Travelers denied a sweep in shutout loss

North Little Rock — Parker Dunshee retired the first 14 batters of the game as he led the Midland RockHounds to a 2-0 shutout of the Arkansas Travelers on Sunday afternoon at Dickey-Stephens Park.

The Travelers (60-59) were denied a sweep with the defeat but won the series and finished the home stand with a 4-2 record. Both losses on the home stand were shutouts as Arkansas has now been blanked 10 times this year.

Arkansas did not get a runner past first base against Dunshee (5-3, 2.29 ERA) in his 7 1/3 innings. The game was delayed one hour at the start by rain and no Traveler advanced past first base in the game until there were two outs in the ninth inning.

Seth Brown doubled and Richie Martin followed with an RBI single to put the RockHounds

(52-67) on top in the second inning. They added another run in the next inning for the only other tally of the game.

Arkansas center fielder Kyle Lewis singled with two outs in the fifth inning for the team’s first hit and runner of the game.

A leadoff walk in the ninth gave the Travelers hope, but it was two infield singles with two outs that loaded the bases and created some drama. Kyle Finnegan was able to strike out Lewis to end the contest.

Nathan Bannister (7-9, 6.19) allowed only two runs on five hits in seven innings for the hosts. Bryan Bonnell held the visitors to one hit in two innings of relief.

Arkansas was denied the sweep, but was able to pick up four wins against the bottom two teams in the South division of the Texas League. The Travelers defeated the Frisco RoughRiders

(52-68) twice in three games at Dickey-Stephens to begin the home stand. Arkansas was 5-12 in the previous 17 games.

First baseman Joey Curletta burnished his credentials for Texas League Player of the year on Saturday night with a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead Arkansas to an 8-5 come-from-behind win in front of more than 8,200 fans.

Curletta’s slam capped a five-run rally that began with two outs and the bases empty with Arkansas trailing, 3-0. It was his second grand slam of the season and pushed his league-leading RBI total to 88.

The home run pulled him into a tie for the league lead with 23. Tulsa center fielder D.J. Peters also has 23 home runs and 39 walks this season with 51 RBIs and a .232 batting average in

426 at-bats. Curletta is hitting .304 with 75 walks and 392 at-bats.

The RockHounds had a three-run lead on the strength of six shutout innings from righthander Ben Bracewell, who limited the Travelers to four hits. J.P. Sportman hit an early two-run single and Skye Bolt launched a solo home run to build the lead.

Curletta’s home run off of Miguel Romero came after outfielder Eric Filia worked a bases loaded walk on a 3-2 pitch to force in a run. Outfielder Logan Taylor added a two-run home run in the eighth inning as the Travelers padded the lead with three runs.

All four Arkansas pitchers were charged with at least one run, but Matt Festa was able to close it out, getting the final two outs with the tying run at the plate. The 16th save of the season for Festa ties him for the league lead.

Taylor was 2-for-4 in the game. Designated hitter Dario Pizzano, now hitting .292, was also

2-for-4.

A pair of three-run home runs on Clunker Car Night at Dickey-Stephens Park led to a 9-1 pasting of Midland on Friday to open the series in front of almost 9,500 fans.

A four-run first inning got the Travelers off to a fast start and they went on to score in four of the first five innings. Pizzano paid off three straight singles opening the game when he hit an opposite field three-run home run.

Williams Perez (4-1, 2.55) allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts to one walk on

87 pitches in six innings. He never allowed more than one hit in any inning and retired 11 of 12 batters at one point with five retired on strikeouts.

Arkansas is now 8-1 in games started by Perez.

Lewis provided the exclamation point with a booming 419-foot, three-run home run to center field in the fifth inning. It was the first home run in 17 games with Arkansas for Lewis.

Filia was 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a pair of runs. Shortstop Yonathan Mendoza was

2-for-3 with a walk, a double and two runs. Arkansas had an off day on Monday before a six-game road trip beginning tonight with the first of three games in Frisco. Right-hander Ashton Goudeau (1-3, 4.37) is scheduled to start for Arkansas against left-hander Wes Benjamin

(3-4, 4.28).