.
The Rainiers plated a run in the eighth on a RHP Emiliano Teodo wild pitch, cutting their deficit to four.
The Express scored two more in the bottom of the eighth on a Taylor sacrifice fly and a Higashioka single. Round Rock cruised to a 9-3 victory on Thursday night.
E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:
WHERE WE STAND: Round Rock has won 2 of the 1st 3 games in the 6-game set against Tacoma…Express move to 40-32 in the second half and 6-3 this season against the Rainiers…have won 7 of their last 9 but dropped 8 of their last 15 and 11 of their last 20 games…have struck out a PCL-best 165 batters this month and punched out 10+ batters in 10 of their 15 games…are now 51-16 when out-hitting opponents, 64-18 when scoring 5+ runs and 46-18 when holding opponents under 5 runs.
LHP DALTON PENCE: (ND, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R-ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR, 84 pitches, 50 strikes) tallied his 8th start and 9th appearance for the E-Train on Thursday night…allowed just 2 hits, both solo home runs…has thrown 4.0+ innings in 7 of his 8 starts and hasn’t allowed more than 2 ER in any outing…his 2.09 ERA leads all Pacific Coast League pitchers (min. 38.0 innings pitched)…the Express are now 7-1 in Pence’s starts.
OF AARON ZAVALA: recorded his 33rd double on Thursday night, which is tied for 2nd in the Pacific Coast League…trails only Oklahoma City INF Ryan Fitzgerald, who has 34…Zavala is 1 of 10 Round Rock batters to record 33 doubles in a season in the club’s Triple-A era (since 2005)…joins OF Jared Hoying (33, 2014) and INF Carlos Rivera (35, 2005) as the E-Train’s only left-handed batters to achieve the feat.
INF FRAINYER CHAVEZ: drove a run in with his double in the seventh, giving the Express a 7-2 advantage…has recorded an RBI in each of his last 3 games and reached safely in 6 straight…is slashing .353/.400/.471 with 5 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB and 3 SO in his last 5 games.
INF JOHN TAYLOR: extended his on-base streak to 13 games after going 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBI…owns Round Rock’s longest active on-base streak…batting .300 (6-20) with 4 RBI, 6 R, 5 BB and 6 SO in his last 5 games.
NEXT GAME: Friday, September 18 vs Tacoma 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!