Welker has Two Hits in 7-3 Defeat

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – For a second straight game, the Round Rock Express opened the scoring with a massive swing of the bat and never looked back. Round Rock got a third inning grand slam from Elier Hernandez that sent them on their way to a 7-3 win over the Sacramento River Cats on Wednesday afternoon at Sutter Health Park.

Hernandez hit the grand slam with two outs off River Cats starter Drew Strotman (1-1), who suffered the loss after allowing two hits while walking two, hitting two and striking out two.

Round Rock added to its lead in the fourth on a solo homer by Blaine Crim, his first in Triple-A, to make it a 5-0 score. Tanner Andrews, who allowed the Crim homer, worked into the sixth and would be charged with an unearned run after the Express scored on a catcher’s interference play with the bases loaded and one out to make it 6-0.

Round Rock starter Chase Lee went three innings and retired nine of the 10 batters he faced. Zack Littell (2-0) took over in the fourth and retired six of the seven batters he faced while striking out four in picking up the victory.

Sacramento’s three runs all scored in the seventh as Colton Welker and Ricardo Genoves hit back-to-back RBI singles and Shane Matheny added a sac-fly to cut the Round Rock lead to 6-3. Michael Gigliotti came up as the possible tying run with two outs but grounded out to end the inning.

Round Rock added a late run in the ninth when Jonathan Ornelas scored on a wild pitch with two outs, the first run of the season allowed by River Cats reliever Jorge Guzman.

Mitch Haniger went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in his second game on rehab while Austin Slater went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts.

The River Cats and Express continue their series on Thursday night at Sutter Health Park. Kyle Harrison 0-1, 7.50 ERA) makes the start for Sacramento, opposed by Round Rock left-hander Cody Bradford (3-0, 0.55 ERA). First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m. PDT.