Express Open Second Half with 8-4 Win over Dodgers

ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Round Rock Express (44-46) secured their seventh win in eight contests with an 8-4 victory over the Oklahoma City Dodgers (46-40) on Thursday night at Dell Diamond.
Express starter RHP Tyler Wagner (1-3, 4.72) earned his first Triple-A win of the year after a solid showing on the mound, tying his season-high for strikeouts in a game while surrendering four earned runs in 5.0 innings. On the losing end, Oklahoma City starter RHP Daniel Corcino (2-2, 3.78) lasted just 3.1 frames as he was knocked around for six earned runs on eight hits.
Dodgers CF Alex Verdugo opened the scoring by launching a two-run homer off Wagner to left-center in the top of the first after RF Henry Ramos reached base on a single in the prior at-bat.
Trailing 2-0, Round Rock's offense rallied for three runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead. SS Cliff Pennington led off the side with a double to right field and advanced to third on 1B Hanser Alberto 's infield single. With runners on the corners, CF Drew Robinson went the other way to left for an RBI single to make it 2-1.
The next batter, 3B Andy Ibáñez , reset the score at 2-2 when he drove Alberto home on a looping single to center. Another base hit by RF Scott Heineman moved Ibanez to third before LF Willie Calhoun put the E-Train in front 3-2 on Round Rock's fourth consecutive single in the inning. With a 2-4 day at the plate, Calhoun advanced his current hitting streak to 16 straight games.
In the fourth, Express 1B Hanser Alberto connected on his third homer in five games to push Round Rock's lead to 6-2. After Pennington and C Juan Centeno climbed aboard on a walk and a single, Alberto crushed a 1-0 pitch from Corcino onto the berm in left field for his fourth round-tripper of the year.
The next frame saw Oklahoma City slice the E-Train advantage in half as 2B Jake Peter smacked the Dodgers' second two-run homer of the evening off Wagner, pulling OKC within a couple runs of a tie at 6-4.
However, the Round Rock bats would put the game away in the eighth when Centeno and Alberto pushed the lead to 8-4 on back-to-back run-scoring doubles. For Alberto, the RBI two-bagger capped off a banner day at the plate in which he drove home four runs on three hits. Over his last six games, all against the Dodgers, the Express infielder is hitting .538 while plating 15 runs in 26 at-bats.
The series rages on tomorrow, Friday night, as both teams gear up for game two at Dell Diamond. Express LHP Michael Roth (4-2, 3.74) is slated to face Oklahoma City RHP Tyler Pill (2-3, 4.68) on the mound. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. CDT.
For more information on the Express, visit RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter!