Travs rally late to swipe 9-5 win from Cardinals

North Little Rock, AR - The Arkansas Travelers rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, coming from behind for the 9-5 win against the 1st-Half North Division Champion Springfield Cardinals before 4,564 fans at Dickey-Stephens Park on Thursday night.

The Cardinals (30-36, 71-65) opened the early advantage with three runs in the top of the second against LHP Jose Molina. Springfield started the frame by loading the bases with no outs on a 3B Jonathan Rodriguez single, a 2B Jacob Wilson walk and a LF Allen Staton base hit. C Luis Cruz cracked the scoreless tie with an RBI sacrifice fly to center, plating Rodriguez and moving Wilson to third base. With runners at the corners, RF Blake Drake placed an RBI bunt single perfectly inside the first base line, bringing in Wilson from third base for the 2-0 lead. One out later, SS Alex Mejia lined a two-out RBI single through the middle, scoring Staton from second to increase the lead to 3-0.

Springfield stretched the lead in the top of the fourth. 1B Luke Voit opened the inning with his fifth triple of the season, swinging himself all the way to third base. After Rodriguez worked a walk, RHP Eric Alonzo took over on the mound. With runners at the corners and no outs, Alonzo dug in and induced consecutive pop outs to second base. However, with Cruz at-bat and runners at the corners, a passed ball got away from C Wade Wass, enabling Voit to race home from third to make it 4-0.

RHP J.C. Sulbaran kept the Travelers (34-32, 66-70) off the board through his first four scoreless innings, before Arkansas broke through in the bottom of the fifth. With one away, Wass launched a triple off the center field fence. RF Anthony Phillips then skied an RBI sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Wass to slice the Arkansas deficit to 4-1.

Sulbaran responded with a scoreless sixth, before the Cardinals stretched the lead back to four runs in the seventh. With LHP Kevin Grendell (W, 2-1) on the mound, Bader belted the inning's first pitch over the left field fence for his 14th home run of the year, making it a 5-1 advantage for Springfield.

Sulbaran started the bottom of the seventh with a walk, but then struck out the next two batters before inducing an inning-ending fly out. The right-hander finished with just the one run allowed on three hits and three walks, striking out nine batters through seven innings.

Arkansas, though, pounced in the bottom of the eighth against the Cardinals bullpen. With RHP Robby Rowland on the mound to start the inning, Phillips reached safely on a two-base throwing error committed by Rowland. One out later, a SS David Fletcher single and a 1B Alex Yarbrough walk loaded the bases. With the bases loaded and 3B Andrew Daniel at-bat, catcher's interference was called on Cruz, sending Daniel to first base and forcing home Phillips. LHP Justin Wright (L, 0-4) took over to face DH Jabari Henry, but Henry came through with a two-run single to bring the Travs within one run, 5-4. A single from CF Bo Way loaded the bases, before an RBI walk drawn from LF Caleb Adams brought in the tying run. Wass followed with an RBI free pass of his own, lifting the Travs ahead, 6-5. Up for the second time in the inning, Phillips bounced into a fielder's choice with 3B Jonathan Rodriguez retiring Way at the plate, recording the second out with the Travs still only up by one run. However, 2B Sean Coyle lined an RBI single, followed by a two-run double by Fletcher to cap the rally and make it a 9-5 lead for the Travelers.

RHP Eduardo Paredes took over for the top of the ninth and dealt a scoreless final frame, closing the comeback 9-5 win for Arkansas.

Click here for the complete box score from Thursday's game.

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