Springfield, MO – The Springfield Cardinals completed the series win with a 5-1 victory against the Arkansas Travelers, before 6,276 fans at Hammons Field on Friday night.
Winners of six of their last seven games, the Cardinals have tied the Travelers for 1st place in the North Division Second Half Standings with only three games remaining in the Regular Season. The Cardinals will take on the Tulsa Drillers in a three-game set at Hammons Field starting on Saturday, while Arkansas goes home to host the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
Springfield RHP Thomas Lee (W, 8-4) blanked the Travs (33-34, 69-67) through his first three innings, before the Cardinals (33-34, 63-74) cracked the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third. Facing LHP Sean Newcomb (L, 2-2), 3B Patrick Wisdom singled to start the stanza. SS Breyvic Valera and CF Charlie Tilson then followed with free passes, loading the bases with no outs. DH Mike O’Neill came through with a sharp RBI single to left field, bringing in Wisdom for the game’s first run. Newcomb got LF Nick Martini to ground into a double play next, but it did bring home Valera for the 2-0 Springfield lead.
Lee continued to stifle the Travs bats through the rest of his outing, tossing five scoreless innings with only three hits allowed while striking out three.
The Travelers, though, got on the board with an unearned run against RHP Joey Donofrio in the top of the sixth inning. LF Ruben Sosa sparked the charge with a single to start the inning. With 2B Drew Maggi at bat, Sosa attempted to steal second base and drew an errant throw from C Michael Ohlman in the process, enabling Sosa to wind up at third base. Maggi then skied an RBI sacrifice fly to left field, plating Sosa to slice the Travs deficit in half, 2-1.
Donofrio dug in with a scoreless seventh and RHP Silfredo Garcia blanked the Travs in the eighth, before Springfield stretched the lead in the bottom of the eighth. With RHP Danny Reynolds on the mound and one away, O’Neill and Martini ripped consecutive singles to put two men on. 1B Jonathan Rodriguez then crushed the first pitch of his at-bat over the left-center field fence, launching a three-run blast to open the lead to 5-1.
RHP Ronnie Shaban then worked around a single and an error in the top of the ninth, slamming the door with a scoreless final frame to close the 5-1 win for Springfield.
