Oye Pitches Well in Spot Start; Travs Fall 3-2
Published on May 30, 2012 under Texas League (TL1)
Arkansas Travelers News Release
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - In front of a crowd of 3,957, Matt Oye made his first start of the season on Wednesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park and the right-hander pitched well in the unscheduled start as he worked five complete innings, struck out three, surrendered just two hits, and gave up one earned run. The strong effort by Oye was not enough however, as the visiting Corpus Christi Hooks staged a late-inning comeback to edge the Travelers by a score of 3-2.
Oye, who appeared in 16 games out of the pen prior to Wednesday night's start, was touched up early in the game. Austin Wates led off the game with a single, stole second base, and advanced to third on a deep fly out to centerfield to set up Jose Martinez's at-bat. Martinez would ground to Jean Segura at shortstop on a chopper, but Segura's only play was to first base, allowing Wates to plate the game's first run.
After the first inning, Oye more than settled into the start as he retired 12 of the final 13 men he faced, including 10 in a row to end his outing. Oye's strong pitching was backed by the Travs' (21-30) offense in the third inning as they picked up four consecutive two-out singles to take a 2-1 lead. Segura started the two-out rally and eventually came around to score the tying run on a Casey Haerther RBI single. Renny Osuna followed Segura with a single of his own and Osuna would come around to score the go-ahead run on a RBI single by Roberto Lopez.
Mike Piazza, in relief of Oye, would work a scoreless sixth inning to keep the Travs in front, 2-1. Left-hander Andrew Taylor was called upon in the seventh inning to face back-to-back left-handed hitters for the Hooks (24-27). On the second pitch of the inning, Hooks first baseman and Houston Astros No.1 prospect, Jon Singleton, tied the game at 2-all as he took a Taylor offering the other way for his 10th homerun of the season. Jacob Goebbert followed with a double to right field, but Taylor was able to work out of the inning without any further damage.
A leadoff walk in the top of the eighth inning to the Hooks' ninth-place hitter, Andy Simunic, would prove to be the eventual game-winning run, but the series of events leading to the run scoring were less than ordinary. With Simunic on first base, Wates successfully sacrificed himself on a bunt to advance Simunic to second and within a blink of an eye, Simunac caught the Travs' defense off-guard and stole third base prior to the next at-bat. The opportunistic base running of Simunac set up a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Villar to put the Hooks ahead, 3-2.
The Travs threatened to extend the game as Carlos Ramirez collected his fourth hit of the game on a double to the left-center field gap. The Ramirez double was the Travs only extra-base hit of the game. A ground out and a fly out on the following two batters would turn away the Travs rally as Jason Stoffell shut the door for his sixth save of the season.
The middle game of the series is set for a 7:10 first pitch on Thursday, May 31st at Dickey-Stephens Park.
Texas League Stories from May 30, 2012
- Grimm, Frisco Shutout Drillers - Tulsa Drillers
- Oye Pitches Well in Spot Start; Travs Fall 3-2 - Arkansas Travelers
- Grimm Earns Second Straight Win over Tulsa - Frisco RoughRiders
- Cardinals Beat Missions 10-5 - Springfield Cardinals
- Barfield Walks off on Naturals - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Pair of Former Travs Promoted; Chaffee and Haynes Join Club - Arkansas Travelers
- Game Notes, May 30 at Arkansas - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Missions Add Major League Pitcher Jason Marquis - San Antonio Missions
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