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Round Rock Express

Round Rock Offense Soars, Clip Redbirds 8-3

April 28, 2015 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Round Rock Express took game three from the Memphis Redbirds Monday night at AutoZone Park, 8-3. The complete team effort was a mixture of strong bullpen pitching and fruitful hitting.

The boys in blue did not skip a beat from yesterday's performance as CF Ryan Strausborger got into scoring position early with a lead-off double in the first inning and advanced to third on a wild pitch from Memphis lefty Nick Greenwood with one out. A Ty Kelly error on a chopper from LF Michael Choice brought Strausborger home for the early 1-0 Round Rock lead. RF Alex Hassan hit into a double play to finish the inning and gave Greenwood a sigh of relief.

Express RHP Luke Jackson began his night with a four-pitch walk to Memphis 2B Dean Anna and struggled early to find his location. C Ed Easley then connected on a 3-2 pitch to get on base and move Anna to second. After Easley was forced out at second on a grounder from RF Stephen Piscotty, Redbirds DH Scott Moore hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track to score Anna from third and tie the score at one. The inning continued with Piscotty stealing second base, which provided the go-ahead run as Xavier Scruggs hit a grounder up the middle to score Piscotty and give Memphis the 2-1 lead. Jackson finally got out of the first on a Kelly worm burner to Express 1B Kyle Blanks.

A silent Round Rock second saw Luke Jackson trot back to the hill for round two with the Memphis lineup. Jackson issued back-to-back one-out walks, but a mound visit from pitching coach Brad Holman steadied Jackson's demeanor and the righty recorded back-to-back fly outs to halt the Redbirds production.

The third inning saw Round Rock fireworks again as Strausborger earned a walk with one out. Strausborger stole his fifth base of the season to advance to second and later scored on a Tomas Telis single, nodding the score at two. Hassan picked up the E-Train's first intentional walk of the year to load the bases for the recently named PCL Player of the Week Kyle Blanks.

Blanks lived up to the award and blasted a shot off the deep center field wall to clear the bases for a standup double, putting Round Rock on top 5-2. The double from Blanks was the last straw for Redbirds manager Mike Shildt as he took the ball from Greenwood and brought in RHP Miguel Socolovich. Memphis crafted its third inning-ending double play of the night to stop the bleeding. Greenwood (2-1, 9.90) pitched 2.1 innings with five hits, five runs (four earned), three walks and no strikeouts.

Memphis posted its second sacrifice fly of the game in the bottom of the third to close the margin to 5-3, but the Redbirds were terminated by the third straight Round Rock inning-ending double play.

LHP Jimmy Reyes took over for Jackson in the fourth as Jackson finished his outing with a no decision and had three hits, three runs (three earned), five walks and one strikeout over 3.0 innings pitched. Reyes went to work quickly, getting Redbirds LF Mike O'Neill to fly out and Anna to ground out for the first two outs. He closed out the fourth with a ground out of Easley.

After a combined eight runs in the first three innings, both teams slowed down offensively until the seventh when the Express bats jolted Redbirds RHP Keith Butler. Telis was pelted by a pitched from Butler and moved to second on a wild pitch. LF Michael Choice then spurted a single to center to put men on the corners. Hassan popped up for the first out of the inning, but the Express remained hungry. Blanks was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Thomas Field with one out.

Field took advantage of the situation and whacked a liner to left field that scored Telis and brought the score to 6-3. The onslaught continued with an Ed Lucas single to bring Choice home to extend the lead to 7-3 and a Gimenez force out brought in Blanks for the eighth Round Rock run of the night. The inning closed with a Hanser Alberto ground out.

Both sides were quiet in the eighth and Express LHP Sam Freeman threw a shutout ninth to give the Express its fifth straight win.

The Express and Redbirds square off tomorrow night for the series finale at AutoZone Park. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. The E-Train returns to Dell Diamond Thursday, May 1 for a four-game series with division rival Nashville Sounds.

For tickets and more information on the Express, visit www.RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook and Twitter !

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