HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Rainiers were first to score with a run in the top of the third. Round Rock RHP David Davalillo walked four batters in the frame, granting Tacoma a 1-0 advantage.
Tacoma added another run in the fourth after CF Stuart Fairchild hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring LF Nolan Jones, who tripled to start the inning.
The Express were held without a hit through the first 5.1 innings. 2B John Taylor broke up the no-hitter with a 424-foot homer, cutting the E-Train deficit to one.
The E-Train stormed back and scored four runs in the eighth to take their first lead of the game. 3B Frainyer Chavez tied the game at two with an RBI single and CF Cam Cauley followed with another RBI single to give Round Rock a 3-2 advantage. The Express loaded the bass for DH Kyle Higashioka who worked a walk to score Chavez from third. C Logan O’Hoppe tallied the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly. Round Rock held a 5-2 lead entering the top of the ninth.
RHP Wilian Bormie ensured the win with a scoreless ninth inning as the Express earn a 5-2 win on Friday night.
E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:
WHERE WE STAND: The Express have now won 3 of 4 to start the 6-game series against the Rainiers…Round Rock claimed the season series over Tacoma winning 7 of their 10 meetings with 2 games remaining…has won 8 of their last 10 but lost 11 of their last 20 games…are 23-19 since the start of August, 32-23 since the All-Star break and 41-32 in the second half…tied with Sugar Land for 3rd place in the Pacific Coast League’s second half standings…trailing 1st-place Sugar Land by 5.5 games…Express are now 8-60 when trailing after the 7th and 55-4 when leading after the 8th.
RHP DAVID DAVALILLO: (ND, 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R-ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 57 pitches, 32 strikes) recorded his shortest outing of the season since 8/26 vs ABQ where he did not make it out of the 1st inning… entering tonight’s game, the right-hander had not given up a run through his last 2 starts (10.0 scoreless innings)… 4 of the first 6 outs he recorded was by a strikeout… has punched out a least 1 batter in each of the last 10 G he has appeared in for the E-Train… has tallied multiple strikeouts in all but one of those appearances... is 1-0 with a 0.71 ERA (1 ER/12.2 IP) and 17 SO in his last 3 starts… owned a 0-1 record and a 8.18 ERA (10 ER/11.0 IP) in the prior 3 starts.
INF JOHN TAYLOR: belted his 8th homer of the season with his solo shot to center field in the 5th… marks his first home run since 8/9 at SAC (33-G home run drought)…his 107.1 MPH round-tripper is the 6th hardest-hit homer this season by an Express batter and the 3rd hardest-hit by an E-Train hitter at Dell Diamond this season… also extends his on-base streak to 14 G and is slashing .235/.365/.333 with 7 RBI, 9 BB and 11 SO in that span.
RHP LUIS CURVELO: tossed 2.0 SHO innings out of the bullpen on Friday night… marks his 4th scoreless outing this month and his 20th this year with Round Rock… allowed multiple walks for just the 2nd time this season and the first since 5/15 vs SAC… allowed just one ball over 100.0 MPH which resulted in a lineout… went to his slider 50% of the outing (14/28) and threw strikes 57% (8/14) of the time.
INF/OF CAM CAULEY: broke the tie with his RBI single in the bottom of the 8th inning… Cauley has recorded an RBI and has reached base in all 4 games since being optioned to Round Rock on 9/14…also stole his 38th bag tonight which ties his single-season career high from 2022 with Low-A Down East… Cauley is 2 stolen bases away from becoming just the 4th player in Round Rock’s Triple-A era (since 2005) to swipe 40 bases or more in a season.
NOTES: Express were 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position in Friday’s win…are batting .378 (14-37) with 20 of their 27 RBI with RISP this week against the Rainiers.
NEXT GAME: Saturday, September 19 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!