Kiely Dazzles in Double-A Debut
Published on June 15, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
Arkansas Travelers News Release
NORTH LITTLE ROCK - Nineteen hours after arriving in Little Rock, Ark., Tim Kiely took the mound for the Arkansas Travelers and shut down the division-leading Springfield Cardinals in his Double-A debut. Kiely struck out 13 Cardinals in the 7-2 win.
It was the first complete game thrown by a Traveler in exactly one year, a three-hit shutout by Anthony Ortega on June 15, 2008.
The 23-year-old righthander out of Trinity College, who posted a 5-5 record and 4.44 ERA at Class-A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga in two and a half months, got a phone call Saturday night in California, spent 12 hours flying Sunday to arrive at midnight in Little Rock on Sunday and got his first Double-A victory about 22 hours later.
"I feel pretty good. I'm exhausted. This humidity doesn't quit - it was heavy, but I felt good. I threw all of my pitches for strikes, which I think was the key today, getting everything over for strikes," Kiely said.
Kiely (W, 1-0) walked three and gave up three hits, a single in the third inning to Daryl Jones, a double to left in the eighth to Tony Cruz, and a two-run home run to Tyler Henley in the final inning that scored all of Springfield's runs.
"To honest, I knew they were good, and we went over the lineup a couple of times before the game, and made sure I went through it with [pitching coach] Ken Patterson and [catcher] Hank Conger and talking with Tommy Mendoza, who pitched last night and mentioned some stuff about these guys," Kiely said. "I wasn't any more intimidated any more than I would have been coming in against the worst team in Double-A. Double-A is Double-A, and baseball is baseball, so I just pushed it all out of my mind."
Arkansas (25-37) recorded double-digit hits for the third straight game, scoring seven runs on 10 hits and taking advantage of four errors by the Cardinals (34-28). Coby Smith walked to leadoff the Travelers' half of the first inning and stole second and third (24), then Nate Sutton walked and stole the team's third base of the inning. Conger knocked in Smith with an RBI single to left, and Val Majewski sacrifice flied to left to score Sutton.
After a Wil Ortiz walk and Branden Florence single to start the second inning, Springfield pulled starter Brad Furnish (L, 2-2), who recorded just three outs and allowed three runs on two hits and three walks. Brandon Dickson relieved Furnish and threw four innings, giving up five hits and two unearned runs in the third. Conger reached on an error by second baseman Daniel Descalso to start the third, Mark Trumbo walked and both runners scored after rightfielder Tyler Henley threw the ball in the Cardinal dugout after a Majewski single.
The Travs got two more insurance runs in the eighth inning when Smith and Sutton reached with two outs and scored on back-to-back infield errors by Descalso and shortstop Pete Kozma.
After their second win of the series against Springfield, the Travelers recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since June 3-4 and climbed to 9.0 games back of the Cardinals in the North Division.
Monday's attendance was 3,935 for a game time of 2:34. Jordan Walden (1-2, 4.65 ERA) will try to add to Arkansas's win streak Tuesday, while Springfield will counter with ace Trey Hearne (5-1, 3.05).
Texas League Stories from June 15, 2009
- Kiely Dazzles in Double-A Debut - Arkansas Travelers
- Cards struggle in loss - Springfield Cardinals
- New Naturals' lefty wins Double-A debut - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Naturals Rally Past Drillers - Tulsa Drillers
- Missions Sixth Straight Win Pulls Them into First-Place Tie - San Antonio Missions
- Kiely promoted to Arkansas, starts Monday - Arkansas Travelers
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