DeJong Belts Walk-Off Blast in 11th for 4-3 Cardinals Win
June 9, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Springfield Cardinals News Release
Springfield, MO - 3B Paul DeJong crushed a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the 11th and send the Springfield Cardinals to the 4-3 walk-off win against the Arkansas Travelers before 5,161 fans at Hammons Field on Thursday night. It marks DeJong's third walk-off hit of the year, two of which have been home runs.
With the win and a Tulsa Drillers loss, the Cardinals make up one game in the race for the 1st Half Championship. Since Tulsa will only play 69 games in the 1st Half, winning percentage will determine the 1st Half Champion. The Drillers stand at 33-25 with a .569 winning percentage, while the Cardinals are right behind them at 32-27 with a .542 winning percentage. Both teams have 11 games left in the half, six of which will be against one another.
After RHP Andrew Morales kept the Travelers (24-35) off the board through his first two scoreless frames, the Cardinals cracked the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second. Facing RHP Tyler Carpenter, 1B Luke Voit pelted a double off the left-center field fence to open the inning. Voit then tagged and took third on a fly out to right field by DH Michael Ohlman, before racing home on an RBI groundout to short from 3B Paul DeJong to open the 1-0 lead.
The Travs battled it right back even right away, getting on the board against Morales in the top of the third. CF Bo Way got the inning going with a walk, followed by a bunt single from SS Anthony Phillips. Both runners moved up ninety feet on a sacrifice bunt from LF Caleb Adams, before Way darted in on an RBI groundout from 2B Alex Yarbrough to square the score, 1-1.
The Cardinals, though, tilted the lead right back into their favor in the bottom of the third. With one away, LF Jonathan Rodriguez scorched a double into the left field corner. Rehabbing St. Louis C Brayan Pena advanced Rodriguez to third with a fly out to left-center, before Voit ripped a two-out RBI single to right-center to score Rodriguez for the 2-1 lead.
Arkansas once again came right back in the top of the fourth. The inning began with 1B Eric Aguilera reaching on a fielding error committed by SS Juan Herrera. One out later, C Jose Briceno singled himself on and DH Jabari Henry worked a walk, loading the bases with one down. Way then bounced a ball to Caldwell at second base, who promptly fired home to try to retire Aguilera at the plate. Caldwell's throw, though, bounced into the dirt and enabled Aguilera to score on the throwing miscue. With the bases still loaded, Phillips provided the go-ahead run with an RBI sacrifice fly, lifting the Travs into the 3-2 lead.
Morales bounced back with a 1-2-3 fifth before striking out the side in the sixth, dealing two perfect innings to close his outing. Morales wrapped up with only the one earned run allowed while racking up six strikeouts in his six innings.
The Cardinals capitalized on a couple of Arkansas miscues in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. With one away, Herrera worked a walk to reach base. LHP Edward Paredes took over on the mound to face 2B Bruce Caldwell, but hit Caldwell to put two men on before giving way to RHP Danny Reynolds. Reynolds induced a fielder's choice off the bat of Rodriguez that retired Caldwell at second but moved Herrera to third. With runners at the corners and two down, a balk was called on Reynolds that advanced both runners and scored Herrera from third base, tying the game at 3-3.
After dealing a perfect seventh, RHP Chris Perry started the eighth with a walk and a strikeout. RHP John Brebbia took over on the mound and kept the tie intact with 1.2 scoreless stanzas, before giving way to RHP Josh Lucas (W, 2-2). Lucas followed suit with scoreless relief in the 10th and 11th, before Springfield dealt the final blow.
Facing RHP Eduardo Paredes (L, 0-1) to start the bottom of the 11th, DeJong delivered the game-winning solo blast, his ninth home run of the year and team-leading 35th RBI, propelling the Cardinals to the 4-3 walk-off win in 11 innings.
Texas League Stories from June 9, 2016
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