Express sweep first series since late May

Travis Snider homered and had two hits, and Clayton Blackburn threw five scoreless innings as the Round Rock Express beat the New Orleans Baby Cakes 3-2 Thursday night at Dell Diamond.

The Express swept the fourgame Pacific Coast League series.

R.J. Alvarez got Christian Colon to hit into a forceout with a runner on first to end the game for his fifth save.

Blackburn (4-2) allowed two hits and struck out six.

After four scoreless innings, Round Rock broke through in the bottom of the fifth when Brett Hayes hit a solo home run and Jurickson Profar added an RBI single.

The Baby Cakes cut into the deficit with runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Tomas Telis tripled and scored on Moises Sierra’s groundout, and Brandon Barnes singled in Colon.

Justin Nicolino (4-4) took the loss, allowing two runs, four hits and three walks in five innings. He also struck out three.

Brian Anderson had two of the Baby Cakes’ six hits.

Doug Bernier was the onlyother Express player to have two hits.

The Express bullpen held up after Blackburn exited, allowing two runs on four hits through four innings. Tanner Scheppers, Jimmy Reyes and Sam Wolff set up the save opportunity for Alvarez.

Round Rock is 10-2 against New Orleans this season. The Express’ sweep was their first since May 26.