Round Rock rallies past Albuquerque, wins on John Taylor grand slam

John Taylor’s first career grand slam capped Round Rock’s comeback from a 6-2 hole and lifted the Express past Albuquerque 9-8 at Dell Diamond. The eighth-inning blast also gave Taylor a career-high five RBI.

Albuquerque struck first with a three-run second inning. Charlie Condon and Vimael Machin opened the frame with back-to-back singles, and Jordan Beck turned the traffic into early damage with a three-run homer. Round Rock answered immediately when Austin Wynns launched a two-run shot, his first homer as an Express player and his fifth straight hit since joining the club on June 24. Albuquerque added runs in the third and fifth, with Condon homering again and Zac Veen following with another long ball to push the Isotopes ahead 6-2.

Diego Castillo singled, Jonah Bride was hit by a pitch, and Taylor lined an RBI single to left to start the climb back. Orlando Martinez, in his first Triple-A game of the 2026 season, then grounded out to bring home another run, and a wild pitch let Taylor score as the deficit shrank to one.

Spencer Adams took the ball for Round Rock and was charged with six earned runs over 5.0 innings, including three homers in his second start with the club. In the eighth inning, Round Rock loaded the bases and Taylor cleared them with the decisive grand slam. Albuquerque still had one last answer, as Sterlin Thompson crushed a two-run homer in the ninth to cut the margin to one, but the Express held on for the 9-8 win.

The result gave Round Rock its third straight series-opening victory and its first winning month of 2026, finishing June at 13-12. The Express also improved to 5-2 in the second half and 11-18 in one-run games.