A hair is enough â Express win, 1-0
August 30, 2004 - Texas League (TL1)
Round Rock Express News Release
ROUND ROCK, Texas â The 2004 Round Rock Express season has been defined by "moments," whether they're a home run in the bottom of the ninth or a clutch strikeout.
Monday's 1-0 win over the Wichita Wranglers, though, had enough "moments" to last a week.
Take your pick from Luke Scott's two-out RBI single to score the only run of the game or some miraculous relief work from Mike Burns â all shared equal weight in the win that keeps the Express (82-52, 37-27 in the second half) two games ahead of San Antonio and moves them five ahead of Midland.
Round Rock's second one-run win in as many nights started off simply enough. With one out in the first, Mike Rodriguez doubled and was brought home on Scott's single to right. The only problem for the Express was that that would conclude the offensive fireworks for the night.
Fortunately, Ezequiel Astacio (12-10) put together a Major League caliber performance. He never allowed Wichita (70-63, 33-31) to get settled in his seven shutout innings of work. He was in trouble in the fourth inning only when Andres Blanco tripled with one out. Astacio then induced a hard ground out from Chad Santos and a pop-up from Scott Walter to escape untouched.
Burns came on in the eighth and was greeted by a double by Brett Groves, who advanced to third on an error. Burns met the challenge with one of the gutsiest performances of the year.
First, Wilikin Ruan almost decapitated him with a shot back up the middle that Burns turned into out one. Darren Fenster then walked before Nelson Hopper hit a weak grounder to first baseman Todd Self. Self immediately went home with the throw where Dax Norris tagged Groves for out two. Burns closed out the inning by fielding another grounder, this time from Blanco.
The ninth went much smoother as Burns struck out the side for his ninth save.
The two teams will meet again Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.
Texas League Stories from August 30, 2004
- Collazo Coolly Pitches Travs To 7-1 Win - Arkansas Travelers
- A hair is enough â Express win, 1-0 - Round Rock Express
- Texas League News - TL1
- Come be a part of Round Rock Express history - Round Rock Express
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
