Express Come Alive in Ninth to Top Isotopes

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Round Rock Express (27-23) took down the Albuquerque Isotopes (22-29) by a final score of 11-8 on Sunday afternoon at Isotopes Park. With two outs in the ninth inning and Round Rock trailing 9-8, CF Rafael Ortega hit a three-run homer to put the Express ahead for good.

Round Rock RHP Marc Church (1-0, 6.75) came away with the win after 1.1 innings and two earned runs on two hits. The righty also struck out two in his second outing of the season. Albuquerque RHP Riley Pint (0-2, 7.59) was dubbed with the loss after allowing three earned runs on two hits and a walk in the ninth inning. Express RHP Chase Lee secured his second save of the season after a three-up, three-down ninth inning.

Along the Train Tracks

• The E-Train left two runners on the bases in the second inning, meanwhile in the home-half of the frame, Isotopes 3B Aaron Schunk homered to put the home team ahead 1-0.
• With no outs and two runners in scoring position in the third inning, SS Jonathan Ornelas grounded out but advanced the runners to tie the game at one. RF Elier Hernandez doubled home C Mitch Garver to put the Express in front 2-1. The Isotopes answered back immediately with another solo home run, this time from LF Jimmy Herron who knotted the game at two.
• With the bases loaded and nobody out in the fourth inning, 1B Blaine Crim doubled and CF Rafael Ortega reached on an error. 3B Davis Wendzel walked which set up LF Sandro Fabian. He grounded into a 6-4-3 double play but sent a run across the plate to give the Express a 3-2 lead.
• In the sixth inning, Garver had runners on the corners and launched a three-run home run to right-center field which extended the Round Rock lead to 6-2.
• Isotopes CF Cole Tucker singled in the seventh and DH Connor Kaiser homered to cut the Express lead in half and make it a 6-4 game. C Daniel Cope drew a walk and SS Coco Montes tied it up for Albuquerque with their third home run of the game.
• Round Rock RHP Marc Church entered with the bases loaded in the eighth and Cope singled in the go-ahead run to take a 7-6 advantage. A sacrifice fly from Stovall gave Albuquerque an insurance run to take an 8-6 lead.
• Round Rock DH Sam Huff drew a two-out walk in the top of the ninth and 2B Justin Foscue singled to set Crim up with runners at the corners. Crim singled in a run to cut the deficit to one. With two outs, Ortega got in on the scoring and belted a three-run home run to give the Express a 10-8 lead. Fabian capped off a five-run inning with a double to score one more. RHP Chase Lee entered for the ninth to get the victory.

E-Train Excerpts:

• Texas Rangers C Mitch Garver continued his rehab assignment with the Express and sent a three-run home run over the fence in the sixth inning which marks the 14^th straight game for the Express that a batter has hit a home run. It is the second homer of his rehab stint where he’s batting .385 (5-13) with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI, five runs, three walks, and just two strikeouts.
• The Express stayed hot under the sun and improved to 9-3 in day games this year with six of those wins coming on the road.
• 1B Blaine Crim went 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored on Sunday. It’s the first three-hit game of the season for the right-hander. 2B Justin Foscue and LF Sandro Fabian were the other two Express players to post a multi-hit game. They each had two knocks.

Next up: Round Rock returns to Dell Diamond to face the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston Astros affiliate) on Tuesday, May 30 at 7:05 p.m. Pitchers for both teams are to be announced.

Single game tickets as well as full season and mini season membership plans are on sale now. 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 Twitter!