Rivas’ triple turns tide for Travelers
TRAVLERS 2, CARDINALS 1
Leo Rivas turned on the first pitch he saw.
As the ball floated toward the right field wall, the speedy infielder rounded first and second base before successfully legging out a triple in the bottom of the seventh inning. As he watched from the dugout, first-year Manager Mike Freeman felt a massive sigh of relief as Rivas slid safe to third.
“I was just seeing if he was going to rattle around the cor- ner there,” Freeman said, recounting Rivas’ play. “It was great to see him slide in there safely.”
On the next play, Jonatan Clase knocked a sacrifice fly to left field, giving the Arkansas Travelers a 2-1 lead, which was their first run since the second.
Rivas’ game-changing triple seemingly sealed the Travs’ 2-1 win over the Springfield Cardinals on Saturday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. Rivas finished 1 for 4 with a run, but his lone hit was the most pivotal point of the game.
“He’s done a great job picking his spots to be aggressive.” Freeman said. “He sees a lot of pitches. To get what he liked on the first pitch and then the sacrifice fly [the next play] was huge, especially that late in the game. We feel really confident with the guys we have in our bullpen, and it played out for us.”
Right-handed pitcher Kyle Tyler struggled in the early going of his 11th start of the season for the Travs, allowing Chandler Redmond to slap an RBI single in the first inning.
The Oklahoma City native recovered from that point, rendering the Cardinals scoreless for the next five innings. Tyler finished with 5 strikeouts and allowed 7 hits over 6 innings.
Despite being rattled in the first inning, he stayed composed the rest of the way.
“I think he’s just trusting his stuff,” Freeman said. “He’s got a unique repertoire with his pitches ,and he’s still learning how to most effectively use it as a starter. He’s done a great job not sulking, continuing to work to try to get better, even when the results weren’t there for him. It’s been great to see him have a couple of really nice starts.”
Right-hander Collin Kober (2-1) relieved Tyler in the top of the seventh inning, earning the win after pitching one inning. He, alongside fellow relievers Devin Sweet and former Arkansas Razorback Isaiah Campbell, did not allow a hit in the final three innings.
“The important thing is to feel like they’re never out of the game,” Freeman said. “They stay patient until the last out. … I think they do a good job on defense, keeping it close so that you can buy some time for later.”
Despite a strong pitching performance, the Travelers will look to improve their hitting, as they pivot to their fifth game of the teams’ six game series at 6:35 p.m. today. On Saturday, Travs hitters were 8 for 30 with eight runners left on base.
But Freeman said he remains unconcerned because that’s consistent with how the game ebbs and flows.
“It’s one of those hot and muggy [days],” Freeman said. “Sometimes we’re just not mixing their pitches well and not able to kind of get the big hit when we need to capitalize. That’s just the way baseball goes sometimes.
“I don’t think we need to do anything different. Our guys’ approach has been good because they were competitive in the box.”
WIND SURGE 6, NATURALS 4
Wichita took a 4-3 lead with a threerun bottom of the fourth and added two more in the fifth to send Northwest Arkansas to its fourth straight loss Saturday night at Riverfront Stadium in Wichita, Kan.
Northwest Arkansas took a 3-1 lead thanks to solo home runs by Dillan Shrum and Jorge Bonafacio. But the Wind Surge scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to grab a 4-3 lead off Northwest Arkansas starter Drew Parrish (0-1). Seth Gray drew a bases-loaded walk and Brooks Lee followed with a two-run single for the lead.
Bonafacio went 3 for 4 with a single, triple and a homer, drove in a run and scored twice for the Naturals.
Aaron Sabato added a two-run homer in the fifth to push the Wichita lead to 6-3. Tyler Tolbert contributed an RBI single in the eighth to get the Naturals within 6-4.
Jose Bravo (3-3) picked up the win, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits over 5 innings for Wichita. Francis Peguero pitched a scoreless ninth to notch his first save.