Baby Cakes settle for split with Express

Andy Ibanez hit a three-run homer in the first inning and the Round Rock Express never looked back in defeating the New Orleans Baby Cakes, 5-1 on Monday night.
Cristhian Adames opened the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the first, only for the Express to answer in the bottom half. Christian Lopes led off with a single and Willie Calhoun drew a walk before Lopes swatted his 11th home run of the season with two outs.
Round Rock added a pair of runs in the second inning with back-to-back two-out doubles from Lopes and Tony Sanchez.
Adrian Sampson (7-4) pitched six innings and allowed one run on five hits. He lowered his ERA to 2.17 in nine starts since the All-Star break.
Jeff Brigham (5-2) bounced back from a rocky first two frames to last five innings, surrendering eight hits in losing for the second time in three outings.
After claiming the first two games of the four-game set, the Baby Cakes settled for a split and saw their streak of five consecutive series victories come to an end. The franchise has never won six straight series.
New Orleans finished with a 30-40 record on the road, and returns home to begin the final homestand of the season on Tuesday. First pitch in the opener of a three-game set against the Nashville Sounds is slated for 7 p.m.