Five Dingers Highlights Travs 9-3 Win

Springfield, Missouri  - The Arkansas Travelers set a season-high with five home runs on Sunday in a 9-3 victory over the Springfield Cardinals at Hammons Field. Scoring eight runs on the long ball, the Travs also received seven strong innings from Michael Roth (2-3) to pick up their fourth win in five games and even their record at 21-21. Both Alex Yarbrough (3) and Jett Bandy (3) hit home runs and led the Travs with three RBIs.

Zach Borenstein (4), Brian Hernandez (2) and Andy Workman (2) all hit solo home runs for the Travs, who had hit just 17 home runs in the first 41 games of the 2014 season.

Early on Springfield starter Seth Blair retired the first seven batters of the game. However Hernandez and Kaleb Cowart hit back-to-back singles in the fourth inning which brought Bandy to the plate. On a 1-0 pitch, he hammered a three-run homer over the Travs bullpen in left field to break a 0-0 tie.

Blair opened the fifth inning with a walk to Kyle Hudson, which Yarbrough followed with his 13th double to the left-field gap. Hudson scored ahead of a throw, but Yarbrough was thrown out at third base. Two batters later, Hernandez made it a 5-0 lead with a solo home run to left field.

Roth, who allowed the Cardinals leadoff man to reach in five innings, allowed Rafael Ortega to begin the fifth inning with a bunt single. But Roth also gave Ortega third base with an errant throw on the bunt. Ortega tagged up on a fly ball hit by Matt Williams to medium-depth right field and arrived at the plate after Workman's throw. However Ortega dove head first for the back corner of the plate and was called safe by umpire Mike Cascioppo. After a brief argument, Travs manager Phillip Wellman was ejected from the game.

Blair was removed one batter after putting Gowens aboard with his third walk in the eighth inning. Cards lefty Anthony Ferrara came out of the bullpen and got ahead of Yarbrough 1-2 before allowing a line drive home run to left field. Borenstein then whacked a slicing line drive that hit the left field fair pole for the first set of back-to-back home runs by the Travs this season. Workman led off the eighth inning with a home run to cap the day.

Roth had just two perfect innings on Sunday, but also left six runners and had two double plays turned behind him in turning in his second seven-inning performance of the year.

Daniel Reynolds finished the game with two innings of relief and was charged with two runs on four base hits.

The Travs go for the series win on Monday with Mark Sappington (1-3, 5.72) on the mound against Springfield's Kyle Hald (2-0, 2.54). First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.