Round Rock Fall 6-5 on Wednesday Night

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Rainiers nabbed a 2-0 advantage with solo home runs from 1B Patrick Wisdom and CF Stuart Fairchild in the top of the second.

DH Kyle Higashioka led off the fourth with a home run to left. The Express trailed 2-1 after four complete.

Round Rock 1B Jonah Bride drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and moved to third on a RHP Simeon Woods Richardson throwing error. After a pitching change, SS Keyber Rodriguez drove Bride in with a single and tied the game at two.

Tacoma retook the lead in the sixth on an RBI single from 3B Andy Ibáñez. LF Nolan Jones brought in two more runs with his base hit and the Rainiers led 5-2.

The Express tied it up in the bottom of the frame. RF Aaron Zavala scored from third on a wild pitch, SS Keyber Rodriguez tallied an RBI double, and 2B Cam Cauley delivered the equalizer with an RBI single.

2B Axel Sanchez belted a solo homer in the top half of the seventh to put the Rainiers in front, 6-5.

Tacoma relievers RHP Seth Shuman and RHP Nick Garcia combined for 3.1 perfect innings to secure the Rainiers’ 6-5 win on Wednesday night.

E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:

WHERE WE STAND: Round Rock saw its 4 G winning streak snapped with a loss on Wednesday night... are still 4-1 in their last 5 and 6-4 in their last 10… Express are 7-60 when trailing after the 7^th…7-62 when trailing after the 8^th…63-18 when scoring 5+…24-51 when opponents score 5+…21-25 in 1-run games… the E-Train must win their last 4 G if they want to tie with last year’s second half record of 43-32.

LHP ANTHONY VENEZIANO: (ND, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R-ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 2 HR, 84 pitches, 52 strikes) made his 10^th appearance of the season and his 1^st against TAC…tossed 5.0+ innings for the 3^rd time this season with all 3 coming in his last 5 starts…surrendered multiple home runs for the 1^st time this season…has allowed 10 ER in his last 2 outings (5 in each game)…had given up just 6 ER in his 1^st 8 appearances with Round Rock.

DH KYLE HIGASHIOKA: belted a solo home run in the 4^th to cut the deficit to one… marked his 1^st homer with the Express since his rehab assignment started on 9/4… last homer was a solo shot on 7/12 vs HOU… his last 3 round-trippers have been solo homers.

INF JONAH BRIDE: extended his on-base streak to 10 G with his single in the 2^nd... is slashing .355/.524/.452 with 7 RBI and 11 BB over that span…reached base in 3 of his 4 plate appearances tonight… has also drawn a walk in his last 7 G which is the longest active streak in the Pacific Coast League… Bride has set a new franchise record with 93 walks this season, passing INF Justin Foscue’s 85 walks during the 2023 season.

NOTES: Round Rock arms allowed multiple home runs in the same inning for the 19^th time this season and the 1^st time since 8/20 at ELP… 12 of the 19 instances have come through the 1^st 3 frames.

NEXT GAME: Thursday, September 17 vs Tacoma FIRST PITCH: 6:45 p.m. CT BALLPARK: Dell Diamond

For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and X!