Cabrera pitches 'Riders to 5-2 victory

FRISCO, TEXAS (May 26, 2014) - Frisco defeated the Springfield Cardinals by a score of 5-2 on Monday afternoon at Dr Pepper Ballpark on a Memorial Day showdown. Edwar Cabrera put on a show while showing off suburb command in his 6.1 innings pitched.

Cabrera showed excellent ability to get out of a jam as he encountered trouble early in the contest. A second-pitch double by Mike O'Neill and a looping single to center put runners on the corners with no one out.

In the next at-bat the 26-year-old righty fielded a chopper and fired over to first to hold O'Neill at third and retire Cody Stanley. Jonathan Rodriguez struck out swinging and David Popkins was called out on strikes to get Cabrera and the 'Riders back in the dugout.

Springfield starter Sam Gaviglio responded with a quick 1-2-3 inning and Cabrera matched him with a perfect inning of his own in the second.

Tomas Telis led off the home half of the frame with a single to left-center and Odubel Herrera walked to quickly put two on with no one out. Drew Robinson knocked an RBI single to right field, his 15th run batted in, to score Telis and put Frisco in front 1-0.

The game experienced a brief injury delay in the third when Trever Adams appeared to injury himself while advancing to third base on a Jake Smolinski double and Edwin Garcia entered the game to pinch-run for his comrade. Garcia scored to make it 2-0 on a Telis infield RBI single and Herrera scored Smolinski from third to push the lead to 3-0 Frisco. The 'Riders (30-20) were not finished in the inning as Ryan Rua got in on the action with a RBI single to left scoring Telis and making it 4-0 'Riders.

Guilder Rodriguez replaced Adams at first base and Garcia moved to shortstop in a pair of defensive changes for the RoughRiders in the fourth inning.

The Cardinals (23-27) were looking to end the series on a high note and they used some two-out magic to find their way on the scoreboard. Patrick Wisdom doubled to the corner in left and he late scored on a Matt Williams RBI single to make the score 4-1.

The RoughRiders channeled some two-out magic of their own the following inning when Herrera singled to right to bring up Rua. The Frisco third baseman shattered his bat on a rocket to third but was able to run out the play at first on Wisdom's throwing error. Herrera scored on Gaviglio's wild pitch and the 'Riders took a 5-1 lead.

Cabrera (2-1) gave a tip of his cap to the 4,754 fans in attendance after exiting the game in the seventh frame. He pitched 6.1 innings and allowed one run with two walks and six strike outs in his efficient outing.

Gaviglio (2-7) gave up ten hits and allowed five runs, four being earned, while walking two and striking out three in his six innings of work.

Francisco Mendoza came on to pitch the ninth frame and allowed a run to score on Jacob Wilson's RBI single to left, but the righty closed the door on the Cards to give Frisco the 5-2 win.

The RoughRiders depart north for a six-game road trip and open with a three-game series against the Tulsa Drillers. Right-hander Jerad Eickhoff (3-3, 4.44 ERA) returns to the mound following an impressive outing against the Drillers last week and opposes fellow righty Jon Gray (5-2, 2.79 ERA). For tickets to see the 'Riders in 2014, call 972-731-9200, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.ridersbaseball.com.