TL1 Arkansas Travelers

Spectacular Double Play Ends Traveler Rally in Ninth

Published on June 14, 2012 under Texas League (TL1)
Arkansas Travelers News Release


NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Trailing 5-1 heading into the ninth inning, the Arkansas Travelers brought the tying run to the on-deck circle with just one away when the Tulsa Drillers' shortstop John Rutledge made a spectacular diving effort to his glove side to snare a sharply hit ball off the bat of Casey Haerther that started the game-ending 6-4-3 double play to preserve the win for the Drillers on Thursday night at Dickey-Stephens Park.

Early in the game, excellent pitching was on display as the two starters kept zeros in the run column through the first three innings. Travs' (25-40) starter Mike Piazza, who was making just his second start as a professional pitcher, was actually more than excellent in those first three innings; in fact he was perfect. Piazza retired the first nine men he faced and sat down five of them on strikes. Piazza's spot start comes after Orangel Arenas' scheduled start was skipped to allow for more time to recover from a left foot contusion he suffered in the first inning of his previous start.

A fourth inning leadoff infield single by Rutledge gave the Drillers (37-28) their first base runner of the evening. Piazza would then walk the next batter, Angelys Nina. A sacrifice bunt by Nolan Arenado advanced Rutledge to third and Nina to second for the cleanup hitter, Ben Paulsen. Paulsen would groundout to Darwin Perez at second base, but Rutledge would score easily on the putout and Nina advanced to third base. Piazza would then induce a lineout to Angel Castillo in center field to end the frame and keep it a one-run game, 1-0.

After working out of the fourth inning, Piazza retired the next four batters until Rutledge doubled with one out in the sixth inning. A batter later, Rutledge would score his and the team's second run of the night on a RBI base hit by Arenado.

With the Travs now trailing 2-0, 2012 Texas League All-Star representative, Jean Segura, closed the gap with one swing of the bat as he delivered his fifth homerun of the season out to left field for a solo homerun, cutting the lead to 2-1 for the Drillers. The long ball would be one of the only mistakes that Drillers' starter Dan Houston would make on the night. The 6'3" right-hander limited the Travs to seven hits and one earned run while not issuing a walk and striking out six over his eight innings of work.

The Drillers' offense allowed Houston to remain in the game as they platted a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth inning to provide the four-run cushion that would become the margin of victory. The win keeps the Drillers (37-28) in first place in the Texas League North standings and has them in line to capture the first-half crown to earn a spot in the post season.

In the loss for the Travs, Segura and fellow All-Star selection, Roberto Lopez, recorded multiple hits. Out of the seven total team hits, Lopez had over half with his four singles on the night. The four hit game for Lopez is his second as a Traveler, the last time he recorded four hits was when he went 4-for-5 against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on June 11, 2011.

Game two of the four-game set between the Travelers and Drillers is set for Friday, June 15th with a first pitch of 7:10 pm. Scheduled starters are Matt Oye (1-3, 5.67) for the Travs and Parker Frazier (2-7, 4.19) for the Drillers.

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Texas League Stories from June 14, 2012


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