North Little Rock, AR – The Springfield Cardinals ran away with the series finale in North Little Rock, crushing the Arkansas Travelers for the 10-2 win before 4,325 fans at Dickey-Stephens Park on Sunday afternoon. With the win and series split, the Cardinals increase their lead over Arkansas for 1st place in the North Division to 2.0 games.
After Cardinals RHP Mike Mayers (W, 2-1) and Arkansas RHP Kyle McGowin (L, 2-2) alternated a pair of scoreless innings to start, Springfield (9-7) swung onto the board in the top of the third. DH Chris Jacobs started the inning by reaching on a third strike that bounced away from C Wade Wass. C Carson Kelly followed with a line drive single to left, before CF Harrison Bader worked a walk to load the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, LF Collin Radack cracked the scoreless tie with an RBI fielder's choice that scored Jacobs and moved Kelly to third. With runners at the corners, RF David Washington ripped a two-out, two-run double inside the right field line, scoring both Kelly and Radack to make it 3-0.
The Travelers (7-9) responded in part with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the third. Back-to-back base hits from SS Anthony Phillips and CF Bo Way started the stanza. LF Chad Hinshaw then followed suit with an RBI single, before DH Alex Yarbrough skied an RBI sacrifice fly to make it a one run game. Mayers, though, dug in with a strikeout and a fly out to escape further damage, keeping Springfield ahead, 3-2.
The Cardinals got the two runs back right away, plating a pair in the top of the fourth. 2B Bruce Caldwell sparked the rally with a leadoff walk, before going to second one out later on a single from Jacobs. Kelly then scorched an RBI double inside the left field line, bringing in Caldwell from second and moving Jacobs to third. Jacobs darted home the final ninety feet on an RBI base hit by Bader, opening the lead back to three runs, 5-2.
Mayers kept it that way with a scoreless fourth and fifth, closing his five-inning start with only the two runs allowed. He struck out four and walked only one, finishing the day with his season ERA at a fantastic 1.90.
Cardinals RHP Chris Perry logged a scoreless bottom of the sixth, before Springfield added two runs in the top of the seventh. With two on and two down, 1B Luke Voit and Caldwell ripped consecutive RBI singles, increasing the lead to 7-2.
With one on and one down in the bottom of the seventh, LHP Corey Littrell took over on the mound for Springfield. He promptly struck out both batters he faced in the frame, sending it to the top of the eighth when the Cardinals tacked on two more tallies. With the bases loaded and one down, SS Alex Mejia bounced into an RBI fielder's choice that scored one run and led to a throwing error, which brought in a second run, making it 9-2.
Littrell and RHP Kurt Heyer combined for a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, before the Cardinals added a 10th run in the top of the ninth. With two down and the bases clear, Caldwell crushed his team-leading fourth home run of the year, a solo shot to right field, increasing the lead to 10-2.
Heyer then slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth, striking out the first two batters before inducing a game-ending groundout to close the 10-2 blowout win for the Cardinals.
