Kruczynski good again but Cardinals fall 7-5 to Travelers

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Cardinals fans continue to experience the potential riding on Evan Kruczynski's arm.

The 6-foot-5 lefty came into Wednesday with a pretty 0.96 ERA in his first four Double-A starts, having struck out 24 in 28.0 innings. While that ERA jumped a bit to 1.82 in a 7-2 Cardinals loss to the Travelers, tonight can't be called a bad outing or a setback.

Pitching into the seventh for the fifth straight start, Kruczynski allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk in 6.2 innings, adding four strikeouts.

While still charged to Kruczynski, the third and fourth earned runs came with Junior Fernandez on the mound when Fernandez allowed a double that brought home two inherited runners.

After an early pitcher's duel, the Cardinals struck first. A leadoff third-inning double by Jose Martinez and a Blake Drake liner to center allowed Andrew Knizner to put Springfield up a run with a sacrifice fly, scoring Martinez.

Arkansas tied the Cardinals 1-1 in the fourth thanks to a Kruczynski wild pitch with Joey Curletta on third. That run was the third for the Travelers this series off wild pitches or passed balls.

Then in the fifth, Ryan Scott's single brought Donnie Walton in from second for a 2-1 Travelers lead.

Johan Mieses hit a no-doubter over the tree line in left to pull Springfield back even at 2-2 in the sixth.

Things unraveled a bit in the seventh for Kruczynski after a leadoff single by Eric Filia was followed by a Kyle Lewis free pass. Next, the big lefty forced a groundout and a fielder's choice and appeared ready to escape unscathed, but the Travelers instead scored five runs before the inning's final out.

Two of those runs were charged to Kruczynski after being replaced by Fernandez, who allowed a two-out double to Beau Amaral that brought in a pair. Fernandez then issued back-to-back walks, with the second pushing the score to 5-2, and a Curletta run-scoring single before escaping.

The Travelers final run came in the eighth when Filia scored off Scott's sacrifice fly.

Springfield put a bit of a scare into Arkansas in the ninth. Victor Roache doubled in Mieses with one out, pulling the Cardinals within 7-3. A batter later, Chris Chinea laced an opposite-field liner into right that made it a 7-5 game.

Arkansas responded with a pitching change to Matt Festa, who quickly got the inning's final two outs.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals and Travelers play the third game of their four-game series Thursday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:10pm and gates set to open at 6:10pm.

Thursday is our St. Louis Cardinals 2019 'Ticket for Two' Voucher Giveaway for 2,000 fans in addition to our final Klement's $1 Bratwurst Night and Pre-Game On-Field Happy Hour of the season, where fans can enjoy drink specials on the right-field warning track from 6:10pm to first pitch.