OKC Falls to Express, 4-2, Friday

Round Rock Express – 4

Oklahoma City Dodgers – 2

Friday, Sept. 1, 2023 – Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark – Oklahoma City, Okla.

Game Summary: The Round Rock Express scored three runs in the sixth inning to take the lead and defeat the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 4-2, Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The teams played to a 1-1 tie in the second inning with the Express (35-20/79-50) taking a 1-0 lead on a RBI double by Dio Arias and the Dodgers answering with a bases-loaded walk by Steven Duggar. In the fifth inning, Duggar hit a solo home run for a 2-1 advantage for Oklahoma City (28-27/78-50). The Express connected on three straight RBI singles by Evan Carter, Justin Foscue and Elier Hernandez in the sixth inning to take a 4-2 lead as they held the Dodgers scoreless over the game’s final four innings.

Of Note:

-Round Rock tied the series against Oklahoma City, 2-2, and took over first place in the overall PCL standings as they now have a half-game lead ahead of the Dodgers…The Dodgers fell to 3-8 in the last 11 games, to 5-13 in the last 18 games and to 7-17 since Aug. 4.

-Steven Duggar returned from the Injured List and finished with a game-high two RBI, driving in both of OKC’s runs. He hit a solo home run in the fifth inning and drew a walk in his first game since Aug. 6.

-Ryan Ward doubled, drew a walk and scored a run to extend his hitting streak to a season-best 10 games. During the streak, Ward is 13-for-42 (.310) with two doubles, a triple, two homers and 10 RBI.

-Drew Avans went 2-for-4 and has hit safely in each of the first four games of the current series, going 6-for-14 with two RBI.

-Óscar Mercado went 2-for-4, collecting his first hits since joining OKC at the end of August and playing in his third game with the team.

-Pitcher Nick Frasso (1-1) made his second Triple-A start, allowing three runs, seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts over 5.2 innings. He threw 86 pitches (53 strikes) in the loss.

-The Dodgers pitching staff recorded two strikeouts in the game for the fewest strikeouts by the pitching staff since June 17, 2022 at Reno (also two). Friday marked the fourth game in the last two seasons with three or fewer strikeouts for Oklahoma City…None of the final 37 batters for Round Rock struck out Friday after the Dodgers had recorded at least nine strikeouts against the Express in each of the first three games of the series.

What’s Next: The Dodgers and Express continue their series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Single-game tickets for OKC Dodgers home games are available at okcdodgers.com/tickets. 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. Video broadcasts of all OKC Dodgers home games are now available to be streamed live for free on the Bally Live app.