SPRINGFIELD — The 1st-Half North Division Champion Springfield Cardinals topped the Tulsa Drillers, 7-5, before 7,074 fans at Hammons Field on Sunday afternoon, marking the fourth consecutive sell-out crowd during the homestand.
After a perfect top of the first from LHP Ian McKinney, making his Double-A debut, the Cardinals (29-32, 70-61) darted in front in the bottom of the first against RHP Scott Barlow (L, 4-7). CF Harrison Bader started the inning with a walk to reach base. One out later, 2B Bruce Caldwell pulled a double to right field, advancing Bader around to third. 1B Luke Voit and 3B Paul DeJong both followed with RBI singles to score Bader and Caldwell, respectively, opening a 2-0 lead as both batters collected their 71st RBIs of the season. LF Allen Staton followed suit with an RBI single to left field, bringing in Voit from second but resulting in DeJong being thrown out at third. With Staton on at second and two down, RF Blake Drake worked a walk to extend the stanza. C Jesse Jenner put a finishing touch on the rally with an RBI single, scoring Staton to make it 4-0.
With McKinney back on the mound in the top of the second, the Drillers (29-33, 66-65) shaved down the deficit. Leading off the inning, 1B Cody Bellinger pulled his 20th home run to right-center field, a solo shot that brought the Drillers within three runs, 4-1.
The Cardinals, though, got the run right back in the bottom of the second. With two away, Caldwell belted a solo blast to right field, his 11th homer of the season, increasing the Cardinals lead to 5-1.
McKinney stranded three runners in a scoreless top of the third, but the Drillers struck in the top of the fourth. 1B Lars Anderson started the inning with a single, followed by a free pass from 3B Edwin Rios. C Shawn Zarraga then ripped an RBI double down the left field line, bringing in Anderson to cut it to a three-run deficit. McKinney battled back to strike out Barlow, but 2B Tim Locastro knocked a two-out RBI single to shallow left field, plating Rios and moving Zarraga to third. McKinney lost SS Jordan Tarsovich to a walk, leading to RHP Kevin Herget (W, 5-0) taking over on the mound with the bases loaded and one away. Herget navigated the Cards out of the jam with consecutive fly outs, keeping Springfield in front, 5-3.
The Cardinals then stretched the lead back out in the bottom of the sixth against RHP Scott Griggs. RF Blake Drake opened the inning with a double, and then raced home on another RBI single by Jenner, increasing the Cardinals lead to 6-3.
LHP Justin Wright took over on the mound for Springfield to start the top of the seventh, but the Drillers went back to work with the bats. Consecutive doubles from Bellinger and Garlick put runners at second and third with no outs to start the inning. Bellinger then raced home on an RBI groundout from Anderson, moving Garlick to third with one out. One out later, Zarraga lined a two-out RBI single up the middle, scoring Garlick to bring the Drillers within just one run, 6-5.
The Cardinals again responded right away, stretching the lead back out in the bottom of the seventh. Facing LHP Michael Johnson, SS Alex Mejia sparked the offense with a double. After moving to third on a groundout, Mejia came home on an RBI sacrifice fly from Voit to deep left-center field, opening the Cardinals advantage to 7-5.
RHP Trey Nielsen (S, 1) took over for the top of the eighth and slammed the door with a pair of scoreless innings, closing the 7-5 win for the Cardinals.
