RF Jonathan Rodriguez hit two home runs to help pace the 1st-Half North Division Champion Springfield Cardinals to the 10-2 blowout win against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals before 6,419 fans at Hammons Field on Thursday night.
St. Louis Cardinals 1B Brandon Moss began his Rehab Assignment at Hammons Field on Thursday, playing the first five innings of the game. The slugger is expected to continue his Rehab Assignment with Springfield on Friday, July 29.
The Naturals (18-16, 47-57) opened the early lead with an unearned run in the top of the first inning against RHP Luke Weaver (W, 5-3). CF Terrance Gore led off with a single, before taking second on a wild pitch. Weaver struck out the next batter, and then induced a groundout to short that retired 1B Frank Schwindel, but did advance Gore to third. With LF Ryan O'Hearn at bat, a passed ball got away from C Luis Cruz, allowing Gore to dart home for the 1-0 Naturals lead.
After Weaver struck out another in a scoreless second, the Cardinals (14-20, 55-49) tied it in the bottom of the second inning against LHP Eric Skoglund (L, 6-8). With one away, RF Jonathan Rodriguez launched a solo home run to center field, squaring the score at 1-1.
Weaver kept the Naturals at just the one run, at one point retiring 12 in a row, before the Cardinals charged in front in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one away, 3B Paul DeJong worked a walk to reach base. On the seventh pitch of his plate appearance, Rodriguez followed with a sharp single through the right side, sending DeJong around to third base. DH Casey Turgeon then put in a six-pitch battle that resulted in a go-ahead RBI single to shallow right field, Turgeon's first Double-A RBI, to bring in DeJong and move Rodriguez to third. With RHP Evan Beal replacing Skoglund, C Luis Cruz lined Beal's first pitch to left-center for an RBI single that plated Rodriguez, opening the advantage to 3-1.
Northwest Arkansas rebounded right away in the top of the seventh. With Weaver right back out there on the mound, LF Ryan O'Hearn led off with a solo shot to left field, swinging the Naturals within one run, 3-2.
Weaver, though, retired the next three batters in a row to close the seventh, before a perfect eighth inning, closing his start with six straight outs to keep Springfield ahead by one run. The right-hander matched a career high with eight innings of work, striking out eight batters along the way.
The Cardinals then blew the game open with a seven-run rally in the bottom of the eighth. Rodriguez started the inning with his second solo home run of the night, increasing the Cardinals lead to 4-2 with his seventh long-ball in Double-A this year. One out later, Cruz and SS Juan Herrera ripped consecutive singles, with a throwing error on Herrera's base hit advancing the runners to second and third. After the Naturals intentionally walked Martini, 2B Jacob Wilson worked an RBI free pass to force in Cruz from third, opening the 5-2 lead. LHP Eric Stout took over on the mound to face RF Blake Drake, who promptly singled in Herrera and Martini with a two-run base hit. One out later, with two on and two away, DeJong clobbered a three-run homer to center field, increasing his team-leading totals of home runs to 19 and RBIs to 65, while capping the seven-run rally for the 10-2 Springfield lead.
RHP Josh Lucas then slammed the door with a scoreless top of the ninth inning, closing the 10-2 runaway win for Springfield.
