Travs Weekly Report
Published on August 26, 2008 under Texas League (TL1)
Arkansas Travelers News Release
The Past Week: The Arkansas Travelers (24-39, 60-73) completed their last road trip of the season and head home to Dickey-Stephens Park for the last homestand of the regular season. The trip offered very mixed results for the Travs. After taking three out of four games from the Drillers, the Travelers were swept by the Cardinals to complete a 3-4 trip. The Travs hit well on the trip, batting .320 in the seven games, but were unable to pitch when it counted most. The pitchers weren't help out a lot by the defense however as the Travelers committed a robust 16 errors in the seven games. They committed at least one error in each game. C Ben Johnson was named to the Postseason All-Star team to represent the Travelers.
Tulsa Series: Losers of six out of their last eight games, the Travelers must have enjoyed heading to face the Drillers as they took three out of the four games in the series. The Travelers took the first two games with the bat of unlikely power source, Wil Ortiz. After suffering a tough loss in game three, the Travs responded with a win in game four to take the series. The Travs took the season series with the Drillers 19 games to 13. The Travs brought their bats with them to face the Drillers, pounding out 48 hits in the four games, a .331 average. The numbers are inflated some due to an 18 hit attack in game four but nonetheless a great offensive series for the Travs. One downside to the series was the 10 errors that Arkansas committed.
The Travelers pounded three home runs in game one of the series to take the opener 5-4 over the Drillers. The last home run, a ninth-inning, solo shot off the bat of Wil Ortiz broke a 4-4 tie and made a winner out of Rafael Rodriguez who had suffered his second blown save by allowing Tulsa to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Chris Pettit and Brian Stavisky also went deep for the Travs' other two homers. Amalio Diaz rebounded well from his last start to pitch six innings and limit the Drillers to two runs. In his last start he lasted just 3.1 innings.
Wil Ortiz was again the hero for the Travs, hitting a tie-breaking home run for the second consecutive game. After being behind 2-0 after the first inning and 3-1 after the second, the Travs began to mount their comeback with single runs in the third, fifth, seventh and ninth innings to win the game 5-3. Reliever Francisco Rodriguez pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his fourth victory of the year. Mark Trumbo finished 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Rafael Rodriguez pitched the final 1.1 innings for his 10th save of the year.
The Travs stranded 11 baserunners in game three of the series and lost to Tulsa 4-3. The Travs had their chances with sixteen men reaching base but only three crossing home plate. David Austen was tagged with the loss, pitching five innings and giving up four runs, three earned. The Travs' defense committed three errors in the game. After the Drillers took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, the Travs were able to come back and tie the score in the fifth only to watch the Drillers retake the lead 4-2. Adam Morrissey and Tim Duff recorded two hits each.
In game four, the Travs collected 18 base hits and scored eight runs to top the Drillers 8-7. Wil Ortiz, Brian Stavisky, and Adam Morrissey each had three hits. Two ninth-inning runs were the difference in the game and gave the Travs three wins in the four-game series. Chris Pettit's suicide squeeze bunt scored Stavisky with the winning run. Bobby Mosebach was touched up for six runs, three earned, on six hits over four innings. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the final two innings to record his fifth win.
Springfield Series: The Travs entered the series against the Cards as what could be a playoff preview. The Travelers are hoping the results will be different the second time around if that is true. After getting pounded in game one, the Travs suffered two heartbreakers in games two and three and lost all three games. In each of the last two games, the Travs' offense battled back but the Travs lost the game in the late innings. Arkansas batted well in the series, hitting a respectable .306 in the three games. The Travelers did commit six errors in the three games. OF Adam Greenberg was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Taking his spot on the roster was Corey Smith who was received from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Doug Brandt filled in for Dan Denham and was hit very hard in his 2.2 innings, allowing nine runs, six earned on eight hits in the Travs' 16-8 loss to the Cards. Marco Albano, who recorded the final out of the eighth inning, was the only Travs' pitcher not to be scored on in the Cards' 20 hit onslaught. Arkansas tried to make the game interesting with two runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth but managed to only get within eight runs when the game was over. The Travs' defense committed three errors in the game.
In game two, the Travs were down five runs entering the eighth inning and came back to score two runs in the eighth and three in the ninth to tie the score against the Cards only to have them score one in the bottom of the ninth to win 6-5. Adam Morrissey paced the Travs' offense, going 3-for-4 with his second home run in consecutive nights. Rafael Rodriguez pitched the final 1.1 innings and was tagged with the loss when he allowed the Cards' ninth-inning run. It was the first run Rodriguez has given up since July 29.
For the second consecutive game, the Travs found themselves down five runs and for the second consecutive game, the Travs battled back to tie the score and for the second consecutive game the Travs lost 6-5. With two outs and the go-ahead run at third in the bottom of the eighth, the Travs' defense committed a costly error that let the run score and cost the team the game. Corey Smith homered in his first game back with the team and Brian Stavisky added his 16th home run in the seventh inning.
Who's Hot: Ryan Leahy has responded well to more playing time, batting .438 in his last four games. Adam Morrissey is hitting .476 with two home runs in his last five games and Brian Stavisky is hitting .400 in his last five games. Francisco Rodriguez started to put it all together in the bullpen. He has not allowed an earned run in his last five appearances, spanning 10 innings.
Who's Not: Ben Johnson is in a bit of a slump, batting just .188 in his last five games. Coby Smith is batting a mere .111 in his last six games while Nate Sutton is hitting just .176 in his last four games. Barret Browning has appeared in just two of the Travs' last 10 games and has only recorded three outs and has allowed six earned runs. Doug Brandt has given up eight earned runs in his last 5.2 innings over four appearances.
The Week Ahead: The Travelers will close out the regular season on the upcoming homestand with four games against the NW Arkansas Naturals and three with the Springfield Cardinals. The Travs will then head into postseason play against either the Nats or the Cards.
Texas League Stories from August 26, 2008
- Late Homer Dooms Travs - Arkansas Travelers
- Five-Game Winning Streak Stopped with 4-2 Loss - Springfield Cardinals
- Hynick, Drillers Stop Cards - Tulsa Drillers
- Drillers Trio Named All-Stars - Tulsa Drillers
- Travs Weekly Report - Arkansas Travelers
- Naturals Pitching Coach Carter Honored as TL Coach of the Year - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Late Error Drops Travs Monday Night - Arkansas Travelers
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