Travelers settle for road split in Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. — The Arkansas Travelers were forced to settle for a split of a four-game series in Tulsa Friday as the Drillers took a 10-3 win.

Arkansas (13-13) wrapped up its eight-game road trip after going 3-5. The Travelers are the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

Tulsa (16-11) scored the first 10 runs of the contest, tallying in every inning from the second through the fifth capped by a six-run outburst in the fifth frame. The Drillers, part of the Los Angeles Dodgers system, currently sit atop the standings of the Texas League North division.

Also in the North are the Springfield Cardinals (15-11), the Double-A affiliate for St. Louis, and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (9-18), part of the Kansas City Royals system. The South division includes the San Antonio Missions (18-10), for the San Diego Padres; Corpus Christi Hooks (17-11), Houston Astros; Midland RockHounds (15-13), Oakland Athletics; and Frisco RoughRiders (6-22), Texas Rangers.

Tulsa’s first two runs in the series finale came in the second inning. After an error on ground ball put a runner aboard with one out, a double and an infield hit got the Drillers on the board. A sacrifice fly followed to add another.

Already in front by four, the Drillers opened the fifth inning with a walk followed by a two-run home run from Will Smith that opened the flood gates. Every Driller had at least one of their

14 hits.

Arkansas picked up one run in the seventh inning and two in the eighth.

First baseman Joey Curletta was

1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and two RBIs. He is now tied for the team lead with six doubles and leads the team with 17 RBIs.

Designated hitter Chuck Taylor was 2-for-4 with a run and left fielder Adam Law hit 2-for-4 with a double. Relief pitcher Spencer Hermann threw three scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out one batter.

Andrew Moore (2-1, 2.62 ERA) allowed just one run in seven innings and the Travelers scored eight runs in the final two innings on Thursday for a 9-1 win. Smith hit a solo home run in the fifth inning for Springfield’s only run of the day.

Other than the home run, Moore did not allow a Tulsa runner past first base. He struck out seven batters and only allowed three hits, battling around leadoff runners in three innings.

Joey Curletta opened the scoring by producing an RBI groundout with the bases loaded in the third inning.

Arkansas later sent 11 batters to the plate for six runs in the eighth inning. Shortstop Chris Mariscal, third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean, catcher Joseph Odom and second baseman Yonathan Mendoza led off the inning with four straight singles.

Center fielder Braden Bishop and right fielder Beau Amaral delivered sacrifice flies to add to the lead. Designated hitter Andrew Aplin capped the inning with a two-run double.

Taylor played left field in the game and went 3-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch, a walk and a run scored. Aplin was 2-for-6 with the double and two RBIs. Mendoza scored three runs and had one RBI on 3-for-5 hitting.

Clutch hits and a shutout start for Nathan Bannister (2-1, 6.20) led Arkansas to a win on Wednesday. Amaral and Mendoza drove in all five of the team’s run in a 5-3 victory.

Bannister allowed no runs in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed four hits and had four strikeouts with four walks.

Three straight hits opened the second inning for the Travelers and a sacrifice fly by Mendoza got them on the board. Amaral delivered a twoout RBI single off Tulsa lefty starter Devin Smeltzer in the fifth inning for a 2-0 lead.

Bishop and Taylor walked and advanced on a wild pitch in the seventh inning. Amaral followed with another two-out hit to score both runners to double the lead. Mendoza hit his third single of the game in the eighth inning for his second RBI of the afternoon.

Errol Robinson got the Drillers on the board with a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Matt Festa came in for Arkansas and picked up the final four outs for his third save of the season.

Mendoza played shortstop in the game and hit 1-for-2 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, a run and two RBIs. Amaral hit 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Mejias-Brean was 2-for-4 with a run.

Four Tulsa Pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout on Tuesday night in the series opener. It was the second time this season the Travelers were shut out in the 1-0 defeat.

Arkansas managed just three hits, none after the third inning, and only five total baserunners, with only one after the fourth. Tulsa stranded 10 runners as the Drillers were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Starter Johendi Jiminian (1-1, 2.05) worked around a single and a walk to open the game, but forced Tulsa to leave the bases full. Jiminian walked five and struck out five in 4 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits.

Matt Tenuta (1-1, 2.89) came out of the bullpen in the fifth inning and stranded a pair of inherited runners. He suffered the loss after Logan Landon led off the seventh inning with a ground double and scored the game’s lone run on a sacrifice fly by D.J. Peters.

The Travelers returned home Saturday to begin an eight-game home stand with four games against the Naturals and four against the Cardinals. They are scheduled to face Northwest Arkansas again at 2:10 p.m. today, 7:10 p.m. Monday and 7:10 p.m. Tuesday.