Dodgers Blast Four Homers In Win Over Express

The Oklahoma City Dodgers set season highs with four home runs and eight extra-base hits, as the offense came alive in a 9-6 win over the Round Rock Express Saturday night at Dell Diamond.

With the win, the Dodgers (35-20) snapped their five-game losing streak and improved to 20-9 on the road. Following an eight-game homestand during which they scored a total of 19 runs, the Dodgers hit the road and notched nearly half of that by scoring nine times Saturday night.

The Dodgers got off to a hot start at the plate, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. Darnell Sweeney led off the game with a home run, marking the first leadoff homer of the season for OKC. Austin Barnes followed next and also went deep, as the Dodgers hit back-to-back for the second time in 2015.

The Dodgers scored twice more in the inning on a sacrifice fly by O'Koyea Dickson and a RBI groundout by Kyle Jensen.

Round Rock (34-21) used the long ball to get on the board in the second inning when J.T. Wise connected on his first home run since joining the Express, making it 4-1.

The Dodgers bashed another pair of back-to-back homers in the third inning. With a runner on and two outs, Jensen lifted a towering fly ball onto the grass seating in left field for a two-run homer. Elliot Johnson stepped up next and drilled a home run off the batter's eye to make it 7-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Yeyson Yrizarri drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to plate a run for Round Rock. After falling behind Ryan Strausborger 3-0, Dodgers starting pitcher Ian Thomas struck out Strausborger to end the inning.

The Express scored again in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Pastornicky to pull Round Rock within 7-3.

A RBI groundout by Corey Seager pushed the Dodgers lead back to 8-3 in the sixth. Sweeney collected his third extra-base hit of the night with a RBI double in the eighth inning to match OKC's largest advantage of the night at six runs.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Jared Hoying hit a solo homer for the Express to make it 9-4. In the ninth, a dropped pop up aided the Express in scoring a pair of runs and bring the tying run to the plate with two outs.

OKC Dodgers reliever Ryan Buchter then entered the game and got Pastornicky to ground out, as Buchter sealed the victory and earned his first save.

Making his first start for Oklahoma City, Thomas (2-0) tossed a season-high 5.0 innings and earned the win. He allowed three runs (two earned) and five hits, with three strikeouts and three walks.

The Dodgers committed a season-high three errors, and only three of the six runs allowed by the Dodgers pitching staff were earned. The Dodgers entered Saturday having committed the fewest errors in the league, and Saturday marked the first time they committed more than one error since May 13.

Round Rock starting pitcher Alec Asher allowed seven runs (six earned) and six hits over 5.0 innings in the loss. Asher (0-2) served up four home runs and finished with four walks and three strikeouts.