Springfield Cardinals Top Tulsa Drillers 5-2 - AA, Texas League

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa pitcher Ching-Lung Lo had his best outing of the year Sunday afternoon but it was not good enough to beat Jamie Garcia. The Springfield lefthander allowed only two hits and one run over six innings to pitch the Cardinals to a 5-2 victory over the Drillers. It was the third straight win for the Redbirds in the four-game series with Tulsa.
The Cards opened the scoring in the second inning on a wild pitch from Lo that scored 2nd baseman Jose Martinez. Martinez had doubled into the left field corner to start the inning.
Tulsa answered two innings later as 3rd baseman Jeff Dragicevich singled in Dexter Fowler to tie the game.
Both Lo and Garcia had the exact same pitching line thru five innings, but the Cards struck again in the sixth inning. Springfield leadoff hitter Shane Robinson was hit by a pitch and then moved to third on Jon Jay's second single of the day. Hot-hitting third baseman Allen Craig then drove a double down the right field line clearing the bags, giving the visitors a 3-1 lead.
The Drillers got one of the runs back in the bottom of the seventh. Jeff Kindel and Jeff Dragicevich drew walks, ending Garcia's day. After a passed ball, Brian
Advertisement = Esposito brought Kindel home with a sacrifice fly.
It would be as close as the Drillers would get. The Cardinals added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth. Shane Robinson led off with a single and was moved to second on a bunt by Jon Jay. He eventually scored on an error by Drillers second baseman Corey Wimberly. Catcher Brandon Yarbrough singled in Mark Hamilton later in the inning to make the score 5-2.
Springfield reliever Luke Gregerson worked a scoreless ninth to close out the game and to record his third save.
The win for Garcia improved his record to 3-2.
Lo took the tough loss to fall to 0-5. He surrendered only four hits and three runs (2 ER) in six innings. Lo walked only one and struck out five.
Tulsa was limited to only four hits. Matt Miller was 0-3, ending his 11-game hitting streak. Chris Nelson lost an 8-game streak and Esposito a 6-game streak.
The Drillers host Springfield in the finale of the four-game series Monday morning at 10:05 AM. The pitching matchup will pit Tulsa's Xavier Cedeno(3-1, 3.32 ERA) against Clayton Mortenson (1-1, 2.49 ERA) for the Cards.

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