Dodgers Squeak By Express, 5-4

The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored three runs in the seventh inning to get some breathing room and then withstood a late charge by the Round Rock Express to hang on for a 5-4 victory Thursday night at Dell Diamond.

The Dodgers (19-13) won for the seventh time in the past nine games and improved to 5-2 on their current eight-game road trip. It also marks the first time an Oklahoma City team has won three straight games during the same series at Dell Diamond since Aug. 21-23, 2010.

The Dodgers caught an early break in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. With a runner at second and two out, Rob Segedin sent a fly ball to shallow right-center field. Round Rock center fielder Jared Hoying appeared to be ready to make the catch to end the inning, but he dropped the ball, allowing Austin Barnes to score.

The game stayed 1-0 until Corey Brown led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to extend the lead. Brown sent a line drive that cleared the right field fence by a few feet for his third home run of the season.

The Express put runners at the corners with one out in the fourth inning, but OKC starting pitcher Mike Bolsinger induced a flyout and a groundout to keep the Express off the board.

In his second start of his rehab assignment, Bolsinger tossed four scoreless innings and allowed three hits. He walked three and struck out four, throwing 63 pitches, including 34 strikes.

Round Rock trimmed lead in the fifth inning. Brett Nicholas hit a RBI single with the bases loaded to score a run. With the bases still full, Ian Thomas struck out both Hoying and Michael McKenry to keep the Dodgers ahead.

Thomas (2-0) ended up with the win for Oklahoma City. He entered Thursday having not allowed a run over his previous four outings, totaling 10.2 innings.

Through six innings, the Dodgers were held to just one hit—Brown’s home run—and the Express pitching staff had retired 16 of 17 OKC batters, including nine straight, heading into the seventh inning. But the Dodgers rebooted the offense in the seventh inning, scoring three runs on five hits in the frame. Rob Segedin led off the inning with a single, and James Ramsey followed with a two-run homer to make it 4-1. Ramsey has homered in two straight games and now has three home runs this season.

Later in the inning, Alex Hassan and Jack Murphy each singled with one out. Rico Noel came up next and perfectly pushed a bunt single to the right side of the infield to score Hassan and give the Dodgers a four-run cushion.

However, the Express would tighten things up, scoring three runs over their next two trips to the plate. Doug Bernier led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo homer, cutting the lead to 5-2.

In the eighth, Hoying led off with a single and Michael McKenry followed with a RBI double. With runners at the corners and two outs, Bernier sent a soft liner to right field for a base hit. One run scored on the play, and the relay throw went to third base, where the ball briefly skipped away from Austin Barnes. Drew Robinson darted for home plate, but Barnes was able to throw out Robinson to keep the lead intact.

Jurickson Profar singled with one out in the ninth inning to put the tying run on base. Nicholas came up next and flied out to the warning track in left field for the second out. Chin-Hui Tsao wrapped up the win by striking out Hoying, as Tsao earned his fifth save of the season.

Rehabbing Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish took the loss. Darvish (0-1) allowed two runs (one earned) and one hit over four innings. He finished with four strikeouts and two walks.

The Dodgers will look to finish their road trip with a sweep of the Express Friday night at 7:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond. Live coverage begins 15 minutes before the first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com, or through the free iHeartRadio mobile app.