SPRINGFIELD — RHP Trey Nielsen became the first Cardinal this season to toss a nine-inning complete-game, leading the Springfield Cardinals to the 6-1 win against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals before 5,783 fans at Hammons Field on Friday night. With the win, the Cardinals increase their lead for 1st place in the North Division to 2.5 games over the Naturals.
Rehabbing St. Louis Cardinals CF Tommy Pham went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and a single, while also robbing a home run with a jumping catch at the wall in the second inning.
After Nielsen (W, 4-2) and Naturals LHP Matt Strahm (L, 2-2) dueled through three scoreless innings to start, the Cardinals (19-15) broke through in the bottom of the fourth. Pham led off the inning with a single, before racing around to third base on a knock from 1B Luke Voit. After a strikeout, LF Collin Radack reached on an RBI fielder's choice that retired Voit at second but enabled Pham to score from third, lifting the Cardinals ahead, 1-0.
Northwest Arkansas (16-17) evened the score right away, striking for its first run against Nielsen in the top of the fifth. Leading off the frame, 3B Mauricio Ramos pulled a solo shot to left field, tying the game at 1-1.
The Cardinals, though, reclaimed the lead right away in the bottom of the fifth. 2B Breyvic Valera rifled a single up the middle to start the stanza. CF Harrison Bader then smoked a double into the right field corner, extending his hitting streak to 15 games and advancing Valera around to third. With runners at second and third, SS Alex Mejia drilled an RBI sacrifice fly to center field, bringing in Valera to tilt the lead back into the Cardinals favor, 2-1.
Springfield struck for more in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two away and the bases clear, C Carson Kelly launched a solo home run to left field, his second blast of the season, making it a 3-1 advantage.
Following a scoreless top of the seventh from Nielsen, the Cardinals kept swinging away in the bottom of the seventh inning. Mejia led off with a single to left-center, followed right away by a two-run blast to right-center field from Pham, stretching it to a 5-1 lead. One out later, 3B Paul DeJong reached on an infield single, before motoring to second on a wild pitch from LHP Estarlin Cordero. Kelly then laced an RBI single just out of the leaping range of SS Jack Lopez, bringing in DeJong from second to make it 6-1.
Nielsen then proceeded to strike out the side in the eighth, before slamming the door with a scoreless top of the ninth to close the 6-1 win for Springfield in a career-night for the right-hander. He wrapped up his first-career nine-inning complete game with 104 pitches and 68 strikes, inducing 14 groundouts and striking out six in the stifling performance.
Click here for the complete box score from Friday's game.
