On the first dry night of what was scheduled to be a four-game series, Arkansas Travelers second baseman Alex Yarbrough added another rarity -- a Travelers home run at Dickey-Stephens Park.
And he did it twice.
Yarbrough, 23, hit his first Class AA home run, with two runners on, to extend the Travs' lead in the fourth inning, and he hit another three-run home run in the eighth to complete the scoring in Arkansas' 9-2 victory in front of an announced crowd of 5,303 Thursday night.
Yarbrough's two home runs were the second and third hit by Arkansas in 21 home games this season. The only other home run hit in North Little Rock by a Travelers player was by Brian Hernandez, with no one on, last Saturday against the Tulsa Drillers.
Yarbrough came to the plate with runners on first and third in the bottom of the fourth with the Travs leading 3-2.
"The first one, I came up and told himself to hit something in the air," Yarbrough said. "It was a change-up up, and I just made really good contact."
Yarbrough hit another three-run home run in the eighth inning with Vance Albitz and Zane Zaneski aboard. This one was a towering shot to left that barely cleared the nets on the outfield wall.
An 8 mph wind blowing out to left field might have helped.
"I think I got a little help from the Arkansas weather on that one," Yarbrough said. "For once."
Arkansas Manager Phillip Wellman said that he hopes the offensive outpouring from the Travelers is a sign they are growing.
"We need to learn to hit in this ballpark," Wellman said of the Travs, who took 2 of 3 from the Naturals with Wednesday's game being rained out. "We're showing signs that we're learning to stay out of the air and keep things on the ground. This ballpark is a good learning spot for these guys because if you hit something in the air here, it's going to be an out. Same thing in the bigs. So, it's important for these guys to learn that."
Today’s game
ARKANSAS AT SPRINGFIELD
WHEN 7:10 p.m. WHERE Hammons Field, Springfield, Mo. RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas WEBSITE travs.com PITCHERS Travelers: RHP Yeiper Castillo (3-3, 5.11 ERA), Cardinals: TBD
TRAVELERS WEEK AHEAD TODAY at Springfield, 7:10 p.m. SATURDAY at Springfield, 6:10 p.m. SUNDAY at Springfield, 2:10 p.m. MONDAY at Springfield, 7:10 p.m. TUESDAY off WEDNESDAY Corpus Christi, 7:10 p.m. THURSDAY Corpus Christi, 7:10 p.m. FRIDAY Corpus Christi, 7:10 p.m.
NW ARKANSAS VS. TULSA
WHEN 7:05 p.m. WHERE Arvest Ballpark, Springdale RADIO KQSM-FM, 92.1, in Northwest Arkansas WEBSITE nwanaturals.com PROMOTION Craft Beer Corner will be half price from 6-6:45 p.m. for fans of legal age. Postgame fireworks. PITCHERS Naturals: TBD; Drillers: TBD
NATURALS WEEK AHEAD TODAY Tulsa, 7:05 p.m. SATURDAY Tulsa, 6:05 p.m. SUNDAY Tulsa, 2:05 p.m. MONDAY at Tulsa, 11:05 a.m. TUESDAY off WEDNESDAY San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. THURSDAY San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. FRIDAY San Antonio, 7:05 p.m.
Sports on 05/16/2014