Springfield bullpen can't hold lead in loss to Tulsa - Springfield News-Leader

Prospect right-hander Trevor Rosenthal fired seven innings in 101 pitches, both season highs on Sunday, when he handed over a four-hit shutout to the bullpen and yet had nothing to show for it.

The Colorado Rockies’ top hitting prospect, Nolan Arenado, and the Tulsa Drillers ruined the day for Rosenthal and the Springfield Cardinals, rallying with a three-run, three-hit eighth inning in which reliever Kevin Thomas uncorked a two-out, two-run wild pitch.

The gift-wrapped, 3-2 win came after Arenado hit an RBI double to the left field corner, the third hit of the inning off reliever Jesse Simpson, and then scored the go-ahead run all the way from second base when Thomas spiked a fastball past catcher Nick Derba.

A Hammons Field crowd of 5,514 soon headed for the exits.

“I threw a bad pitch,” said Thomas, who now has three blown saves. “The worst-case scenario happened.”

Said Derba, “I went back to get the ball like normal, l looked up to third base, didn’t hear anybody. I actually thought I still had him (Arenado at the plate).”

With it, Tulsa ended a six-game losing streak and denied Springfield of heading into today’s noon matinee seeking its first four-game sweep of the season.

The ending overshadowed a gritty showdown between Rosenthal and Tulsa right-hander Joe Gardner in a duel of prospects ranked by Baseball America within the Top 30 of each pitcher’s organization.

One, Rosenthal, is a 21-year-old with a classic delivery, the other a side-arming sling-shotter in the mold of former big-leaguer John Candelaria.

For Rosenthal, his outing came on the heels of his first six-inning effort in almost a month, as he held Arkansas last Wednesday to one hit and one earned run.

This one featured Rosenthal overcoming a shaky first inning, after which he faced 20 batters, or only two over the minimum as he commanded his fastball well and mixed in other pitches, including a cutter and change-up.

He adopted the cutter on the advice of big-leaguers in March.

“I feel like I’m just working ahead of hitters more and been more effective with my pitches. It’s allowed me to go deeper into games,” said Rosenthal, a 22nd-round pick in 2009 out of Cowley County (Kan.) juco.

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“In no way have I got it figured out. But experience and being a competitor and doing my best and working hard, that’s been (the reason).”

It was the eighth consecutive start, out of nine, in which Rosenthal had Derba as his catcher.

“Today was really a big personal victory for myself and him,” Derba said. “That’s been our real key. The sixth inning is a quality start. The seventh is an excellent start.”

Rosenthal also benefitted from Derba throwing out Arenado at second base to end the third and, in the seventh, left fielder Kyle Conley making a sliding catch after the right-hander induced a double-play grounder.

“He’s very efficient. He was pounding the zone with all three pitches,” Springfield manager Mike Shildt said. “His fastball was down, both sides of the plate and was heavy. He had a sharp breaking ball and I was really encouraged by the use of his change-up today.”

Derba’s RBI double and Kolten Wong’s RBI single in the fifth gave Rosenthal a 2-0 advantage in the fifth against Gardner, who allowed only three other hits and worked around two walks.

But it wasn’t enough. The Cardinals were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

“That guy had a good change-up and threw the ball well. It was a good pitcher’s game,” Shildt said. “We weren’t able to put a lot of quality swings on him.”