Nashville Scores Late to Grab Series Finale Over Round Rock

ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Round Rock Express (49-35) tied game four against the Nashville Sounds (39-48) Tuesday night at Dell Diamond in the bottom of the seventh inning to give new life to the crowd on hand, but Nashville stormed back with two runs in the eighth to seal a 4-2 victory.

ML rehabber Martin Perez went back and forth with Nashville starter Nathan Long as each pitcher opened the contest with three straight shutout innings. Perez was then lit for a single to lead off the fourth, signifying a Nashville spurt. The Round Rock southpaw used a strikeout to get the first out of the fourth, but was taken to deep left field as Nashville SS Ryan Roberts left the building for his second homer of the year and put the Sounds on top 2-0. Perez then gave up back-to-back singles, allowing Sounds to occupy first and second. The Nashville surge was muted by Perez who ended the top of the inning with a fly out and ground out.

Long took his no-hit bid into the bottom of the sixth and recorded the first out before Express SS Hanser Alberto plugged a single to center field, igniting a Round Rock rally. Alberto advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from RF Ryan Strausborger, putting two outs on the board with CF Jared Hoying coming to bat. Hoying only needed to see two pitches from Long to produce a sharp line drive to center that brought Alberto home to cut the Nashville advantage to one. A wild pitch from Long with LF Joey Gallo batting shuffled Hoying to second and four pitches later Gallo found himself on first with a walk. The inning quickly came to an end after C Chris Gimenez hit a laser into the glove of Nashville 3B Max Muncy.

Perez completed the third start of his rehabilitation with a season-long 6.0 innings pitched while allowing seven hits, two runs (two earned) and picking up six Ks.

2B Tommy Field made his presence felt in the bottom of the seventh as the Austin native went yard for the fourth game in a row with a solo shut to tie the contest at two. Field is the first Express player this season to hit a homer in four consecutive games and first since Brad Nelson did it May 26-29 in 2012. 3B Ed Lucas continued to keep the pressure on Long as he out-ran a wild pitch strikeout to put a man on first. DH Tomas Telis used the second E-Train sacrifice bunt of the night to move Lucas, forcing Nashville skipper Steve Scarsone to pull Long. The Nashville starter finished his outing with 6.1 innings pitched, three hits, two runs (two earned) and eight strikeouts. Sounds southpaw Jim Fuller closed the inning on a strikeout and ground out.

Nashville lit up the scoreboard with its second two-run inning of the night as Express RHP Ross Ohlendorf gave up three straight singles to lead off the eighth inning, giving the Sounds the lead once more, 4-2. Ohlendorf went strikeout, pick-off, line out to end the top half of the inning.

Round Rock's comeback effort was squashed thanks to the relief effort of Nashville closer Arnold Leon. Leon gave up a two-out single that provided the Express fans with a glimmer of hope, but completed the game on a strikeout and split the series, 2-2.

Round Rock welcomes the New Orleans Zephyrs to Dell Diamond for a five-game series starting tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (3-5, 4.15) takes the hill for the E-Train against Zephyrs RHP Andre Rienzo (2-4, 2.63).

For tickets and more information on the Express, visit www.RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Follow the Express on Facebook and Twitter!