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Springfield shows Tulsa all its Cards

Team sets franchise mark with 20 runs, matches record with 10 in inning
April 18, 2008
The scoreboard at Hammons Field looked more like a football score than its baseball counterpart Thursday night.

The Springfield Cardinals collected 19 hits and scored in all but two innings to win their third straight game with a 20-5 romp over the visiting Tulsa Drillers.

Six of the eight position players who started the game (Brendan Ryan, Bryan Anderson, Allen Craig, Mark Hamilton, Jose Martinez and Shane Robinson) had multiple hits, RBIs and runs. Three players had four hits (Ryan, Anderson and Robinson) and five players drove in three runs. (Ryan, Craig, Hamilton, Martinez and Robinson).

"Everyone was having fun," said left fielder Shane Robinson, who also scored twice.

Half the damage occurred in the bottom of the second frame, when the Cardinals scored 10 runs on seven hits, two walks, two errors and a wild pitch. The inning was highlighted by Mark Hamilton's three-run homer, his third of the year and the first of four Cardinals round-trippers on the night, and doubles by Anderson and Robinson.

"One through nine, this lineup can hit," Robinson boasted. "What happened tonight wasn't really a shock to us. This is how we should be playing."

The 10-run inning equaled the single-inning output Springfield put together on June 25, 2005 against Arkansas at Hammons Field. The 20 runs set a new club record, eclipsing the 17 they scored on 20 hits in a 17-10 win against Corpus Christi on Aug. 19, 2007.

The Cardinals put up four more runs in the third. Allen Craig ripped an RBI single and Jose Martinez smacked a three-run homer, his first of the year. Ryan, on a rehab stint from St. Louis, had a solo homer and scored four times. Anderson hit his second homer and scored three times.

"We're feeling pretty good about the way we've been playing lately. We just need to keep the momentum going through tomorrow," Robinson said.

Springfield's offensive outburst was almost matched run by the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks, who collected 20 hits in a 19-3 win over the Round Rock Express in a Pacific Coast League game.

Cardinals starter Clayton Mortensen (1-1) allowed three hits over five shutout innings while lowering his ERA to 3.07. The 23-year-old right-hander struck out five and did not issue a walk.

Trailing, 20-0, in their final turn at-bat, Tulsa got on the board when catcher Brian Esposito blasted a grand slam and Duke Sardinha was plunked by Kris Honel with the bases loaded to force in a run.

Lo (0-3) was tagged for nine runs -- eight earned -- on seven hits and two walks while recording just four outs.

Steve Conley is a contributor to MLB.com.