Express Defeat Rainiers, Advance to PCL Championship  

TACOMA, Wash. – The Round Rock Express (45-30 | 89-60) earned an 11-6 win over the Tacoma Rainiers (40-35 | 77-73) behind a five-homer performance at Cheney Stadium on Sunday. Round Rock clinched the Pacific Coast League second half title and will face the Oklahoma City Dodgers (Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate) in a best-of-three series starting Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The entire series will be played in Oklahoma City.

Express reliever RHP Marc Church (7-1, 3.48) earned the win after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings that included one hit and two walks. Rainiers starter RHP Adam Oller (10-7, 6.22) collected the loss after allowing 10 runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings. The righty walked three and struck out five.

Along the Train Tracks:

• The Express jumped on another first-inning lead after CF J.P. Martinez drew a walk and DH Blaine Crim brought them both home with a two-run homer. In the home half, Rainiers SS Ryan Bliss notched a solo shot of his own and it was a 2-1 game.
• In the fourth inning, Round Rock 3B Davis Wendzel extended the lead to 3-1 after mashing a one-out solo homer. Tacoma scored again in the home half after Bliss led off with a double and scored on an RBI single from CF Taylor Trammell and the lead was cut to one run.
• Round Rock put up a seven-spot in the fifth inning behind a two-RBI double for 1B Justin Foscue, a sacrifice fly from Crim and home runs from C Sam Huff and LF Dustin Harris. The E-Train led 10-2.
• Tacoma LF Isiah Gilliam led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a home run to cut the lead at 10-3. A single and two walks had the bases loaded with one out. Bliss walked with the bases loaded and a sacrifice fly for Trammell scored two runs to make it 10-5.
• Another home run led off the seventh inning for the Rainiers. 2B Riley Unroe cut the Express lead to 10-6.
• Harris notched his second homer of the game in the eighth inning to give the E-Train an 11-6 lead. The Rainiers went three up, three down in the eighth and ninth innings and Round Rock clinched the second half title.

E-Train Excerpts:

• Express DH Blaine Crim mashed his 22^nd home run of the season in the first frame on Sunday. Crim is one of 13 players in the league with 22 or more home runs and joins teammates, OF Sandro Fabian and INF Davis Wendzel, on that list.
• Round Rock 3B Davis Wendzel homered in back-to-back games and collected his 30^th bomb of the year. He will finish the year tied with Tacoma INF Jake Scheiner and Salt Lake INF Trey Cabbage for the most homers in the PCL. The infielder became just the fourth player in club history with a 30-homer season and the first since Kyle Tucker accomplished the feat in 2019.
• The five Round Rock home runs on Sunday are a season high. The team had previously recorded four home runs five times this season, including four last night.
• Express LF Dustin Harris led the offensive charge after a two-homer night which was his first as a member of the Express. Harris finished the game going 2-for-4 with two home runs, three RBI and two runs scored.

Next up: Round Rock will face off against the PCL first half champions, the Oklahoma City Dodgers (Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate) at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in a best-of-three series beginning Tuesday, September 26. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT. Game one pitchers for both teams are to be announced.

For more information about 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!