Express Win 8-7 Thriller Over Dodgers in 11 Innings

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Round Rock Express (71-57) provided the fans at Dell Diamond with another crazy finish on Saturday night as they defeated the Oklahoma City Dodgers (72-56) by a final score of 8-7 in 11 innings. SS Davis Wendzel hit a groundball to Oklahoma City SS Jacob Amaya and his throw to the plate was dropped as PR Matt Whatley scored the winning run.

Express reliever RHP Fernery Ozuna (1-0, 9.00) earned the win after facing one batter in the 11th inning and collecting a strikeout. Dodgers’ reliever LHP Daniel Zamora (3-2, 4.10) went home with the loss as his 0.1-inning outing in the 11th frame included two unearned runs on one hit.

Along the Train Tracks:

• Oklahoma City went hitless for the first 3.2 frames, but DH Edwin Ríos got the Dodgers on the board with a 409-foot home run to center field and the lead was 1-0.
• The Dodgers plated a second run in the fifth frame. SS Jacob Amaya and 3B Devin Mann singled to put runners on the corners. 1B Andy Burns made it a third consecutive single to score Amaya and give Oklahoma City a 2-1 advantage.
• C Sam Huff got the Express on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. His 373-foot home run to left field cut the Dodgers lead to 2-1.
• Round Rock allowed an eighth-inning run as Oklahoma City added to their lead. CF Drew Avans walked to open the inning and 2B Michael Busch singled to advance Avans to third base. Ríos smacked a sacrifice fly to left field and stretched the Dodgers lead to 3-1.
• Oklahoma City collected an insurance run in the eighth inning. Amaya singled, Mann doubled and Burns walked to load the bases. A passed ball allowed Amaya to score and the Dodgers led 4-1.
• The E-Train bats looked for another comeback win in the ninth inning and loaded the bases with one out. 2B Ryan Dorow walked, CF Josh Smith singled and LF J.P. Martinez walked. Dorow came home on a wild pitch to tighten the score at 4-2. DH Yohel Pozo drew a walk to load the bases again and was replaced by PR Matt Whatley. C Sam Huff delivered the goods with a single to score two runs. The throw got away from Oklahoma City C Tomás Telis and Whatley tried to score the winning run but was thrown out at home plate to send the game to a 10th frame.
• Ríos started on second base to begin the 10th inning for the Dodgers. A double for Outman placed runners on second and third base. Telis singled into center field to score both runners and Oklahoma City led 6-4.
• Huff started on second base to begin the home-half of the 10th frame for the E-Train. After two quick outs, RF Sandro Fabian singled to score Huff and cut the Dodgers lead at 6-5. PH Josh Sale, Smith and Martinez each walked to score Fabian and tie the game at six.
• RHP Ryder Ryan pitched the 10th inning for Round Rock and returned in the 11th inning. Amaya started on second base and moved to third base on a wild pitch. Mann walked, but Burns hit into a double play to score Amaya and put Oklahoma City in front at 7-6.
• With Jung starting on second base to begin the home-half of the 11th inning, Whatley put down a bunt and Dodgers reliever LHP Daniel Zamora committed an error to put runners on the corners. Huff singled to score Jung and tie the game at seven as Whatley advanced to third base. SS Davis Wendzel hit a groundball to Amaya and his throw to the catcher was dropped. It allowed Whatley to score for the walk-off win.

E-Train Excerpts:

• The Express have won in walk-off fashion on back-to-back nights for the first time this year. Saturday marked their sixth walk-off win of the season. During Round Rock’s four-game winning streak, three of their wins have come after trailing in the seventh inning or later. Entering tonight, Round Rock was 5-50 when trailing entering the ninth inning. They also improved to 4-1 in extra-inning games this year.
• The Express sit just 1.0-game back of first place in the Pacific Coast League East Division standings. They have won nine of their last 10 games.
• C Sam Huff leads the Express with 21 home runs this season and he is tied for seventh in the Pacific Coast League. Huff has 96 home runs in professional baseball over four seasons. He is hitting a home run once every 18.3 at-bats. His season-high came in 2019 between Low-A Hickory and High-A Down East when he hit 28 home runs.
• LHP Kolby Allard collected a season-high nine strikeouts on Saturday night after tossing 6.0 innings and allowing only two runs on five hits. It’s the seventh time Allard has earned nine strikeouts in a start and his first nine-strikeout performance since June 18, 2019 while pitching for Triple-A Gwinnett in the Atlanta Braves organization.

Next up: Round Rock and Oklahoma City will play the series finale at Dell Diamond on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. Round Rock RHP Cole Winn (2-3, 4.99) takes the bump against Oklahoma City RHP Jon Duplantier (4-3, 5.29).

Single game tickets are available for purchase or bring your group to Dell Diamond. For more information on 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 Twitter!