Express Stomp Bees 9-3 on Friday Night

SALT LAKE, Utah – The Round Rock Express (35-26) took down the Salt Lake Bees (28-33) on Friday night by a final score of 9-3 at Smith’s Ballpark. The Express have won seven of their first eight games to start June.

Round Rock starter LHP Cody Bradford (8-1, 1.82) earned the win after he dazzled for 8.0 innings and allowed only three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Salt Lake starter RHP Chase Silseth (-1, 1.96) walked away with the loss after he tossed 3.0 innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits and two walks.

Along the Train Tracks

• Round Rock got on the board in the second inning. 1B Blaine Crim, CF Elier Hernandez and SS Jonathan Ornelas collected three consecutive singles. The third from Ornelas brought home Crim to give the Express an early 1-0 advantage.
• The E-Train added on in the second inning and extended the lead to 3-0. After 2B Dio Arias led the inning off with a walk, RF Sandro Fabian tripled to score the first run of the inning. 3B Davis Wendzel collected a sacrifice fly to add one more run.
• Wendzel added another RBI, this time via a home run in the fifth inning. The right-hander crushed a 424-foot homer and increased the Round Rock lead to 4-0.
• The Bees cut the Express lead to 4-2 in the fifth inning. 3B Jake Lamb opened the inning with a single. With two outs, 1B Preston Palmeiro cranked his second home run of the season.
• The E-Train dialed up a three-spot in the sixth inning. After a double for Crim, Hernandez blasted his first homer of the night. Later in the inning, with DH Yoshi Tsutsugo on third base, Wendzel drilled his second sacrifice fly of the game to give Round Rock a 7-2 lead.
• Hernandez decided to hit his second home run of the night in the seventh inning. A leadoff walk for C Sam Huff put a man aboard for Hernandez and his two-run home run extended the lead to 9-2.
• Salt Lake tacked on a run in the seventh inning. A two-out double for C Zach Humphreys kept the inning alive. SS Jack Lopez delivered a single to score Humphreys which slashed the Round Rock lead to 9-3 where the score stood final.

E-Train Excerpts:

• Round Rock starter LHP Cody Bradford set a new career-high with 8.0 innings on the bump. Before tonight, Bradford had never tossed more than 7.0 innings. He reached 7.0 innings three separate times in his career, including twice this season.
• Express RF Elier Hernandez loudly extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a 4-for-5 night which included two home runs, four RBI and four runs scored. Ove the last 14 games, Hernandez is slashing .492/.529/.889 with six doubles, two triples and five home runs.

Next up: Round Rock will play game five of the series on Saturday night in Salt Lake. First pitch is slated for 7:35 p.m. CT with Express RHP Robert Dugger (1-3, 4.50) facing Bees RHP John Swanda (0-1, 15.19).

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!