TL1 Springfield Cardinals

Travs Take Opener from Cardinals, 4-2

Published on June 5, 2013 under Texas League (TL1)
Springfield Cardinals News Release


Springfield, MO - The Arkansas Travelers edged the Springfield Cardinals, 4-2, before 4,837 fans at Hammons Field on Tuesday night. The two teams move back into a tie for 1st place in the North Division Standings with 15 games remaining in the First Half.

St. Louis RHP Jake Westbrook started the game for Springfield in a rehab assignment. Arkansas (28-27) managed to strike for a run in the top of the first, despite Westbrook striking out the side. DH Rolando Gomez led off the frame with a groundball single, before moving to second on a wild pitch. After Westbrook struck out SS Jimmy Swift, 1B CJ Cron lined an RBI single to left field, plating Gomez for the 1-0 lead.

Westbrook kept it just a one-run deficit through the remainder of his outing, tossing 3.2 frames with five strikeouts and only the one run allowed. RHP Seth Blair (L, 2-6) took over on the mound with two down in the top of the fourth and struck out the final batter of the frame.

The Cardinals (28-27) worked it even with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning against RHP Lay Batista (W, 3-5). SS Jake Lemmerman led off with a double driven just inside the right field line, before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by 2B Luis Mateo. C Audry Perez brought Lemmerman in with an RBI grounder to second base, squaring the score at 1-1.

However, Arkansas retook the lead right away in the top of the sixth. A two-base throwing error allowed RF Randal Grichuk to get all the way to second base to start the frame. After Blair retired the next two batters, an errant pick off attempt from the righty skipped into center field and enabled Grichuk to move to third base. LF Drew Heid came up next, and once the count went to 3-0, Springfield completed the walk intentionally, putting two on. C Jett Bandy followed with an RBI double off the left field fence, scoring Grichuk for the 2-1 advantage.

The Travs struck again in the top of the seventh. Gomez again led off with a base hit and quickly took second on a sacrifice bunt by Swift. After a lineout to short was retired by Lemmerman, 2B Taylor Lindsey grounded an RBI single to center field, plating Gomez to make it 3-1. A Grichuk base hit put two runners on and led to LHP Justin Wright taking over on the mound. 3B Kaleb Cowart worked a walk against Wright, loading the bases, before an RBI infield single from CF Travis Witherspoon brought in the inning's final run, putting the Travs up, 4-1.

The Cardinals refused to go down quietly, attempting a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning against RHP Josh Judy (S, 3). CF James Ramsey started the stanza with a solo home run over the left field fence, bringing the Cardinals within just two runs of tying it. However, Judy dealt back-to-back strikeouts before inducing a game-ending ground out to the mound, closing the 4-2 win for Arkansas.

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Texas League Stories from June 5, 2013


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