Round Rock Express Drop Opener to New Orleans 10-5
Published on July 19, 2010 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release
ROUND ROCK, Texas - Josh Banks suffered his first loss at The Dell Diamond since April 23 as the Round Rock Express dropped a 10-5 decision to the New Orleans Zephyrs in Monday night's series opener. The Express (39-57) have lost four straight and fall to 4-12 since June 27. The Zephyrs (46-47) lead the season series 10-3.
Banks was 7-1 at home prior to Monday night's game, earning 6.6 runs of support per start, and was 6-0 with one no-decision in his last seven home starts. His last loss at The Dell Diamond was a 6-3 defeat against Omaha in the series finale, his second home start of the season.
However, things got off to a rocky start Monday night for Banks. He allowed two runs in the first, one in the second and two more in the third as New Orleans built a 5-0 lead.
Nonetheless, the Express bats got banks back into the game with a five-run fourth. Matt Kata singled to open the inning and later scored on Edwin Bellorin's one-out single. Later in the inning, Collin DeLome hit a two-out, game-tying grand slam. It was DeLome's fourth homer in as many days and Round Rock's second grand slam of the season. DeLome has homered in three of the last four games.
Again, though, Banks ran into trouble in the fifth, walking Hector Luna - the first batter of the frame. Luna stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. That turned out to be the game-winning run as the New Orleans bullpen shutout the Express the rest of the way. The Zephyrs tacked on two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth.
Banks (8-7) allowed six runs on 10 hits and three walks with one strikeout over 4.2 innings. New Orleans starter Brian Lawrence (9-6) picked up the win, allowing five runs on 10 hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 5.0 innings. Jorge Sosa scattered two hits and a walk with one strikeout over 3.0 innings for his first save of the season.
Logan Morrison's RBI groundout and Hector Luna's RBI single staked New Orleans to a 2-0 lead in the first. Lawrence added a sacrifice fly in the second, and Brian Barden's two-run double in the third pushed the Zephyrs' lead to 5-0. Round Rock batted around in the five-run fourth, but stranded the would-be go-ahead run at second. The Express stranded seven runners in the next four innings, leaving the bags full in the sixth and eighth innings.
New Orleans got two runs on two hits and a costly two-out Express error in the seventh. The second run came on a pinch-hit RBI double from Mark Saccomanno, who played for the Express the past three seasons. Brad Davis' towering two-run homer down the left-field line capped the scoring in the top of the ninth.
DeLome finished the game 3-for-5, while Kata, Bellorin and Drew Locke all had two-hit nights. Richar and Barden each had three hits for the Zephyrs, while Luna and Davis both had two-hit outings.
Round Rock and New Orleans continue the four-game series Tuesday with a 7:05 p.m. CDT first pitch at The Dell Diamond. It will be dueling southpaws as Polin Trinidad (3-6, 4.26 ERA) starts for the Express, opposite Zephyrs' lefty Wes Whisler (1-2, 3.96 ERA).
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