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O'Reilly carries no-no into 6th, Cardinals lose 7-3 to Travelers

June 21, 2018

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Five no-hit innings from Cardinals starter Mike O'Reilly to begin the night weren't enough for a happy result at its close.Despite lasting just 5.2 innings, O'Reilly tossed what was pretty close to a gem. The righty allowed only two hits and three walks and was tagged for

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Five no-hit innings from Cardinals starter Mike O'Reilly to begin the night weren't enough for a happy result at its close.

Despite lasting just 5.2 innings, O'Reilly tossed what was pretty close to a gem. The righty allowed only two hits and three walks and was tagged for three runs in the fifth in the Cardinals 7-3 loss to the Travelers in front of a second consecutive sellout crowd of 6,831 at Hammons Field.

Arkansas responded to O'Reilly's five no-hit innings with a walk and back-to-back doubles to begin the sixth. The second of those doubles came from Chuck Taylor and put the Travelers up 2-1.

After forcing a groundout, O'Reilly was relieved by Ian McKinney (2-2), whose wild pitch allowed a third run to cross for a 3-1 Arkansas lead before escaping the inning.

The Cardinals battled right back, pulling within 3-2 in the sixth off Evan Mendoza's deep sacrifice fly to the wall in right, allowing Tommy Edman to jog home.

Andrew Knizner quickly followed with a game-tying single through the left side that scored Lane Thomas.

After loading the bases with one out in the seventh, Taylor put Arkansas back up 4-3 with a sacrifice fly.

Back-to-back two-out walks upped that lead to 5-3 and marked the fourth time in six games a Cardinals pitcher has issued a bases-loaded walk.

Dario Pizzano's double brought Braden Bishop and Eric Filia home and cemented the 7-3 final.

Earlier, Knizner's first home run since April 27 made it 1-0 Springfield in the fourth.

SLUMP BUSTED

Knizner had just four hits in 27 at-bats since returning to Springfield from Memphis on June 9 before a three-hit performance Thursday.

That slump dropped him below .300 in Springfield for the first time since early April, but tonight's game pushed his average back up to .309.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals host the Travelers Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm.

Friday is Margaritaville Night at the ballpark with Margaritaville themed Fans-on-Field Fireworks after the game. The Cardinals will be wearing Margaritaville specialty uniforms, which will be up for auction during the game.