Cardinals Win 7th Straight
The Redbirds sent Richard Castillo, a winner of five of eight starts, against former 1st round pick Sonny Gray of Midland.
Springfield got their offense going early Monday night as the first three hitters all singled including an RBI knock by Oscar Taveras to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Richard Castillo labored through the first two frames throwing a total of 45 pitches, and, on a hot night, his command began to waver. With one out in the 3rd, Anthony Aliotti hit a solo homer to right to tie the game 1-1. Two batters later, Midland had two on with two straight singles, but Castillo got a fly out and a strikeout to get out of trouble with the game still tied.
In the 5th, the Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out as Greg Garcia and Kolten Wong singled and Jermaine Curtis drew a walk. Oscar Taveras then bounced into a double play to score Garcia to give Springfield a 2-1 advantage.
Castillo was finished after the 5th throwing 87 pitches allowing a run on five hits with four strike outs. Jesse Simpson came in to pitch in the 6th and immediately allowed a walk and a single. After a strikeout and a pair of wild pitches, Midland tied the score 2-2. With a runner at third and one out, Ryan Lipkin hit a slow chopper to the mound that plated the go ahead run giving the RockHounds their first lead, 3-2.
Springfield's offense woke up in a big way in the 6th as Chris Swauger led off with a double, Jake Shaffer reached on a strikeout/wild pitch and Xavier Scruggs launched a three-run homer to regain the lead from the Cardinals, 5-3. After Audry Perez walked and Greg Garcia singled, Kolten Wong doubled to right to plate another run making it 6-3. A man at third and a man at first with one out, Taveras lifted a sacrifice fly to right to give Springfield a 7-3 lead.
Jorge Rondon entered out of the Springfield bullpen in the 7th and allowed a run on a sacrifice fly and allowed another run in the 8th on an RBI single by Jeremy Barfield to shrink the lead to just two runs, 7-5. With one out, Michael Blazek struck out the final two batters in the 8th to keep the lead at two runs.
In the 9th, Keith Butler walked the lead off man, but retired the next three in order to finish off Springfield's 7th straight win, a 7-5 victory over Midland.
Springfield will continue their three game series with the Midland RockHounds tomorrow night at 7:08pm. Carlos Martinez will start for Springfield against lefty Carlos Hernandez of Midland.
Tuesday brings the return of the St. Louis Cardinals Replica World Series Giveaway for 2,000 fans. This piece of history will be a hot giveaway item so get your tickets now and get to the ballpark early! Due to the overwhelming popularity of this giveaway, the Springfield Cardinals added ONE LAST Replica Ring Giveaway for July 20th. It's also another Dollar Dog Day featuring $1 hot dogs all game long thanks to our friends at Great Southern Bank. Great tickets are still available, so visit the Hammons Field Ticket Office, go online at springfieldcardinals.com or call (417) 863-2143.
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