Springfield, MO – The Springfield Cardinals took a wild 11-10 win against the Arkansas Travelers before 2,882 fans at Hammons Field on Sunday afternoon.
After Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty finished his fourth straight scoreless frame to start the game, Springfield’s bats broke through with a big two-out rally against Arkansas RHP Max Povse in the bottom of the fourth. With two away, RF Adolis Garcia worked a walk to keep the inning alive. 3B Bruce Caldwell then pulled an RBI triple into the right field corner, scoring Garcia all the way from first base for the 1-0 lead. After 1B Jacob Wilson was hit by a pitch next, 2B Eliezer Alvarez sliced an RBI double to left-center field, scoring Caldwell and moving Wilson to third base. A passed ball charged to C Tyler Marlette allowed Wilson to score and Alvarez to take third, before LF Anthony Garcia rifled an RBI single to left field to bring in Alvarez for the four-run advantage. A single to right field from C Gabriel Lino put runners at the corners for SS Alex Mejia, who promptly slugged a two-run double to deep center field, increasing the Cardinals lead to 6-0. LHP Kyle Hunter took over on the mound, but lost CF Oscar Mercado to a walk before surrendering an RBI single to DH Nick Martini, making it 7-0.
The Travelers (9-13) found a way onto the board against Flaherty in the top of the fifth, bringing an end to Flaherty’s consecutive scoreless innings streak at 21.1 straight frames. After a pair of strikeouts started the stanza, LF Chuck Taylor extended the inning with a triple. DH Kyle Waldrop then placed an RBI single to shallow left-center, bringing in Taylor to cut the Cardinals lead to 7-1.
Springfield (12-9) kept on swinging in the bottom of the fifth. With Hunter still on the mound, Caldwell and Wilson blasted back-to-back solo home runs to increase the lead to 9-1.
The Travs, though, battled back in the top of the sixth. With LHP Chandler Hawkins on the mound, RF Chantz Mack doubled himself on. After a groundout, 2B Nelson Ward was hit by a pitch before an RBI single from CF Ian Miller. Taylor then dealt a two-run double, followed by Waldrop being hit by a pitch. A walk to 1B Ryan Casteel loaded the bases and led to RHP Trey Nielsen taking over on the mound. C Tyler Marlette chopped a ground ball to short, leading to an error that allowed the inning to continue with two more runs scoring on the play. After a walk, Mack capped the rally with a two-run single, bringing the Travelers within one run of tying it, 9-8.
The Cardinals padded the lead right away in the bottom of the sixth. Martini opened the inning by reaching on an error, followed by a double from RF Adolis Garcia to put runners at second and third. After a walk by Caldwell loaded the bases, Alvarez brought in Martini with an RBI sacrifice fly one out later to open the advantage back to two runs, 10-8.
Arkansas, however, completed the comeback in the top of the seventh. With one on and two down, Waldrop drilled a two-run home run to center field, squaring the score at 10-10.
Springfield scored for the fourth straight inning in the bottom of the seventh, tilting the lead back in their favor once again. With two down, Mercado extended his 15-game hitting streak with a single up the middle. A Martini base knock moved Mercado to third base and led to RHP Thyago Vieira entering the game. RF Adolis Garcia, though, won the battle against Vieira with an RBI single to center field, scoring Mercado for the 11-10 lead.
Cardinals RHP Tyler Bray (W, 1-0) slammed the door with scoreless work in the eighth and ninth, closing the 11-10 win for Springfield.
