LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Travelers ended an eight-game home stand with a victory Monday, sending them on a road trip through Texas that starts Wednesday having won five of their past six games.
It’s their most successful run since winning five consecutive games a month ago, and the opponent the Travelers used to turn their fortunes around this weekend was the same as in April: the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
The Travs used four Naturals errors to score two unearned runs, then Jean Segura added a two-run single to give them to a 6-3 victory at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, concluding a 3-1 series against the Naturals.
“You just keep coming out every day trying to compete and put yourself in good situations,” Travelers Manager Mike Micucci said. “We were fortunate enough in this series to get some timely hitting.”
The Travelers got some help Monday, too.
Jimmy Swift reached on throwing error by shortstop Rey Navarro before Rian Kiniry singled. Then after Swift scored on a passed ball, Jean Segura singled in Kiniry to give the Travs a 2-0 lead.
Naturals starter Ethan Hollingsworth got out of a fourth-inning jam created by two Mario Lisson errors at third base with a double play and a strikeout, before Casey Haerther and Roberto Lopez hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth to make it 4-0.
Adam Heether was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth, Angel Castillo singled and Segura singled to make it 6-0 before Christian Scholl gave up three runs in the ninth and Steven Geltz needed just one pitch to get Sharlon Schoop to pop out and earn his fifth save.
The turn around began with Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over Springfield and came after five consecutive losses had dropped the Travelers 10 games below .500 on May 15.
“You never want to get ahead of yourself, but these games have helped us a little bit,” said Lopez, whose RBI in the fifth was his team-leading 23rd. “We’re definitely going to take it into the next series. It’s definitely a confidence builder.”
The Travs’ turn of fortunes has come at the expense of the Naturals. After Northwest Arkansas won the first game of the series Friday, it had won six consecutive, and eight of its past nine, but its loss Saturday dropped the Naturals out of a tie for first place in the Texas League North Division.
But the Naturals also had lost outfielder Wil Myers, who was hitting .343 through 35 games, and starter Jake Odorizzi, who was 4-2 with a 3.32 ERA, when they were each promoted to Class AAA Omaha last week.
Their current three-game losing streak is the Naturals’ longest since being swept by the Travs in four games April 21-23 in North Little Rock. The Travs are 8-4 against the Naturals this season and are 7-1 against them at Dickey-Stephens Park.
“This is my fifth year in this league and it’s always a tough place [to play]. You know you’re in for a dogfight here,” Naturals Manager Brian Poldberg said.
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/22/2012