Travs’ 13-run inning puts scoreboard on the blink

The longest inning of the Arkansas Travelers’ season helped produce their most runs in a game since 2014.

The Travs scored 13 runs in the sixth inning of their 17-3 victory over the Frisco Rough-Riders on Sunday, which revealed the scoreboard in Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock does not go beyond nine in its inning frames. After 16 Travs batters, 3 Frisco pitchers, 7 consecutive hits, 3 doubles and designated hitter Tyler Marlette’s second grand slam of the season, the scoreboard registered a digital “3” that was replaced intermittently by a blinking “1.”

The Travs had a 20-7 victory over Midland in the 2014 season opener.

“We were all talking in the dugout,” said Marlette, who went 2 for 5 with his second 5 RBI game in his past 14 games. “Everybody just kept looking at each other. ‘One more. One more.’ We had a little competition between us in the dugout, saying ‘Who’s going to be the guy [to end the inning]? Don’t be the guy?’ ”

“The guy” turned out to be right fielder Keury De La Cruz, who popped out to third base after hitting an RBI single earlier in the inning.

The runs were more than sufficient to support righthander Dylan Unsworth (3-4, 4.79 ERA) in his second consecutive winning decision, giving the Travs their second series sweep of the season before an announced crowd of 3,094.

Unsworth pitched 6 innings with 2 earned runs, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. Frisco took the lead 2-0 after an RBI single and fielder’s choice in the second, but the Travs went ahead for good on first baseman Kyle Waldrop’s RBI single in the third for a 3-2 edge.

“Once we were back ahead, I was like, ‘OK, I’m back in the game. This is mine now, and I’m going to try and go as far as I can and give the team a chance to win,’ ” said Unsworth, whose two quality starts (at least 6 innings, 3 fewer runs) are the

staff’s only ones in the past 10 games. “Ended up working out that way.”

Seven Travs batters had multiple hits, and center fielder Chuck Taylor, left fielder Dario Pizzano, third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean and Waldrop each had three

hits.

Waldrop went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI, and he leads the Texas League with 37 RBI.

Marlette has hit three home runs in the past two games. The Seattle Mariners’ No. 26 prospect, according to MLB.com, has hit 4 home runs and 3 doubles in his past 7 games — an .800 slugging percentage.

“I’ve just been working in the cage with [Travs hitting coach] Roy [Howell], and Brownie [Travs Manager Daren Brown] came in and broke it down with some film,” said Marlette, who at one point had gone 16 games without an extra-base hit.

“The bottom line with him is he’s an aggressive guy,” said Howell, who played third base for the Rangers, Blue Jays and Brewers from 1974-1984. “He likes to attack the baseball, and we got him to slow down a little bit. Get better pitches to hit. He’s really been working real hard on getting a ball he can really handle.”

Taylor handled a ball to lead off the third inning with a 387-foot home run to right field — his second home run of the season. Taylor leads the league with a .369 batting average and has had multiple hits in 8 of the past 12 games, but he hasn’t shown power. During that span, he had a .446 batting average and a .553 slugging percentage.

“That’s not his game,” Howell said. “He’s a linedrive, base-hit guy. But every once in a while, one jumps out.”

Taylor has played center field and batted leadoff since Ian Miller injured his hamstring while chasing a fly ball Wednesday. Miller leads the league with 20 stolen bases and is third in the league with a .339 batting average.

“He ought to be ready some time during this road trip,” Brown said.

The Travs have won 8 of their past 11 games. After their off day Monday, they will enter a six-game road trip 3½ games behind firstplace Springfield in the Texas League North Division.

“We’ll come back and keep it rolling,” Unsworth said.