Riley Smith, Bullpen Lead Isotopes to 5-2 Victory over Express
July 7, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Albuquerque Isotopes News Release
Round Rock, TX - With his team desperately needing a quality start, Riley Smith and his right arm delivered. Albuquerque's starter twirled six brilliant innings of two-run ball as the Isotopes defeated the Express 5-2 on Thursday evening at Dell Diamond.
Albuquerque opened the scoring in the first inning when Sam Hilliard singled home Coco Montes. Round Rock quickly tied it when Steele Walker lofted a two-out homer off Smith in the bottom half.
The Isotopes took the lead for good in the third. Dom Nuñez walked before Carlos Pérez continued his torrid stretch with a two-run homer, his fifth blast in his last seven ballgames.
Bret Boswell got in on the home run action with a solo shot in the fourth, making it 4-1. Meanwhile, Smith was cruising as he retired 12 of 14 batters from the second until one out in the sixth, when he issued a walk followed by an RBI double by Sam Huff. The right-hander was able to retire the next two batters, ending his outing and preserving the quality start.
Albuquerque plated an insurance tally in the seventh. Nuñez led off with a triple before scoring on Hilliard's sacrifice fly.
The Topes bullpen was lights-out as Julian Fernández and Justin Lawrence each struck out a pair of batters in a perfect frame. Chad Smith worked around a single and walk in the ninth for his 11th save of the campaign.
Montes, Nuñez and Hilliard all finished with two hits, while Boswell went 3-for-4 - missing the cycle by a single.
Topes Scope: - Smith spun Albuquerque's 11th quality start of the season and his fourth. It was the first for an Isotope since Smith himself, when he dealt a seven-inning complete game shutout on June 18 vs. Salt Lake (Game 2 of DH).
- The Topes have won the third game of a road series five consecutive times, dating back to mid-May in Salt Lake. In each instance, Albuquerque lost the first two contests before claiming the third.
- Albuquerque did not trail in a contest for the first time since defeating the Bees 4-0 in the nightcap of the June 18 twinbill.
- The Isotopes are tied with El Paso for the second-most home runs in Minor League Baseball (122). Memphis leads the pack with 124.
- Fernández has an 0.77 ERA (1 ER/11.2 IP) with just two hits allowed over his last 11 appearances dating back to June 4. In that timeframe, he has lowered his season ERA from 11.25 to 6.83.
- 31 out of 54 outs recorded by Lawrence at Triple-A this season have come via the strikeout.
- Nuñez is batting .298 (17-for-57) with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 13 RBI and 12 walks over his last 15 games. He has averaged being on base twice per contest during the span. Tonight, Nuñez legged out his first triple since Aug. 22, 2021 vs. Arizona.
- Pérez is 10-for-29 with five homers and 12 RBI over his last seven contests.
- Boswell racked up his third three-hit game of the year. He picked up his first triple since Aug. 17, 2018, when he was playing for High-A Lancaster.
- LJ Hatch failed to reach base for only the fourth time out of 26 games he has started.
- Kyle Holder was 0-for-3 and is in a 5-for-63 drought dating back to May 28.
On Deck: Right-handed pitcher Brandon Gold will start for the Isotopes at 6:05 p.m. Friday in Round Rock. Albuquerque aims to even the set.
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