Small ball works in Travs’ victory
TRAVELERS 3, NATURALS 2
Reliever Matt Festa used two pitches to get two outs in the eighth inning, then got two more quick outs in the top of the ninth before overcoming two singles and a walk and to get Northwest Arkansas catcher Nick Dini on a called third strike Sunday as the Arkansas Travelers secured a 3-2 victory at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
The victory evened the four-game series at a game each with games scheduled today and Tuesday.
Each team had 10 hits — all singles — but it was an error by Naturals’ first baseman Samir Duenez that allowed Arkansas to score two runs in the second to open a lead the Travelers would not relinquish.
“A hit is a hit and that was enough today,” Travelers Manager Daren Brown said about the 10 singles. “[Chuck] Taylor had a couple of hits, [Chris] Mariscal had a couple of hits and it was good to see [Braden] Bishop get a couple of hits and a couple of stolen bases.
“When you win a one-run game, all of them are important.”
After getting the first six Northwest Arkansas hitters out easily, the Travelers started to work on their offense.
Mariscal led off with a single and moved to second on ground ball to short by Seth Mejias-Brean before going to third on a deep fly ball to center by Bishop. Catcher Joe DeCarlo hit what should have been the third out of the inning on a ground ball to Naturals’ third baseman Jecksson Flores, but Duenez couldn’t secure the throw, keeping the inning alive.
Adam Law followed with a single, then Zack Shank followed with another to score DeCarlo.
With two outs in the top of the third, Flores got the first of three successive singles, narrowing the Travelers’ edge to 2-1, scoring on a hit by Erick Mejia.
Mejias-Brean led off the Arkansas fourth with a single. A walk moved him to second and a fly ball to right by DeCarlo advanced him to third. Law flew out deep to left, scoring Mejias-Brean on
a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 Arkansas lead.
Northwest Arkansas narrowed the margin again in the seventh when Flores was hit by a pitch with two outs. He
took third on a single to left by Donnie Dewees. Flores then scored on a balk by reliever Matt Tenuta.
After eighth-inning hits by Nicky Lopez and Dini, the Naturals had runners on first and third with no one out. Duenez struck out, then Tenuta was replaced by Festa. Two pitches got him out of the inning before he avoided disaster by striking out Dini with the bases loaded in the ninth.
“Festa did a good job getting out of the eighth, getting two outs on two pitches,” Brown said. “He made it tough on himself, but got it done in the end.”
Johendi Jiminian (2-1) got the victory, with Festa getting his fourth save.
Scott Blewett (1-3) allowed all three Arkansas runs and took the loss.