Petersen's Big Night Not Enough For Express
ROUND ROCK, Texas - RF Bryan Petersen homered twice and drove in all five runs for the Round Rock Express (36-39) Friday night, but it was not enough as the E-Train dropped their series finale with the Sacramento River Cats (43-42) 7-5 at Dell Diamond.
Sacramento took advantage of a Round Rock error in the first to pull ahead 2-0. Leadoff man RF Nick Buss reached on a fielding error by 1B Carlos Pena to begin the inning and scored on a one-out double by CF Shane Peterson. DH Nate Freiman followed Peterson's RBI double with another to give the visitors a two-run lead.
The River Cats strung together four hits and a walk to score three more in the third, pushing their lead out to five. Peterson led off with a single and Freiman walked ahead of LF Jake Elmore, who sliced a RBI double down the right field line. 1B Anthony Aliotti then ripped a run-scoring single to second base and 3B Jose Martinez followed with a RBI double to extend Sacramento's advantage to 5-0.
The E-Train came roaring back in the fifth as Petersen cut Round Rock's deficit by 80% with one swing of the bat. After two quick outs, LF Ryan Strausborger kept the inning alive with a base hit. 2B Kensuke Tanaka followed with a bunt single and 3B Adam Rosales worked a walk to load the bases. Petersen then went deep, hammering a 1-1 offering from Express alum Josh Lindblom into the left-center field bullpen for a grand slam to make it 5-4.
The bases-clearing blast was Petersen's second of the grand variety this season. Additionally, it was Round Rock's second grand slam in as many nights -- C Brett Nicholas cranked one during the E-Train's 7-1 victory Thursday -- giving them six for the year, which is tops in the PCL.
Sacramento plated runs in the sixth and eighth innings to stretch their advantage to 7-4. Peterson delivered a RBI single in the sixth, while Elmore drove in his second run of the night on a two-out base knock in the eighth.
Round Rock's Petersen clubbed his second home run of the game in the eighth to pull the E-Train to within two, but they would draw no closer than 7-5. The right fielder now has 10 homers on the season. His five RBI performance was Round Rock's second of the season.
Express starter Miles Mikolas (4-1, 3.49 ERA) suffered his first loss of the season after allowing five runs (four earned) in five innings. River Cats starting pitcher Lindblom meanwhile improved to 4-3 on the season after giving up four over six innings.
The Express will welcome the Fresno Grizzlies (San Francisco Giants affiliate) to town Saturday to begin the second four-game series of their eight-game homestand. LHP Ryan Feierabend (7-5, 4.25 ERA) will make his PCL-leading 16th start of the season for Round Rock against Fresno's LHP Mike Kickham (5-5, 4.16 ERA). Come out to the ballpark and enter for a chance to WIN A USED CAR, presented by the Nyles Maxwell Family of Dealerships. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
For more information on the Express, visit www.RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook and Twitter!