Naturals act as Travelers’ kryptonite
Donned in promotional superhero jerseys, the Arkansas Travelers went through what was more of a dark night.
Arkansas (13-14) fell behind 5-0 and never pulled closer than two runs the rest of the way in a 10-4 loss to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (10-18) Saturday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
It was the first game back from an eight-game road trip, where the Travs went 3-5 and batted 19 for 64 (.297) with runners in scoring position.
On Saturday, the Travs left 14 runners on base, and batters went 1 for 13 (.077) with runners in scoring position and 0 for 4 with the bases loaded.
“It sucks, obviously,” said first baseman Joey Curletta, who went 1 for 4 with a single and a walk. “You’re going to have games like that, and you’ve just got to keep putting the at-bats together and we’ll drive in runs. It was just one of those days.”
The Travs fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, and right-handed starter Tyler Jackson (0-1, 13.50 ERA) earned the loss after pitching 31/3 innings with 9 hits, 5 earned runs, a walk and 2 strikeouts.
Naturals right-hander Yunior Marte (1-1, 3.44) earned the victory after pitching 12/3 innings in relief, with 1 hit, 1 earned run, 3 walks and Travs Manager Daren Brown said Jackson was pitching in place of left-hander Anthony Misiewicz, who was placed on the temporarily inactive list on Thursday.
Jackson, 24, began the season with Class AAA Tacoma, where he pitched 61/3 relief innings and gave up 3 home runs and 9 earned runs.
Just before his third appearance with Tacoma, he made a start with Class High-A Modesto on April 22, when he earned a loss after pitching 4 innings with 7 hits, 4 earned runs, 3 walks and no strikeouts.
The Naturals had four hits off Jackson in the first, and first baseman Samir Duenez hit a two-run, 384-foot home run to right field.
Travs righty Scott Kuzminsky relieved Jackson in the fourth, after Jackson gave up consecutive RBI singles that gave the Naturals a 5-0 lead.
“He got us to the fourth inning,” Brown said. “But he kinda put us in a hole, and I thought we did a nice job of trying to get back, and we just couldn’t seem to get the hit we needed.”
Curletta popped out and third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean grounded out with the bases loaded in the fifth. Then, right fielder Beau Amaral struck out and Curletta flew out to center with the bases loaded in the sixth.
The two runs the Travs did score with the bases loaded did not count as at-bats. Shortstop Chris Mariscal walked with the bases loaded in the fifth, and center fielder Braden Bishop recorded an RBI with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Catcher Joseph Odom hit an RBI double in the fourth, and he scored on Bishop’s sac fly in the sixth to pull the Travs within 6-4.
The Naturals went 6 for 15 (.400) with runners in scoring position, and their four final runs included RBI singles by center fielder Donnie Dewees, shortstop Nicky Lopez and second baseman Erick Mejia.