Lewis bounces back, sparks Travelers’ victory

One night after striking out four times in an extra-inning loss Sunday afternoon, Kyle Lewis got some revenge Monday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock as the Arkansas Travelers inched closer to division-leading Tulsa with a 7-0 victory over Northwest Arkansas.

Tulsa, which hosts Northwest Arkansas in a five-game series beginning today, lost 5-3 to Springfield on Monday and leads the Texas League North by 21/2 games over the Travelers.

Lewis, the Travelers center fielder, collected three hits in four at-bats Monday night, including a 428-foot solo home run off the scoreboard beyond the left-field berm. He also added two singles and scored two runs, one of them in a sixrun second inning.

“For sure, that was one of my best of the year,” Lewis said of his home run. “I’ve been working hard, coming in early and I think I’ve had some of my hardest hits of the year recently.”

Lewis sees good things for the Travelers in the playoffs, which start Sept. 5 at Dickey-Stephens Park.

Arkansas’ Eric Filia worked John Perrin (0-2) for a five-pitch walk to lead off the bottom of the second. Logan Taylor followed by taking a called third strike. Lewis picked up the Travelers’ first hit with a single, but Donnie Walton flew out to center for the second out.

Catcher Joseph Odom singled to drive in Filia, then Yonathan Mendoza walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Chuck Taylor drove in the second run of the inning with a single. Dario Pizzano walked on another 3-2 pitch to score Lewis. Joey Curletta reached on an error by Flores that resulted in Mendoza and Chuck Taylor scoring and leaving Pizzano at third. A wild pitch from reliever Walker Sheller scored Pizzano to make it 6-0.