The Springfield Cardinals return to Hammons Field on Thursday after a
disappointing 10-game road trip that sees the St. Louis Double-A
affiliate fall to 4-6 on the trip and 7-12 overall, after Tuesday's lost to
the Tulsa Drillers.
The Cardinals had hoped to return to Springfield on a winning note
after pounding the Drillers on Monday 5-2, when the Cardinals ended a
four-game losing streak behind Oscar Alvarez who pitched six innings
allowing just one run on three hits.
Shaun Boyd provided a clutch two-out hit in the seventh, with the
Cardinals leading 2-1, Boyd, who had an 11-game hitting streak going at
the start of Monday night's game, was called to pinch hit for Alvarez
with the bases loaded and two outs. All three men on base scored when Boyd
hit a Judd Songster pitch over the head of center fielder Jeff Salazar,
giving the Cards a 5-1 lead.
The Drillers managed a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it
5-2 when Josh Kinney came into the game to finish off the last six outs
and record his team-leading sixth save.
In Tuesday's loss, Jordan Pals pitched his best game of the season,
going six innings and allowing only one run and no walks. Pals retired
the first 11 batters in order. It was a pitching duel between Pals and
Tulsa's starting pitcher, Jonathan Asahina, until the Drillers scored in
the bottom of the fifth to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead.
In the seventh inning, catcher Dan Moylan singled to left field to
drive in Tyler Minges to tie the score 1-1.
The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning after Kevin Estrada hit a single, his third hit of the day, off reliever Chris Young,
with one out. Estrada then stole second and a walk was issued to Travis Hanson. Papo Bolivar gave the Cardinals the lead when he singled through
the right side.
But, it was the eighth inning that did the Cards in as Tulsa scored
four runs to beat the Cardinals 5-2, after Reid Gorecki, with Mike
Jaramillo at third, struck out in the ninth and Shaun Boyd grounded out to
third to end his 12-game hitting streak.
The Cardinals will send Randy Leek (2-0) to the mound against Corpus
Christi's Fernando Nieve (1-1) Thursday, in the first game of the
three-game series. Game time is 7:10 p.m. and tickets are still available
by calling the ticket office at (417)863-2143 or by visiting
www.springfieldcardinals.com.
All Springfield Cardinal games are broadcast live on JOCK 98.7 FM and
can now be heard online anywhere through the Cardinals website
(www.springfieldcardinals.com).
You can write to John at johnb@positech.net