North Little Rock, AR – The Springfield Cardinals swung in front early and never looked back, taking a 6-2 win against the Arkansas Travelers before 7,163 fans at Dickey-Stephens Park on Saturday night.
RHP Conner Greene (W, 3-2) dealt 6.0 one-run innings with only two hits and three walks while striking out five. The right-hander retired 12 of his final 13 batters faced, including a stretch of 11 in a row.
For the fourth straight game, the Cardinals (19-15) scored first with single runs in the first and second. C Andrew Knizner dealt the first blow with a two-out RBI single that scored 3B Tommy Edman for the 1-0 lead in the first inning. DH Victor Roache then led off the second with a solo blast, his league-leading 11th home run of the year to make it 2-0.
The Travs (17-17) loaded the bases with no outs to start the third, but Greene dug in and escaped with just a sacrifice fly from RF Beau Amaral, getting out of the jam with the Cardinals ahead, 2-1.
While Greene kept the Travs at bay through the rest of his 6.0 innings, the Cardinals padded the lead with three runs in the fourth. Base hits by LF Randy Arozarena and Roache, along with a walk from SS Edmundo Sosa, loaded the bases with no outs. 1B Chris Chinea brought in Arozarena with an RBI sacrifice fly, followed by a walk from RF Blake Drake to reload the bases. Edman then drilled a two-run ground-rule double to right-center, bringing in Roache and Sosa to increase the lead to 5-1.
Springfield added its final run in the seventh against RHP Tyler Jackson. Knizner led off the frame with his eighth double of the year, before Jackson retired the next two. Sosa, though, scorched an RBI single up the middle with two outs, bringing in Knizner for the 6-1 advantage.
RHP Yeison Medina (S, 1) took over for Greene and posted scoreless seventh and eighth frames. Travs 1B Joey Curletta opened the ninth with a solo shot to left, but Medina avoided any further damage and closed the 6-2 win for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals close the series in Arkansas at 2:10pm on Jock 98.7FM and SpringfieldCardinals.com. Tune in 15 minutes early for the Coyote’s Sports Cafe Pregame Show.
Click here for the complete box score.
