SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Luke Voit’s status in Springfield is temporary, but his impact on the Cardinals season has the potential for an extended stay.
Voit hit a solo shot in his second at-bat Wednesday night, tying the game 1-1 in an eventual 4-3 win for the Cardinals over the Travelers that dropped Arkansas even with Springfield in the 1st-Half pennant race.
Hammons Field hosted 3,327 fans for the mid-week series opener against an Arkansas team that entered the night tied atop the Texas League North. Now, the Naturals sit alone atop the division with a one-game advantage over the Cardinals and Travelers with five games left in the 1st-Half.
HE’S NO SHEWBIE
Anthony Shew sure looks comfortable in his new home. The 24-year-old righty notched his second strong start in his second career start at Hammons Field, tossing seven innings while allowing just a single run on five hits.
His seven strikeouts were his most in five Double-A starts since his May 25th call-up from High-A Palm Beach.
Shew has thrown 14 full innings in two appearances in Springfield, allowing just three runs on 10 hits and striking out 11.
MUNDO WEDNESDAY
Edmundo Sosa’s gapper of a double to left in the seventh ended up sending home the game-winning run.
The inning started with singles by Andrew Knizner and Victor Roache. Next, Chris Chinea worked a five-pitch walk.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Sosa ripped a double that brought Knizner and Roache home. The throw from left hit Chinea sliding into third and bounced out of play, scoring him and putting the Cardinals up 4-1.
The Travelers cut that score to 4-2 in the eighth after Braden Bishop’s double eventually turned into a run on a Chuck Taylor sacrifice fly, and then to 4-3 when Joey Curletta took Jacob Evans deep to center with his 11th bomb of the season.
Evans stomped out the rally with a strikeout and Ian McKinney came on and closed things out in the ninth for his first save of the season.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals and Travelers play the second game of a four-game series Thursday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm.
Thursday is our Ozarks Fence Orange Cardinals Camo Cap Giveaway (2,000 fans) and a Klement’s $1 Bratwurst Night. It’s also our third Pre-Game On-Field Happy Hour of the season, where fans can enjoy drink specials on the right field warning track from 6:10pm up to first pitch.
Click here for the complete box score.
