Springfield, MO – The Arkansas Travelers topped the Springfield Cardinals, 5-1, before 5,374 fans at Hammons Field on Tuesday night. The Cardinals and Tulsa Drillers are back into a tie for 1st place in the North Division Second Half Standings with only six games remaining.
Cardinals RHP Chris Ellis (L, 5-9) and Travelers RHP Bryan Evans (W, 4-1) dueled back and forth with scoreless work through the first half of the game. Ellis no-hit the Travs (29-35, 61-73) through his first four frames, before working around a single in the fifth to close out the scoreless stanza with a pair of strikeouts, his sixth and seventh on the night.
After Ellis kept it scoreless through the top of the fifth, Springfield (40-24, 75-59) struck in the bottom of the fifth against Evans. With two away and the bases empty, SS Tommy Edman lined a single to right field to extend the frame. After a wild pitch moved Edman to second base, he came racing home on an RBI single from CF Oscar Mercado to lift the Cardinals in front, 1-0.
The Travelers, however, responded right away in the top of the sixth. With one away, RF Chuck Taylor and SS Chris Mariscal connected on consecutive singles. LHP Jacob Evans took over on the mound, but LF Dario Pizzano drove a two-run double into the right field corner, plating both runners for the 2-1 lead for Arkansas. Evans came back with a strikeout of 1B Ryan Casteel, but C Tyler Marlette sliced a two-out RBI single to right field, scoring Pizzano to make it 3-1.
The Travs padded the lead against RHP Tyler Bray in the top of the seventh. Back-to-back one-out singles from CF Wille Argo and 2B Nelson Ward put runners at the corners. Argo then sprinted home on an RBI fielder’s choice by RF Chuck Taylor, extending the Arkansas advantage to 4-1.
Arkansas added a final insurance run with an RBI single from Taylor in the top of the ninth, before RHP Ryan Kelly dealt a scoreless bottom of the ninth to close the 5-1 win for the Travelers.
