The Springfield Cardinals are only one victory from reaching the Texas League pennant series for the first time since 2007.
Third baseman Nolan Arenado booted a two-out ground ball that permitted the a crucial run to score in the second inning, and the Springfield Cardinals’ bullpen outlasted its counterparts in a 4-2 win against the Tulsa Drillers in Game 3 of a Texas League division series at Hammons Field.
Arenado’s error came shortly after Xavier Scruggs’ and Audry Perez’s back-to-back doubles off Joe Gardner broke a 1-all tie, and three relievers â€" Michael Wacha, Eric Fornataro and Keith Butler â€" covered the final 12 outs in relief of Kevin Seigrist.
It means the Drillers’ backs are up against the wall. Tulsa must win tonight and Sunday to take the best-of-5 series. Tulsa has not reached the league’s pennant series since 2002.
The game began after 1-hour, 57-minute rain delay, with Siegrist’s first pitch at 9:05 p.m.
The series could have been pushed back a day without affecting the playoff schedule, as the league has a built-in off day on Monday. The North Division series winner then hosts the pennant series opener on Tuesday.
Tulsa stunted the Cardinals’ momentum on Thursday night in a 3-0 victory in which Josh Outman pitched seven innings.
But the Drillers couldn’t sustain it.
Kolten Wong kick-started Springfield with a single in the first inning, and Jermaine Curtis energized the Cardinals with a perfectly placed bunt single that hugged the third-base line.
Oscar Taveras followed with a rocket grounder that bad-hopped shortstop Warren Schaeffer, enabling Wong to score from second base.
The Cardinals then broke a 1-all tie in the second inning thanks to back-to-back doubles from Scruggs and Perez, who later scored on Arenado’s fielding error on Wong’s two-out ground ball.
Arenado, who committed 23 errors during the regular season, appeared to glance up too soon as the speedy Wong raced up the first-base line.
Meanwhile, Siegrist burned through 86 pitches in five innings and had to be lifted.
Chris Pettit’s one-out walk and steal of second led to Jose Gonzalez’s RBI single in the second inning, and Kiel Roling deposited a solo home run leading off the fourth.
But Springfield’s defense also denied the Drillers. Left fielder Chris Swauger threw out Gonzalez trying to score in the second inning, and Wong turned a tag-and-throw double play to end the fifth.
Meanwhile, Wacha won a 10-pitch battle against Warren Schaeffer to end the seventh, Fornataro worked a solid eighth and Butler rallied after Arenado’s leadoff single with a double play grounder. Butler also struck out pinch-hitter Ben Paulsen to end the game after allowing a two-out walk.
The Cardinals scored three against Gardner in his six innings, but none after Arenado’s error. He retired 12 of the next 14.
The Cardinals tacked on a run in the ninth when Taveras doubled and scored on Jamie Romak’s bloop single into center field.
No comments:
Post a Comment