Round Rock Offense Erupts in 18-7 Drubbing of Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Round Rock Express (66-56) rattled off an 18-7 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes (54-67) at Isotopes Park on Saturday night. Round Rock has won four consecutive games.

Express reliever RHP Daniel Robert (1-3, 6.16) earned the victory after 2.0 inning of scoreless baseball with no hits or walks and three strikeouts. Isotopes starter RHP Riley Smith (4-6, 8.04) was tagged with the loss after he tossed 4.1 innings and he allowed 10 runs on 12 hits, one walk and five strikeouts.

Along the Train Tracks:

• The scoring began in the second inning. With one out, Albuquerque 1B Michael Toglia hit a solo home run to center field and gave the Isotopes a 1-0 advantage.
• Round Rock got rolling in the third frame as 2B Diosbel Arias and SS Ryan Dorow singled. LF Josh Smith doubled and tied the game. CF Elier Hernandez doubled to score two and the E-Train led 3-1.
• The doubles kept coming for the Express in the third inning. With Hernandez on second base, C Sam Huff doubled and DH Josh Sale traded places with Huff after a fourth double in the inning. The E-Train held a 5-1 advantage.
• The Round Rock offense stayed hot in the fourth inning. A one-out double for Smith, followed by a Hernandez single brought the lead to 6-1. After a single for 1B Andy Ibáñez, Huff blasted a three-run homer and the Express led 9-1.
• Albuquerque trimmed the Round Rock lead to 9-3 in the home-half of the fourth. After LF Sean Bouchard was hit by a pitch, Toglia belted his second home run of the game.
• The Express brought their 10th run of the night home in the fifth inning. 3B Davis Wendzel walked to start the frame. After a double with one out for Arias, Dorow made it a 10-3 Express lead on a sacrifice fly.
• The Isotopes continued to battle back in the fifth inning. RF Ryan Vilade singled and 3B Bret Boswell walked. After CF Jimmy Herron was hit by a pitch, DH Dom Núñez grounded out to score Vilade and he trimmed the lead to 10-4. SS Alan Trejo added another run on a sacrifice fly and a bases loaded walk for Bouchard helped Albuquerque cut the Round Rock lead to 10-6.
• The Express snagged a few more home runs. In the sixth inning, a one-out single for Ibáñez brought Huff to the plate and he smashed his second home run of the game. Wendzel made it back-to-back jacks with a 417-foot shot to give the E-Train a 13-6 advantage.
• Round Rock wasn’t done scoring in the eighth inning. After Ibáñez doubled, DH Josh Sale ripped a two-run bomb to right field as the Express had a 15-6 lead.
• The E-Train continued to make Isotopes fans miserable with a three-spot in the ninth inning. Arias was hit by a pitch and Dorow doubled to put men on second and third base. Smith ripped a triple to center field and the lead grew to 17-6. Hernandez capped off the Express scoring with a single and Round Rock led 18-6.
• Toglia hit his third home run of the night in the ninth inning and Albuquerque trailed 18-7. The solo home run wasn’t enough as the E-Train secured the final three outs for the win.

E-Train Excerpts:

• C Sam Huff posted his third multi-homer game of the season on Saturday night. Huff went 3-for-5 with six RBI and three runs scored. The righty has hit three home runs in his last two games and he collected his 20th home run of the year. It’s the second season he has reached 20 home runs. In 2019, Huff hit 28 home runs.
• DH Josh Smith had the lone four-hit night for Round Rock while Andy Ibáñez, CF Elier Hernandez and Huff each had three hits. DH Josh Sale, 3B Davis Wendzel and 2B Diosbel Arias each collected two hits. While Huff had six RBI, Hernandez added four, while Sale and Smith each had three RBI.
• The Express collected a season-high 10 doubles. The previous high was seven on May 28 at Albuquerque. It was the most doubles in a game for the E-Train since they had 11 against Salt Lake on June 8, 2019.
• Albuquerque 1B Michael Toglia is the first player to hit three home runs against the Express since Sugar Land INF Enmanuel Valdez did it on June 15 at Dell Diamond.

Next up: The series finale is set for a 7:05 p.m. CT first pitch on Sunday night at Isotopes Park. Isotopes LHP Logan Allen (0-0, 0.00) is scheduled to start against Express LHP Kolby Allard (1-3, 5.37).

Single game tickets are available for purchase or bring your group to Dell Diamond. For more information on the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!