Travelers fail to gain on Drillers
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Travelers were unable to gain ground on the Texas League North division-leading Tulsa Drillers this week after the two teams split their four-game series at Dickey-Stephens Park.
Arkansas (66-63) won the first and third games of the series, but Tulsa (67-61) salvaged the split on Friday with a 3-0 shutout victory. Arkansas won the division in the first half of the season at 35-35. Tulsa currently leads in the second half at 33-25. Arkansas is 2.5 games behind at 31-28.
Williams Perez (6-1, 2.32 ERA) set the pace in the opening game on Tuesday, limiting Tulsa to four hits in seven innings for his sixth win in 11 starts this season. Perez only allowed one run with strikeouts as the Travelers took the first game, 3-1. It was the fourth consecutive win for Perez, who has only allowed one run in each of those outings while pitching at least six innings each time.
Relievers Matt Tenuta and David McKay combined for five strikeouts in two scoreless innings. McKay earned the first save of his season and of his professional career.
Designated hitter Dario Pizzano extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double off of the wall in center field to put runners at second and third base in the fourth inning. Center fielder Kyle Lewis sent a three-run home run down the left field line to give the Travelers all of the runs they needed.
Anthony Misiewicz (2-11, 5.38) continued to receive little run support from his team as the Drillers pulled away late on Wednesday for an 8-1 win. Tulsa starter Dustin May worked 6 2/3 innings, while left Misiewicz dealt his second consecutive quality start.
Misiewicz allowed one run on five hits in six innings. He struck out five batters and only issued one walk.
May (1-1, 2.82) earned his first Double-A victory as the Tulsa bullpen preserved the lead. The Drillers tallied three runs in each of the final two frames to pull away.
Tulsa struck with two outs in the second inning when D.J. Peters doubled and Zach Reks followed with an RBI single through the left side of the infield.
Arkansas loaded the bases with one out in the fourth inning but failed to capitalize as May struck out Lewis and third baseman Logan Taylor to close out the inning.
Peters took the league lead with his 24th home run of the season in the seventh inning. Arkansas first baseman Joey Curletta has 23 this season.
The Travelers answered in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out RBI hit by right fielder Chuck Taylor before the bases were loaded on a pair of walks. Marshall Kasowski came out of the bullpen to strike Curletta out and end the threat.
Chuck Taylor was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Second baseman Donnie Walton was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a walk and a run scored.
Pizzano gave Arkansas a 2-1 walk-off victory in 10 innings on Thursday night. The teams combined for only six hits on the night.
Chris Mazza worked seven shutout frame of one-hit ball with six strikeouts to two walks in his home debuts. The two hits allowed by the Arkansas staff was a season low.
Closer Matt Festa (5-2, 2.78) returned after a brief call-up to the Seattle Mariners to earn the win. He allowed one run on one hit with two strikeouts and two walks in two innings. Festa leads the Texas League with 18 saves.
Shortstop Yonathan Mendoza single home a run with two outs in the fifth inning to open the scoring.
Festa was charged with his first blown save of the season after Tulsa scored in the ninth inning to tie the game at 1-1. Festa retired three straight batters to close out the inning. He then worked around the automatic runner to begin the 10th inning and maintained the tie game.
A passed ball put Mendoza at third base after just one pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning. A pair of intentional walks loaded the bases to set Pizzano up for his groundball single off of the glove of the second baseman to score the game-winner.
It was Pizzano’s only hit of the game, keeping his 13-game hit streak alive.
Pizzano extended his hitting streak to 14 games on Friday, but the Travelers were held scoreless on just five hits in a 3-0 loss to end the series. He played left field in the game and is now hitting .302, the fourth-best batting average in the Texas League.
Mitchell White (5-6, 4.39) dealt seven scoreless innings to lead three Tulsa pitchers in front of almost 10,000 fans. It was the 11th time this season the Travelers were held scoreless.
Arkansas had multiple opportunities with runners in scoring position despite having just nine total base runners in the game. Right fielder Eric Filia was thrown out at the plate in the opening inning attempting to score from first base on a double by Chuck Taylor, the designated hitter in the game.
Reks and Cael Brockmeyer connected for back-to-back RBI hits in the fourth inning to stake the Drillers’ lead.
Arkansas built a two-out threat in the eighth inning with singles by Filia and Chuck Taylor. Curletta went to the plate as the tying run, but he flew out to center field to end the inning.
The Travelers began their final home series of the regular season against instate rival Northwest Arkansas (64-65) on Saturday. The Naturals hold a 15-6 edge this season.
The Naturals are only 4959 against the rest of the Texas League. Arkansas has a 60-48 record against other league opponents.
The two teams are scheduled to meet again at 2:10 p.m. today at Dickey-Stephens. The final game of he series is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on Monday.