Express Fall Just Short in 7-5 Loss to River Cats

ROUND ROCK, Texas - In a battle of contrasting scoring styles, the Sacramento River Cats (32-34) endured a comeback attempt by the Round Rock Express (29-36) to pick up a 7-5 victory on Wednesday night at Dell Diamond. While Sacramento did the majority of their damage in one inning, Round Rock spread their punches across five separate one-run frames.
Round Rock starter RHP Deolis Guerra (2-2, 6.75) was handed the loss after allowing three earned runs over the first 1.1 innings of play in what was scheduled to be a bullpen game for the Express pitching staff. On the opposing end, River Cats starter RHP Taylor Hill (1-1, 7.36) was awarded his first win of the season for tossing 5.0 frames of four-run ball.
After the E-Train jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a pair of doubles by DH Willie Calhoun and 1B Tommy Joseph , Sacramento's bats responded by posting a six-run frame in the second on four hits and three walks. 2B Chase d'Arnaud and RF Eury Pérez reached on a couple of walks before C Ronnie Freeman blasted a three-run homer off Guerra to pull ahead 3-1.
The inning continued as 3B Orlando Calixte then singled, moved to second on an error, and later scored on a two-bagger off the bat of CF Steven Duggar to make it 4-1. Finally, CF Grégor Blanco capped off the rally when he connected on a two-run home run off Round Rock reliever RHP Adrian Sampson , extending the gap to 6-1.
The Express would cut the River Cats' advantage in half to 6-3 over the next two frames as Calhoun brought a run to the plate on his second double of the evening in the third before CF Drew Robinson launched a solo dinger off Hill in the fourth. The towering shot was Robinson's first round-tripper since he returned to club last weekend following a 16-day stint on the disabled list.
Round Rock's bullpen combination of LHP Brady Feigl , LHP Brandon Mann , RHP Tayler Scott and RHP R.J. Alvarez held Sacramento to just one run from the third through the ninth, allowing six hits while racking up seven strikeouts.
Although the E-Train offense came just short of completing the comeback, Joseph and Calhoun would add to their individual lines in the latter half of the game. Joseph knocked his second RBI double of the ballgame in the fifth while Calhoun completed his three-hit outing on a run-scoring single in the seventh.
Round Rock will look to rebound in tomorrow's rematch against the River Cats RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (2-3, 4.31) scheduled to face RHP Casey Kelly (6-5, 5.12). First pitch at Dell Diamond 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!