Arkansas Travelers Nip Springfield Cardinals 6-5 - AA, Texas League

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Springfield Cardinals dropped another heart-breaker to the Arkansas Travelers on Thursday night, losing by a final score of 6-5 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

 Travs’ reliever Kevin Jepsen loaded the bases in the ninth inning with no outs, but Springfield came away empty-handed, leaving them loaded and suffering their seventh straight loss. Leading 6-5 in the top of the eighth, the Travs sent Jepsen out of the bullpen to keep the tying run at second base.  Jepsen got Casey Rowlett to ground out, leaving Isa Garcia in scoring position to end the inning.

 Jepsen opened the ninth by walking Jon Jay.  He then gave up a hit to Steven Hill and walked Mark Shorey, loading the bases with no outs.  The Cards couldn’t push across the tying run though, as Allen Craig and Brandon Yarbrough both hit ground balls to third base, resulting in a pair of outs recorded at the plate.  With the bases loaded and two outs, Jose Martinez grounded to third to end it, giving Jepsen his sixth save of the year. The Cardinals took the early lead in the first, as Jon Jay delivered his fourth homer of the year, a solo shot to right field for a 1-0 lead.  It didn’t take the Travs long to counter though, as Ben Johnson smacked his first of two home runs, a three-run blast ADVERTISEMENT to right field to give Arkansas a 3-1 lead. Johnson added another shot, his team-leading eighth of the year in the third, giving the Travs a 4-1 lead. Allen Craig struck for a solo shot in the fourth, a bomb to straight-away center field, pulling the Cardinals to within two at 4-2. 

 The Travs finally chased Tyler Herron in the sixth, as Nate Sutton led off with a triple.  After Herron retired Ryan Leahy, Adam Daniels came out of the pen and gave up an RBI double to Adam Greenberg, making it 5-2.  Hainley Statia scored Greenberg from third with an RBI groundout, giving the Travs a 6-2.  Springfield got three in the eighth off Francisco Gonzalez, making it a one-run game at 6-5.  Isa Garcia had an RBI single in the inning, while Matt Pagnozzi drove home a run with a sac fly.  Herron (0-2) took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. Arkansas starter Dan Denham (3-4) got the win, allowing two runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings. 

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