Taylor’s blast caps sweep for Travs

On a night when the Arkansas Travelers began searching for a new closer, Chuck Taylor rediscovered his home run swing.

Taylor’s grand slam capped a five-run eighth inning, allowing the Travs to earn an 8-4 victory Saturday over Springfield and complete a four-game sweep of the Cardinals in front of 5,355 fans at Dickey-Stephens Park.

The home run was only the second of the season for Taylor, who belted nine for the Travs in 2017. The shot gave Arkansas an 8-3 lead.

“That felt amazing,” Taylor said of his 401-foot blast to right field off Springfield reliever Will Latcham (1-1). “It was a fastball inside. He kept throwing it in. I was sitting on it and I got it. … Two on the year, that’s kinda rough but that one did feel good.”

Earlier in the day, Matt Festa — who is leading the Texas League in saves with 13 — received a promotion to the parent Seattle Mariners. Auditions to fill Festa’s closer role got off to an inauspicious start.

Matt Walker (2-1) gave up two unearned runs in the top of the eighth that allowed Springfield to temporarily tie the contest at 3-3. David McKay gave up back-to-back two-out hits in the ninth before the Travelers closed out their fourth consecutive victory.

Manager Daren Brown said the Travs have plenty of options in finding a closer.

“We’ve got five or six guys who have saves,” Brown said. “[Bryan] Bonnell, McKay, Walker. For me, Festa would throw an inning but we would have other guys step in. You always need other guys. If a guy is doing the job, he’s probably not going to be here very long.”

Taylor’s home run erased almost any chance the Travs had of collecting a save on Saturday. The home run came one batter after Beau Amaral’s bases-loaded line single to right gave Arkansas a 4-3 advantage.

“It was still just one run,” said Taylor, whose 5 RBI gave him 47 for the season. “You always need more. They scored in the ninth, so you always need to get those insurance runs.”

Travs starter Max Povse lasted 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits. Left-hander Matt Tenuta tossed two innings of one-hit relief before giving way to Walker to start the eighth.

Joey Curletta went 4 for 5 with three singles and a double for the Travs, who outhit the Cardinals 14-10.

Springfield turned four double plays for the second night in a row.