Springfield, MO – LF Jacob Wilson crushed his second home run of the game to lead off the bottom of the ninth and send the 1st-Half North Division Champion Springfield Cardinals to the 5-4 walk-off win against the Tulsa Drillers before 3,180 fans at Hammons Field on Monday night.
Rehabbing St. Louis Cardinals All-Star 2B Matt Carpenter made his second straight start for Springfield and went 2-for-3 with a double before being pinch-hit for in the seventh. Carpenter is expected to continue his Rehab Assignment at Hammons Field on Tuesday, August 2 at 6:30pm.
After a pair of scoreless innings from both Springfield RHP J.C. Sulbaran and Tulsa RHP Andrew Sopko, the Drillers (18-20, 55-52) opened their advantage in the top of the third inning. SS Jordan Tarsovich led off with a walk, before Sulbaran battled back with a foul out. However, 1B Cody Bellinger worked a walk to put two runners on, before C Kyle Farmer pulled an RBI double to left field to bring in Tarsovich for the 1-0 lead for Tulsa.
Sulbaran dug in with a scoreless fourth inning, before the Cardinals (17-21, 58-50) broke through against Sopko in the bottom of the fourth. With one away, SS Paul DeJong and RF Jonathan Rodriguez ripped consecutive singles. 3B Casey Turgeon then scorched an RBI double down the right field line, bringing in DeJong to square the score at 1-1.
Tulsa, though, swung back in front in the top of the sixth inning. With one down, CF Alex Verdugo reached on a double, before racing home on an RBI double from LF Jacob Scavuzzo for the 2-1 lead.
Facing LHP Justin Wright in the top of the seventh, the Drillers padded the lead. 1B Cody Bellinger worked a walk to start the frame, before Farmer drove another RBI double to right-center field, plating Bellinger for the 3-1 advantage. After a fly out to center field, RHP Corey Baker took over and struck out RF Joey Curletta to start his outing. With one on and two down, Baker intentionally walked Verdugo, filling up first base and electing to deal to Scavuzzo instead. However, Scavuzzo ripped a hard-hit grounder to short that skipped off the glove of DeJong and was ruled an error, enabling Farmer to dart in from second and make it 4-1.
The Cardinals came racing right back in the bottom of the seventh. With 2B Allen Staton on and one down, LF Jacob Wilson laced a two-run home run to left-center field, his second homer in just his fifth game back from AAA-Memphis, bringing the Cardinals back within one run, 4-3. One out later, 1B Luke Voit clobbered a solo home run to left field, his 16th long-ball of the year, completing the comeback and tying the game at 4-4.
After neither team scored in the eighth, RHP Kevin Herget dealt a scoreless top of the ninth inning to maintain the tie.
Wilson then struck again. Leading off the bottom of the ninth against RHP Chris Anderson (L, 3-6), Wilson unloaded a solo blast to left-center field, his second homer of the night and third in Double-A this year, propelling the Cardinals to the 5-4 walk-off win.
