SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Cardinals closed the series with the Frisco RoughRiders with a 6-5 win before 3,512 fans at Hammons Field on Saturday evening.
After Springfield RHP Dakota Hudson (W, 1-0) posted a pair of scoreless innings to start his outing, the Cardinals (5-4) broke through against Frisco RHP Reed Garrett (L, 0-2) in the bottom of the second. With one away, DH Casey Grayson worked a walk. SS Alex Mejia followed with a sharp single to put runners at first and second. 2B Eliezer Alvarez then placed an RBI double perfectly inside the first base line, bringing Grayson in from second and moving Mejia to third. Mejia then tagged and darted home on an RBI sacrifice fly from C Gabriel Lino, doubling the Cardinals early lead to 2-0.
The Cardinals kept swinging in the bottom of the third. Leading off against Garrett, CF Adolis Garcia crushed a solo home run down the left field line for his second homer of the season and a 3-0 Cardinals lead.
Hudson continued to blank the RoughRiders (4-5) with scoreless work in the fourth and fifth, while the Cardinals struck for more in the bottom of the fifth. LF Nick Martini and Garcia connected on consecutive singles to start the stanza. 3B Bruce Caldwell then drilled a three-run home run the opposite way to left field, increasing his early RBI total to a team-best eight and the Cardinals lead to 6-0.
The RoughRiders found a way onto the board in the top of the sixth inning. LF Scott Heineman led off against Hudson with a base hit to start the inning. Hudson induced a groundout to first from DH Drew Vettleson, but Heineman took third on the play. With 3B Juremi Profar at-bat, a passed ball got by C Gabriel Lino and allowed Heineman to race home, chipping the Frisco deficit to 6-1.
Frisco then came racing back within one run with a four-run rally in the top of the eighth. Facing RHP Trey Nielsen, Vettleson and Profar sparked the charge with back-to-back base hits. 1B Eric Aguilera then knocked an RBI single, before an RBI double by 2B Andy Ibanez. One out later, CF Jose Cardona drove a two-run double to left-center, bringing the RoughRiders within one run with only one out. With the potential tying run at second, RHP Kevin Herget (S, 2) took over and promptly struck out the next two batters, getting Springfield out of the eighth with a 6-5 lead.
Herget took the mound for the top of the ninth and struck out the first two that he faced. Profar blooped a two-out single to right field, but Herget induced a fly out from Aguilera, slamming the door in the Cardinals 6-5 win on Saturday.
