Cardinals use 6-run 3rd to down RockHounds 10-5 in home opener
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Springfield Cardinals released the frustrations of a tough Texas road trip onto the Midland RockHounds in Thursday night's home opener at Hammons Field.Edmundo Sosa, Lane Thomas, Darren Seferina and Victor Roache all drove in two runs and Estarlin Arias earned the win in relief in a
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Springfield Cardinals released the frustrations of a tough Texas road trip onto the Midland RockHounds in Thursday night's home opener at Hammons Field.
The win was the first for the Cardinals (2-5) in a home opener since 2011, a 9-4 win over the Frisco RoughRiders.
Arias (1-0) tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief after appearing in the top of the fourth for starter
The Cardinals wasted no time grabbing a lead. After
THE GAME TURNED WHEN
Springfield scored six in the third inning, surpassing any single-game run total the Cardinals had scored all season.
The rally began with Seferina breaking out of an 0-for-22 start to open the season with a two-RBI double, driving in Thomas and Knizner and putting the Cardinals up 4-1.
Two batters later, a Roache single scored
Springfield padded its lead even more to 8-1 when an Edmundo Sosa single brought home Roache and Spitz.
BULLPEN DOMINANCE
While Cardinals starters have struggled through the season's first seven games, the bullpen continued to excel.
Arias,
POWER SHOW
Roache hit a 420-foot bomb off Walter in the fifth. The homer was his second in as many games and gave Springfield a 9-4 lead.
Thomas hit his second homer of the year and put the Cardinals up 10-4 when he hooked one just inside the left-field foul pole in the bottom of the sixth.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
MIDLAND: The RockHounds briefly pulled within a run on
SPRINGFIELD: The Cardinals won their home opener for the first time since 2011, a 9-4 win over Frisco … Helsley allowed four runs on five hits over 4.1 innings, striking out three and walking four … Thomas extended his hit streak to seven games with a single in the third. He's batting .429 this season.
UP NEXT
The RockHounds and Cardinals are scheduled to play Game 2 of this three-game series Friday at 7:10 pm at Hammons Field. Midland has not announced its starter.