PCL1 Round Rock Express

Round Rock Express Game Notes

Published on July 9, 2011 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME

Round Rock continues a four-game series against the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals) at The Dell Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT. This is the final series prior to the All-Star Game break for both teams. The Express are 7-3 in their last 10 games, the Pacific Coast League's second-best record in that time behind only Tucson (9-1). The Redbirds are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Round Rock is 28-18 at The Dell Diamond, while Memphis is 20-25 on the road.

PROMOTIONS

Used Car Night, presented by Nyle Maxwell Family of Dealerships Lucky Lottery Row, presented by Texas Lottery

RADIO BROADCAST INFORMATION

Tonight's game airs on 104.9 FM The Horn ESPN Radio Austin. Online audio also is available at www.espnaustin.com. Express Director of Broadcasting Mike Capps handles play-by-play duties, while former Major Leaguer Jerry Grote provides color analysis.

TELEVISION BROADCAST INFORMATION

Tonight's game also airs live on KBVO Austin, the sports-specific sister station of KXAN NBC Austin. KBVO is available on Time Warner Cable HD channel 1525, DirecTV channel 51, AT&T Uverse channel 7 (HD 1007), Grande channel 18 (HD 318), Suddenlink channel 15 (HD 725) and Northland Cable channel 97. KXAN Sports Director Roger Wallace handles play-by-play duties while former Major League pitcher Kirk Dressendorfer provides color analysis.

EXPRESS-REDBIRDS SERIES

This is the second of four series between the Express and Redbirds; Memphis leads the season series 3-2. Round Rock dropped two of three in a rain-shortened series April 28-30 at Memphis. All five meetings have been decided by three runs or fewer, including a pair of one-run, extra-inning games. The teams meet again at Memphis immediately following the All-Star Game break and July 26-29 at The Dell Diamond. The May 1 game, which was postponed due to inclement weather, will be made up as a July 15 doubleheader.

EXPRESS STARTER

RHP Brett Tomko (4-3, 7.24 ERA)

Last Outing: No-decision in July 4 start at Albuquerque, a 13-10 Express win ... Allowed seven runs on seven hits, including two home runs, over 5.0 innings ... Walked four and struck out three ... Left game trailing 7-4 ... Used 96 pitches, 56 strikes.

2011: Makes 11th appearance, eighth start tonight ... Logged 41.0 innings with 16 walks, 26 strikeouts and a .312 opponents' average ... Surrendered 11 home runs ... At least one home run allowed in eight of 10 appearances, including each of last five outings (eight homers in that time) ... Won each of last three decisions and four of last five ... Wins June 3 at Oklahoma City (start), June 18 vs. Omaha (start), June 21 at New Orleans (relief) and June 28 vs. Oklahoma City (relief) ... Losses April 10 vs. Iowa (start), April 15 at New Orleans (start) and June 13 at Nashville (start) ... 2-1, 7.88 ERA, .342 opponents' average in four outings - three starts - at The Dell Diamond ... 2-3, 7.79 ERA, .319 opponents' average as a starter ... First-inning ERA is 9.00 (7 ER / 7.0 IP) ... Opponents hitting .341 (14-for-41) with four home runs, one walk and five strikeouts when leading off an inning ... Holds opponents to a .188 average (3-for-16) with runners in scoring position and two outs.

2011 vs. Memphis: First meeting.

2010: Spent entire season with Triple-A Las Vegas in the Toronto Blue Jays organization ... 2-3 with a 5.64 ERA in 35 games, five starts; 49 strikeouts over 81.1 innings.

Notable: Drafted by Chicago White Sox in 50th round of 2001 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of high school but did not sign ... LaTrobe, Pa., native began collegiate career at Louisville before transferring to Texas A&M ... Toronto Blue Jays first-round pick in 2004 after one season at Texas A&M ... MLB debut June 4, 2006, with Blue Jays vs. Washington Nationals ... Also spent time in Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Indians organizations ... Was part of the July 7, 2008, trade that sent C.C. Sabathia from Milwaukee from Cleveland ... Signed minor league contract with Rangers in January.

ROSTER MOVES

Leonys Martin and Guilder Rodriguez were assigned to Round Rock from Double-A Frisco prior to tonight's game. Rodriguez takes the roster spot of Omar Quintanilla, whose contract was purchased by the Texas Rangers prior to Friday's game. Martin takes the roster spot of Julio Borbon, who was placed on the disabled list after sustaining an ankle injury at the conclusion of the seventh inning last night.

LAST NIGHT'S GAME

Tyler Greene's two-run homer in the seventh inning was the difference maker as the Redbirds clipped the Express 3-1. Peter Kozma doubled with one out and scored on Greene's second homer of the season. That snapped a 1-1 tie. Mike Blazek earned the victory in his first Triple-A start, holding the Express to a run on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts over 6.0 innings. Express starter Neil Ramirez struck out six in a predetermined 3.0-inning start; he allowed one run on three hits and no walks. Zach Jackson, who surrendered Greene's homer, was saddled with the loss. Victor Marte recorded his 16th save for the Redbirds.

DIVISION STANDINGS UPDATE

Round Rock (51-37, .580) surrendered one game to Albuquerque (47-41, .534) in the PCL's American Southern Division standings with last night's loss coupled with the Isotopes' 7-1 victory over Nashville. The Express, who lead the division by four games, are 14-6 since June 18; the Isotopes are 8-12 in that time. Round Rock has at least shared the division lead following 66 of 88 games this season. New Orleans (42-47, .472) defeated Iowa 4-0 last night and trails Round Rock by nine-and-a-half games. Oklahoma City (39-50, .438) defeated Omaha 4-3 last night; the RedHawks are 12-and-a-half games back. The Express are 17-14 against their division foes.

ROUND ROCK vs. AMERICAN NORTHERN DIVISION

The Express are 27-14 against American Northern Division teams this season; last night's loss snapped an eight-game winning streak against Northern Division foes. Round Rock has completed its season series against Iowa, winning nine of 16 meetings. The Express are 7-1 against Omaha - all at The Dell Diamond - and 9-3 against Nashville. Round Rock trails Memphis 3-2 in the season series.

MEMPHIS vs. AMERICAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

The Redbirds are 23-17 against American Southern Division foes, winning nine of their last 10. Memphis has concluded its season series against New Orleans, winning seven of 16 meetings. The Redbirds are 11-1 against Oklahoma City and 3-5 against Albuquerque. The Redbirds currently trail division-leading Omaha by one-half game in the American Northern Division.

ROUND ROCK PERFECT FOLLOWING CONSECUTIVE LOSSES

Thursday night's 6-4 victory over Memphis came on the heels of two straight losses. The Express have not suffered a three-game skid this season, going 12-0 following consecutive losses. Every other PCL team has suffered three consecutive losses at least once. Reno lost three straight only once. Eleven of the other 14 teams have lost at least five games at some point this season. Albuquerque and Las Vegas both suffered 10-game skids, the league's longest this season. Nashville and Sacramento both lost nine straight.

EXPRESS AMONG TOP PCL TEAMS

At 51-37 (.580), Round Rock owns the PCL's third-best record behind Sacramento (52-36, .591) and Reno (51-36, .586). Furthermore, the Express are three-and-a-half games ahead of Omaha (48-41, .539) in the overall American Conference standings. Only one other time has Round Rock reached 50 wins prior to the All-Star Game; the 2006 squad was 57-33 at the break en route to the division title.

HOME SWEET HOME

After struggling at The Dell Diamond early in the season, the Express have been strong at home over the past month. Round Rock is 28-18 at home, ranking second in the league in home wins behind only Albuquerque (30). The Express snapped a six-game home winning streak last night but still are 11-2 at The Dell Diamond since April 18.

BIG-FLY GUYS

The Express enter tonight's game with 116 home runs on the season. Round Rock - the first PCL team to 100 home runs this season - currently trails only Reno (117) for the league lead. Albuquerque (107) is the next closest American Conference. The Express clubbed 32 homers over the last 20 games after being shutout in consecutive games. Round Rock already has eclipsed the franchise's season totals from 2009 (97) and 2010 (108). The Express hit 170 home runs in 2006, an average of 1.18 per game and still the club's Triple-A era (since 2005) record. The 2011 Express average 1.32 home runs per game and are on pace to hit 189 on the season.

OFFENSE STRUGGLES WITHOUT HOMERS

The Express have homered in 57 of 88 games this season, going 38-19 in those games. However, Round Rock is just 13-18 when failing to hit at least one home run. Furthermore, the Express average 3.68 runs per game (114 total) when failing to homer. Meanwhile, Round Rock averages 6.07 runs per game when hitting at least one home run. The Express have homered in 20 of their last 30 games and scored a total of 23 runs in the other 10 games, getting shutout three times and scoring one run three times.

Check out the Round Rock Express Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 9, 2011


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