Frisco, TX – In his Double-A debut, RHP Sandy Alcantara dealt 6.0 scoreless innings to help lead the Springfield Cardinals to the 7-0 shutout win against the Frisco RoughRiders before 7,145 fans at Dr Pepper Ballpark on Friday night. With consecutive wins to start the season, the Cardinals have outscored Frisco, 16-3, in the two games combined.
Following RHP Jack Flaherty’s scoreless debut on Thursday, Alcantara (W, 1-0) dominated the RoughRiders (0-2) through his 6.0 shutout innings, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out four.
Springfield (2-0) jumped into an early lead for the second straight game, scoring in every inning from the second through the fifth. Facing RHP Ariel Jurado (L, 0-1) in the top of the second, DH Bruce Caldwell opened the inning with a single before 3B Jacob Wilson worked a walk. One out later, SS Alex Mejia lasered an RBI double to left field that scored Caldwell. Wilson tried to score on the play but was thrown out at the plate, though the throw enabled Mejia to take third base. He then darted home on an RBI base hit from C Luis Cruz, doubling the early lead to 2-0.
Frisco had its best scoring chance in the bottom of the second. With runners at the corners and no outs, RF Luke Tendler flied out to RF Blake Drake. DH Eric Aguilera tagged at third and tried to score on the play, but Drake fired the ball home and threw out Aguilera, turning the double play and keeping Frisco off the board.
After an Alcantara strikeout ended the threat in the bottom of the second, the Cardinals added to the lead in the top of the third. Back-to-back base hits from 2B Eliezer Alvarez and LF Nick Martini set the table, followed by an RBI double from Caldwell for the 3-0 advantage.
The Cards kept swinging away in the fourth. With one down, Cruz singled himself on before trotting home on a two-run home run from Drake, the first Cardinals homer of the season, making it 5-0.
Springfield capped the surge with its final two runs in the top of the fifth. With one away, Jurado hit Wilson with a pitch to put a man on. 1B Casey Grayson then ripped a double off the right field wall, followed by a two-run double from Mejia. Mejia’s second and third RBIs of the night extended the lead to 7-0 and increased his early season RBI total to six already.
Alcantara kept the seven-run lead intact through his six stanzas, before LHP Jimmy Reed logged a pair of scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. Former Major League reliever, RHP Daniel Bard, made his Springfield debut in the bottom of the ninth. He worked around a walk, an infield single and an error to post a scoreless ninth and complete the 7-0 shutout win for Springfield.
