Round Rock Offense Silenced Through First Seven Innings
PCL Round Rock Express

Round Rock Offense Silenced Through First Seven Innings

Published on July 3, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Round Rock Express News Release


DH Brenton Doyle put the Isotopes on the board with a solo homer in the top of the first. Albuquerque plated three more in the second with three straight RBI doubles from 2B Adael Amador, Doyle and RF Sterlin Thompson.

The Isotopes went up 5-0 in the eighth behind LF Jordan Beck's solo home run. C Bryant Betancourt then drove SS Chad Stevens home from third with a base hit. Albuquerque led 6-0.

Round Rock scored their lone runs in the bottom of the eighth. LF Aaron Zavala hit a double to center, scoring CF Jarred Kelenic and 2B Santiago Espinal. The Express trailed 6-2 after Zavala's two-bagger.

The Express went down quietly in the ninth inning, as they dropped Friday night's contest 8-2.

E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:

WHERE WE STAND: Round Rock has dropped 2 G in a row, knotting the series at 2 apiece with 2 remaining in the 6-game set...are 6-4 in their last 10, and 7-8 in their last 15 G...15 H allowed are the most since 6/18 at Las Vegas, when they surrendered a season-high 22.

RHP NOLAN KINGHAM: (L, 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, HR, 98 pitches, 61 strikes) threw 98 pitches on Friday night, the most from a Round Rock pitcher this season...ties RHP Cory Abbott's 2025 team-leading 98-pitch outing on 8/29/25 vs Salt Lake...tossed 4.0+ innings for the 5th time in 7 starts this season...after surrendering 3 consecutive doubles in the 2nd, retired 9 of the last 11 batters faced (allowed a walk in the 3rd and a single in the 5th).

INF SANTIAGO ESPINAL: made his Express debut tonight after being designated for assignment by LAD on 6/16... singled in his first plate appearance in the 1st...signed a minor league contract on 7/2 with TEX and assigned to Round Rock... appeared in 36 G with LAD where he hit .268 (15/56) with 7 RBI, HR and a walk... has not appeared in a Triple-A game since 9/23/21 with BUF (TOR Triple-A affiliate)... has spent the last three seasons in the majors (TOR, CIN, and LAD)... slashed .247/.296/.328/.624 with 12 HR, 93 RBI and 15 SB across the three campaigns.

OF JARRED KELENIC: began his second stint with the Express after signing a minor league contract today... originally joined the Express on 6/2 and had his contract selected by TEX on 6/19... designated for assignment 10 days later after hitting .125 (1/8) over 8 G with the Rangers... owned an 11-game hitting streak with RR...slashed .340/.431/.620/1.051 in 13 games from 6/3-18.

OF TREVOR HAUVER: hit his 12th double of the season in the 4th inning... 12 doubles is the 3rd highest among Express hitters... ends a 6 G stretch without recording an XBH... despite entering tonight having faced the Isotopes the 3rd least of his career (43 AB), Hauver is hitting .302 against ABQ... marks his 2nd highest batting average against a PCL opponent of his career.

RHP MICHEL OTAÑEZ: (ND, 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R-ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 19 pitches, 15 strikes) was the first man out of the pen on Friday night... made his 29th appearance of the campaign for the Express... T-2nd most among Round Rock pitchers this season... has thrown 1.0+ inning in 24 of those outings... struck out the first batter he faced to end the 5th ... threw just four balls, all to 2B Adael Amador... concluded his outing with a strikeout to escape runners on the corners in the 6th... fastball topped out at 101.1 mph.

OF AARON ZAVALA: delivered a two-run RBI double in the 8th to put the Express on the board... leads the Express with 17 doubles on the season... 19 of his 62 base hits were recorded at 100+ mph... is slashing .250/.255/.375/.630 with a home run and 10 RBI in his last 11 G.

NOTES: The Express 13-G home run streak ended on Friday night... T-2nd longest streak among Triple-A clubs this season (also, JAX).

NEXT GAME: Saturday, July 4 vs Albuquerque FIRST PITCH: 7:05 p.m. CT BALLPARK: Dell Diamond

For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and X!

Check out the Round Rock Express Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from July 3, 2026


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.

OurSports Central