Travs Weekly Report
Published on May 27, 2008 under Texas League (TL1)
Arkansas Travelers News Release
The Past Week: The Arkansas Travelers (25-25) completed their first winning road trip of the season this past week. The Travs played two three-game series, one against the Corpus Christi Hooks and the other against the San Antonio Missions. The Travelers were able to win two games in each series to come home with a .500 record at 25-25. When the Travs reached the .500 plateau Thursday at 23-23, it was the first time they were at the break-even point since they were 0-0. The Travs are still in second place in the division, two games behind the NW Arkansas Naturals.
Corpus Christi Series: The Travelers were out hit and out pitched in the series against the Hooks but the Travs were able to win two out of three games. Corpus Christi batted .331 against Arkansas' .269 average. The Hooks also received better pitching with an ERA of 5.40 versus the Travs 5.83. In the three games, the team that totaled the most hits lost the game. In game one and two the Travs were out hit 21 to 12 and seven to eight respectively. Arkansas won both games. In the games the Hooks won, the Travs collected 13 hits to the Travs 11. Michael Collins had a big series, hitting .462.
In a game where the offenses prevailed, the Travs 10 runs in the first two innings set the tone for the game. Arkansas took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the first only to see Corpus Christi score six in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead. In the second inning, the Travs scored six of their own for a 10-6 lead. The final score in the slugfest was 13-10. Tip Fairchild's first Double-A start of the year did not go as hoped for the Hooks. Fairchild took the loss and left the game after allowing eight runs in one inning for a 72.00 ERA. Travs starter Dan Denham was roughed up for the first time this season, lasting only three innings, giving up six earned runs. Francisco Rodriguez was credited with his second win of the year. The game was riddled with stranded base runners, with the Travs stranding 11 and the Hooks stranded 14.
The Travs evened their record at 23-23 with a 4-3 victory over the Hooks on Thursday. With a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning, Ben Johnson's three-RBI triple pushed the Travelers on top. Brok Butcher pitched eight innings and gave up all three runs and was credited with his third win of the year. Kevin Jepsen pitched the ninth and picked up his seventh save of the season. Corey Smith hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, his sixth of the year.
Arkansas fell 7-6 in 12 innings Friday night to Corpus Christi. Stephen Marek gave up the tying run in the ninth inning for his third blown save of the year. Rafael Rodriguez took the loss, allowing the winning run to score on an infield hit. Hainley Statia was 2-for-3 on the night with a stolen base. The Travs also stranded 10 runners on base. Corey Smith hit a home run for the second consecutive day.
San Antonio Series: Pitching was the story of the series against the Missions with the Travs pitchers posting a 3.33 ERA against the Missions' 4.18. After losing game one, the Travelers rallied to win the final two games to get back to .500 at 25-25. Hainley Statia and Adam Greenberg had big series, batting .500 and .455 respectively. Michael Collins had six RBI in his 13 at bats in the series. The Travs stranded 19 runners in the three games.
San Antonio scored four runs in the third inning that proved to be the difference in game one with the Missions winning 5-2. Adam Greenberg led the Travs going 4-for-4 with a run scored. All of the Travs seven hits were singles. Anthony Ortega was hit hard for the loss, allowing all five runs and all of the nine hits that the Missions collected in just five innings.
The Missions got three runs in the first two innings but were unable to score after that in game two. It took 10 innings but the Travs were able to prevail 4-3 on an RBI single by Michael Collins. Bobby Mosebach, Doug Brandt and Kevin Jepsen combined to hold the Missions scoreless over the final eight innings. Brandt was credited with his second win of the year and Jepsen picked up his eighth save. The three errors from San Antonio led to two unearned runs. Corey Smith went 3-for-5 and hit his eighth home run on the year. Ben Johnson also hit a homer, his 10th of the season to lead the Travs.
The Travs cruised to a 9-2 victory in game three, winning the series and completing the road trip at 4-2. The win also put the Travs back at the .500 mark on the season at 25-25. The Travelers 14 hit attack was led by SS Hainley Statia's 4-for-4 performance. Statia also drove in three and scored three runs. Michael Collins went 3-for-5 with four RBI. Dan Denham rebounded from his rough outing against the Hooks to throw eight strong innings and pick up his fourth win. He allowed two runs on five hits. After the Missions scored a run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead, the Travs answered with three runs in the top of the second and never looked back.
Who's Hot: Hainley Statia is starting to swing the bat better recently, batting .438 in his last five games. Michael Collins is hitting .410 with 14 RBI in his last 39 at bats spanning 10 games. Corey Smith has three home runs in his last five games. Dan Denham threw eight innings in his last start and allowed only two runs. Stephen Marek has struck out five in his last four innings pitched.
Who's Not: Nate Sutton is batting just .063 in his last four games and .200 in his last nine. Jordan Czarniecki has cooled off, hitting only .133 in his last four games. Anthony Ortega and Fernando Rodriguez both allowed five earned runs in their last start each.
The Week Ahead: The Travelers return home on Wednesday to face the Hooks and the Missions for three games each. After the home stand, the Travs will get another day off before hitting the road to face the first-place Naturals.
Texas League Stories from May 27, 2008
- Travs Begin Six Game Stand At Dickey-Stephens Wednesday - Arkansas Travelers
- AT&T Promos Headline Upcoming Home Stand - Springfield Cardinals
- Texas League Report - TL1
- Travs Weekly Report - Arkansas Travelers
- Cody Clark Returns to Naturals Roster - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Regional Finals at Whataburger Field - Corpus Christi Hooks
- RockHounds Back At Home on Wednesday - Midland RockHounds
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