Gaviglio bounces back with two-hit outing

Springfield's Sam Gaviglio has pitched pretty well against Tulsa this season, but until Wednesday evening, he had little to show for his efforts.

But coming off one of his worst outings of the season, the right-handed St. Louis prospect turned things around and got his first win against a team he has seen five times in 10 weeks.

Gaviglio scattered two hits and struck out nine batters over six innings in the Double-A Cardinals' 10-0 rout of the Drillers at Hammons Field.

The 24-year-old yielded a second-inning single to Brian Humphries and a two-out double to Joey Wong in the sixth, but no batter reached third base against the Oregon State product, who fanned at least one batter in each inning. His nine K's were the second-most he has recorded this year. He whiffed 11 Drillers on June 10 in the third of his five matchups against Tulsa.

Wednesday's performance came five days after Gaviglio (5-10) got rocked for six runs on a season-high 11 hits over 4 2/3 frames at home against Northwest Arkansas.

Gaviglio, who has faced the Drillers more than any other team, has pitched at least five innings in all five games, and in three of those contests, he has allowed two runs or fewer. Despite that and a 22-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio (which he raised to 31-to-4), Gaviglio entered Wednesday winless against them.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2011 Draft, Gaviglio -- whose repertoire includes a high 80s fastball, a sinker and a changeup -- is in his fourth year in the Minors. He posted a 9-9 record and 3.92 ERA in 23 Midwest League starts with Class A Quad Cities in 2012 and went 4-1 with a 2.72 mark in seven games last year as he logged 47 2/3 innings between two levels.

Springfield first baseman Curt Smith smacked a grand slam and plated five runs while catcher Travis Tartamella went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Eddie Butler (4-5) took the loss after allowing six runs -- four earned -- on eight hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings.