Express Stifled by River Cats on Tuesday Night

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Round Rock CF Jarred Kelenic put the E-Train up 1-0 with a solo homer in the top of the first.

The River Cats responded with a pair of runs in the second frame. 2B Thomas Gavello sent an RBI double to right and CF Jonah Cox tallied an RBI single for a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the second, 2B Cody Freeman drove in Kelenic with a double to left-center, evening the score at two.

The Express immediately loaded the bags to start the fifth. 3B John Taylor drew a bases-loaded walk and C Logan O’Hoppe grounded into a force out, doubling the Round Rock lead to 4-2.

Cox tied the game again with a two-run single in the sixth. A pitch later, C Adrián Sugastey came home on a passed ball for a 5-4 River Cats advantage.

Sacramento added one more on a SS Aeverson Arteaga sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth. The Express recorded just one hit in the final four frames, dropping the series opener, 6-4.

E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:

WHERE WE STAND: After dropping the series opener, the Express are now tied with the River Cats for 2^nd place in the Pacific Coast League standings…trail 1^st-place Sugar Land by 6.0 G…have won 8 of their last 10, 10 of their last 15 and 12 of their last 20 G...on the road this season, are 29-29 and 9-6 since the 2^nd half began on 6/23…are also outscoring opponents 360-349 (+11) in road games while being outscored 225-285 (-60) at Dell Diamond this season.

RHP TREY SUPAK: (ND, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R-ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 74 pitches, 45 strikes) amassed 5.0+ IP for the 9^th time in his 16^th start of the season…generated 2 whiffs, tying his season-low from 6/17 at Las Vegas…tallied 1^st-pitch strikes to 15 of 22 total batters faced (68%)…has now thrown 902.2 MiLB innings in his 11-year career…joins 50 other MiLB players to toss at least 900.0 career minor league innings with at least 700 SO since start of 2010 season…Express are 9-6 in Supak’s starts and 5-4 when he throws at least 5.0 innings.

OF JARRED KELENIC: scored 3 runs in the series opener on Tuesday night…marks his 8^th game scoring multiple runs…has scored 38 runs since joining the Express on 6/3, which is T-3^rd in the Pacific Coast League in that span…his .387 batting average leads all Express batters with at least 100 plate appearances in the club’s Triple-A era (since 2005)…1.175 OPS ranks 3^rd behind INF Chris Davis (1.229) and INF Yordan Alvarez (1.185).

NOTES: The Express surrendered 5 stolen bases on Tuesday night, their most since allowing 7 at Sugar Land on 4/26.

NEXT GAME: Wednesday, August 5 at Sacramento FIRST PITCH: 8:45 p.m. CT BALLPARK: Sutter Health Park

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!