Dodgers Win Series Finale with Express, 7-3

OKC Dodgers – 7

Round Rock Express – 3

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021 – Dell Diamond – Round Rock, Texas

Game Summary: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored three runs in the second inning to take an early lead and then led the rest of the way in a 7-3 win against the Round Rock Express Tuesday night in the series finale between the teams at Dell Diamond. Yoshi Tsutsugo collected a game-high three RBI for the Dodgers, while starting pitcher Andre Jackson (1-0) earned the win in his Triple-A debut. In the second inning, Matt Davidson walked and Cristian Santana followed with a double to lead off before both runners scored on a two-run single lined into right field by Carlos Asuaje. Hamlet Marte’s RBI single with one out later in the inning gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. The Express’ John Hicks homered in the bottom of the inning. The Dodgers (41-37) added three more runs over the next two innings to take a 6-1 lead thanks to Tsutsugo who homered out to right-center field in the third inning then added a two-run single in the fourth inning. The Express (37-41) scored in the bottom of the inning to cut OKC’s lead to 6-2. Drew Avans’ two-out RBI double pushed OKC’s lead to 7-2 in the fifth inning. The Express scored another run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut OKC’s lead to four runs, but that would be the final run of the night as OKC went on to win four of six games in the Red Dirt Rumble series.

Of Note:

-Starting pitcher Andre Jackson made his Triple-A debut with OKC. He earned the win, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing two runs, three hits, including one homer, and two walks with three strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches, including 54 strikes. Jackson was promoted from Double-A Tulsa Saturday after pitching a team-leading 63.1 innings for the Drillers, posting 75 K’s against 20 walks. His strikeout total was second-highest among Drillers pitchers and his 20 walks were fewest among Tulsa starting pitchers.

-With Tuesday’ win, the Dodgers improved to 23-8 in their last 31 road games and to 8-3 in their last 11 road games. They went 10-8 against the Express at Dell Diamond this season as the teams will now play their final 12 games of the season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark…OKC has also won three straight games for the first time since winning three games in a row July 12-15.

-Yoshi Tsutsugo went 2-for-5 with a homer and a game-high three RBI. Tsutsugo has now reached base safely in 18 of his last 20 games, batting .333 (22x66) with six homers, five doubles, 18 RBI and 20 runs scored. Over his last five games, Tsutsugo has seven hits, including a homer, four doubles and three multi-hit games, six RBI, seven runs scored and four walks.

-Cristian Santana extended his hitting streak to a season-high nine games, going 2-for-4 with a double and run scored. During the hitting streak, Santana is 17-for-38 (.447) with nine RBI and seven multi-hit games. He has tallied two or more hits in six of his last seven games, seven of his last nine games and eight of his last 11 games. He has also hit safely in 19 of his last 21 starts.

-In the fourth game of his Major League Rehab Assignment with OKC, pitcher Corey Knebel had his longest outing, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing one run and one hit, with one walk and one strikeout. He threw 22 pitches, including 14 strikes. Knebel, Neftali Feliz and Kevin Quackenbush held the Express to a combined one run and three hits over the final four frames and notched six strikeouts against one walk.

-Although the Dodgers were held without a home run in two of their six meetings with the Express during the series, the Dodgers finished with eight homers during the set. The team has now hit 42 homers over their last 24 games.

-OKC improved to 8-5 in series finales this season, including 5-2 on the road, as they won a fourth consecutive road series finale Tuesday. The Dodgers also won a fifth straight road series, winning four of six games against the Express.

-Tuesday night continued two trends in which the Dodgers scored first in each of their six meetings during the series at Round Rock and scored those initial runs within the first two innings of each game.

-The Dodgers closed out their series in Round Rock scoring 23 runs over the final three games, including at least seven each night, after scoring a combined 18 runs over their previous five games.

*What’s Next: *Following a league-wide day off Wednesday, the OKC Dodgers continue their 12-game road trip and open a six-game series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 7:35 p.m. CT Thursday at Isotopes Park. Live radio coverage of each OKC Dodgers game begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com and through the free iHeartRadio or MiLB First Pitch apps. All OKC Dodgers games are also available streamed live on MiLB.TV with a subscription.