TL1 Springfield Cardinals

Estrada and Minges homer to back Leek's win

July 13, 2005 - Texas League (TL1)
Springfield Cardinals News Release


The Springfield Cardinals pulled out their second straight nail-biter, getting by the Corpus Christi Hooks 4-2 on Wednesday night at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi.

Randy Leek pitched seven innings in becoming the Texas League's first ten-game winner. Leek (10-4) allowed just one run on seven hits, striking out four on the night. The left-hander leads all of Minor League Baseball with 129.1 innings pitched and now leads the Texas League with ten wins.

Tyler Minges crushed a three-run homer to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning, giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead. Randy Leek got the rally started in the sixth with a one-out infield single. Kevin Estrada, who put the Cards on the board with his fifth home run of the year in the fourth inning, doubled to left field. With runners at second and third with one out, Papo Bolivar popped up for the second out of the inning. Minges would break the tie though, connecting for his club-leading 15th bomb of the year off Hooks starter Tim McClaskey (5-7).

Reliever Chris Mears allowed two singles with one out. Anthony Ferrari was then brought in to face left-handed hitting Mike Rodriguez. Rodriguez singled to left to load the bases. Ferrari then walked Eric Riggs, forcing in a run to make it 4-2. Jeremy Cook then came out of the pen and got pinch hitter Humberto Quintero to ground into the inning-ending double play.

In the ninth, Cory Doyne walked the first two hitters he faced. With runners at first and second and no outs, pinch hitter Dax Norris attempted to bunt the runners over, but Doyne threw the runner out at third. Doyne then got Hector Gimenez to fly out to left field for the second out. Mark Saccomanno ended the game, with a broken-bat liner back to the mound, snagged by Doyne for the third and final out of the game, securing Doyne's eighth save of the year and second in as many nights.

With the win, Springfield clinches their first season-series of the year, winning 8 of 13 over the Hooks with only one game to play. The Cardinals are now 10-9 in the second half and 45-44 overall. Chris Lambert (1-2) will throw for Springfield, while Wandy Rodriguez makes his first appearance for Corpus Christi. Game time on Thursday night is 7:05pm. The Cardinals will return home to Hammons Field on Tuesday, July 19th to face the Wichita Wranglers. Tickets are always available by calling (417) 863-2143 or online at www.springfieldcardinals.com.

Check out the Springfield Cardinals Statistics



Texas League Stories from July 13, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central