TL1 Arkansas Travelers

Cards Stop Travs' Ninth Inning Rally, Win 4-3

Published on June 16, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
Arkansas Travelers News Release


NORTH LITTLE ROCK - The Arkansas Travelers never led in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Springfield Cardinals, but they caused some excitement with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth to cut the deficit to one and got the tying and winning runs on base before a game-ending double play.

Trailing 4-2 in the ninth, Val Majewski hit his second home run of the season, taking a 2-1 pitch from Cardinal closer Francisco Samuel (S, 16) deep off the wall of the Arkansas bullpen behind right field. After a Mark Trumbo groundout, Wil Ortiz lined a single to left field, and Samuel drilled Branden Florence to put the winning run on base and the tying run in scoring position. But Samuel induced a hard groundball off the bat of designated hitter Jay Caligiuri for a 6-4-3 double play.

Springfield ace Trey Hearne (W, 6-1) pitched seven solid innings, holding the Travs (25-38) to five hits and two runs, walking three and striking out two.

"Hearne's a veteran pitcher. This guy knows how to pitch. He adds, he subtracts, with his fastball and his changeup as well. He spots them where he wants them. He knows how to work side-to-side and up-and-down with the ball," Arkansas manager Bobby Magallanes said. "He's a mature pitcher. Give him credit. But we battled toe-to-toe with these guys, and I was happy to see the effort."

The Travs' first five hitters did all of the damage off Hearne. Hank Conger hit a ground-rule double to lead off the fourth and scored on a single by Mark Trumbo, his team-leading 33rd RBI. Coby Smith drew a two-out walk in the fifth, stole his team-leading 25th base and scored on a bloop single to right field by Nate Sutton, which made Sutton Arkansas's hits leader.

"It's clicking. [The offense] is coming around. Little by little, we're coming around. It's not so much results, but how we're playing. Today we did some good things," Magallanes said.

The Cardinals (35-28) jumped on starter Jordan Walden (L, 1-3) in the top of the first inning. After a leadoff walk to Daryl Jones was erased with a caught stealing, Walden gave up back-to-back hits to Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso. Descalso hit his 22nd double of the year to score Kozma from first.

Walden settled down after surrendering a leadoff double to Mark Hamilton in the second inning, striking out the side in the second and retiring the next eight Cardinals in order. A Wil Ortiz throwing error opened the door for Springfield in the fifth, allowing Jones to reach and give Daniel Descalso a chance to bat with two outs. Descalso singled through the hole at shortstop, and Steven Hill took advantage with a two-RBI double to right field, a pair of unearned runs charged to Walden. He would leave the game in the seventh with seven hits and three runs allowed (one earned), walking three and striking out six.

Bobby Cassevah got the final out of the seventh but surrendered a leadoff double in the eighth to Tyler Henley, who scored on a fielder's choice by Matt Arburr that drove in the crucial insurance run the Cardinals would need for the 4-3 win.

Attendance Tuesday was 5,985. The game ended in 2:42. Tomorrow's series finale will feature a pair of southpaws, Trevor Reckling (3-2, 2.73 ERA) for Arkansas and lefty Ryan Kulik (1-4, 6.14). Game time is 7:10 p.m.

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Texas League Stories from June 16, 2009


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