Express Rally Past Nashville 8-7
May 6, 2011 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release
ROUND ROCK, Texas - Esteban German's walk-off RBI single punctuated a three-run ninth inning as the Round Rock Express rallied past the Nashville Sounds 8-7 in Friday night's Pacific Coast League series opener at The Dell Diamond. The Express (18-10) posted their fifth victory in their final at bat this season and maintained the PCL's best record. The Sounds (9-18) have lost five straight.
Nashville scored two runs in the top of the ninth on three hits and an Express error. However, Round Rock pieced together five hits in the bottom of the inning, starting with Chad Tracy's leadoff double. After Nashville second baseman Eric Farris snagged Brad Nelson's line drive for the first out of the inning, Luis Cruz belted a game-tying home run to left. It was Cruz's first home run since his game-winning solo homer April 22 at Oklahoma City.
Doug Deeds then lined out to Sounds' left fielder Jeremy Reed, who caught the ball against the wall in left-center. Craig Gentry and Kevin Cash followed with consecutive singles before German singled to center, scoring Gentry.
Pedro Strop (1-0) was the benefactor of the comeback in his first game with the Express. He allowed two runs on three hits over 1.1 innings. Starter Zach Jackson worked 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Jackson left with a 4-3 lead.
Zack Segovia (1-2) worked around a leadoff walk in the eight but allowed all three runs in the ninth and took the loss. Nashville starter Frankie De La Cruz surrendered four runs on seven hits and five walks with two strikeouts over 5.0 innings.
Round Rock opened a 4-0 lead with a run in the first, two in the second and another in the fourth. German opened the game with a triple and scored on Endy Chavez's RBI groundout. Deeds led off the second with a home run, and Tracy later drew a bases-loaded walk. Brian Barden tripled with one out in the third, and Tracy plated him with an RBI single.
Nashville started its rally in the fifth, scoring three runs all with two outs. Farris started the action with an RBI single, and Brett Carroll followed with a home run. Caleb Gindl's leadoff homer in the seventh knotted the game at 4-4. The Express recaptured the lead in the seventh when Nelson swiped home on a first-and-third double steal. That lead was short-lived, though, as Mike Rivera doubled to open the eighth and later scored on Anderson Machado's sacrifice fly.
Barden was 3-for-5, while German, Tracy and Deeds all had two-hit games. Tracy and Cruz each had two RBI. Each Express starter had at least one hit save Chavez, who walked and produced an RBI. Chavez also was the lone starter to not score a run.
Gindl and Carroll paced the Sounds at the plate, each recording three hits. Gamel, Rivera, Reed and Brendan Katin all had two-hit games for Nashville.
The teams combined to strand 22 base-runners.
Round Rock and Nashville continue the four-game series Saturday with a 7:05 p.m. CDT first pitch at The Dell Diamond. Right-hander Derek Hankins (4-1, 4.94 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Express, while right-hander Josh Butler (1-2, 4.76 ERA) is listed for the Sounds.
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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 6, 2011
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