Offense Guides Express Past Aviators on Friday Night

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Las Vegas opened the fourth with a walk and back-to-back singles from DH Brian Serven and 1B Joey Meneses. 3B Michael Stefanic drove in the first run of the night with a sacrifice fly to center. LF Max Muncy scored from third, giving the Aviators a 1-0 advantage.

In the bottom of the frame, Round Rock CF Jarred Kelenic led off with a double before a pair of wild pitches from RHP Braden Nett sent him home for a 1-1 tie. The E-Train loaded the bags with three walks and 3B John Taylor cleared the bags on a triple to center. 2B Josh Smith’s sacrifice fly sent Taylor home for a 5-1 edge.

C Cooper Johnson added to the tally with his base knock in the fifth. LF Aaron Zavala led off the inning and reached after being hit by a pitch. Johnson singled later in the frame and Zavala came around from second, extending their lead to 6-1.

The Express plated two more in the seventh on a throwing error from C Bryan Lavastida that allowed DH Austin Wynns to score and a sacrifice fly by SS Keyber Rodriguez.

Round Rock held Las Vegas scoreless in the final five frames, cruising to a 9-1 victory in the series opener.

E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:

WHERE WE STAND: The E-Train have now won their last 5 series openers and have not lost a series opener since the Second Half started on 6/23… posted a 3-8 record in series openers before the streak began…2^nd straight season to face the Aviators after the All-Star break… have now faced LV 3 times following the break since the 2022 season and are now 4-1 in series openers after the All-Star break in that span… have not lost a series opener against LV since 9/3/24 and haven’t fallen in a series opener against the Aviators at Dell Diamond since 9/12/23…marks the 5^th time this season the Express have held opponents to a run or less and 1^st since 6/28 at Tacoma…are 3-2 in those games.

LHP MARCO GONZALES: (W, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 1 SO, 1 BB, 75 pitches, 47 strikes) made his 80^th appearance and 79th start of his career in the minors… recorded his 4^th start with the Express and his 2^nd at Dell Diamond…1^st time facing Las Vegas… allowed a leadoff hit in the 1^st then retired the next 9 batters in a row before allowing a walk to start the 4^th… retired the side in the 2^nd, 3^rd and 5^th innings… allowed just one run after loading the bases in the 4^th… 1^st time with the E-Train to go more than 4.0 innings… 9 first pitch strikes on the night… has appeared in 20 G against the Athletics, posting an 11-4 record with a 3.73 ERA (48 ER/115.2 IP)… 4^th lowest ERA against any MLB team of his career (min. 5 G) … 3^rd most faced club in his 160 G at the Major League level.

LAS VEGAS IN ROUND ROCK: The Express and Aviators faced off for just the 25^th time at Dell Diamond since the start of the 2022 season… 3^rd lowest number of home games against a Pacific Coast League team in that span… despite the low tally, the E-Tain have won 16 of the meetings and have the 2^nd lowest ERA (3.62) at Dell Diamond against a PCL opponent… Round Rock owns a 5.69 ERA (239 ER/378.0 IP) at home compared to a 6.17 ERA (296 ER/432.0 IP) on the road.

RHP ALEXIS DÍAZ: made his first appearance since being activated off the Injured List today… made his 27^th outing of the season and his 7^th in the 9^th inning… the right-hander closed out the ball game by retiring the side… Diaz continues to pitch well at Dell Diamond, owning a 2.51 ERA (4 ER/14.1 IP) at home while posting a 4.76 ERA (6 ER/11.1 IP) on the road.

INF JOHN TAYLOR: delivered a bases-clearing triple in the 4^th… batting .750 with bases loaded this season… hits in 3 of his 4 opportunities with 9 RBI… last appearance at Dell Diamond with the bases loaded was a go-ahead grand slam in the 8^th inning against ABQ on 6/30… the other hit was a two-run double on 6/4 at OKC in his 6^th G with the Express.

RHP NOLAN KINGHAM: provided an inning in relief for the first time since 9/12/23 with Triple-A GWN…appeared in his 125^th contest at the minor league level… 87^th coming out of the bullpen… retired the side in order in the 6^th inning… struck out DH Brian Serven with a changeup… fastball topped out at 97.2 mph.

OF AARON ZAVALA: (1-3, RBI, R) has now recorded a hit in 9 consecutive games, the 2^nd longest active streak in the Pacific Coast League…is batting .333 (12-36) with a .923 OPS since the streak began on 7/3 vs Albuquerque.

NOTES: After scoring in the first inning in all six games in the series in Las Vegas, the E-Train and Aviators did not score a run until the top of the 4^th… both teams were held scoreless through four innings just one time during the previous series in June (6^th – 9^th inning 6/17)… the Express knocked in 3 runs on Friday night on a sacrifice fly, all to LF Max Muncy… just the 24^th contest this season Round Rock has recorded a sacrifice fly… 7^th game with multiple sac flies…3 sacrifice flies are the most from the Express since 5/29/2019 at Nashville…Round Rock’s 9 runs without a home run tie their season-high from 6/3/2026 at Oklahoma City.

NEXT GAME: Saturday, July 18 vs Las Vegas FIRST PITCH: 7:05 p.m. CT BALLPARK: Dell Diamond

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