Urias baffles Travs; Benjamin doesn't

Texas League

The Arkansas Travelers couldn't beat Julio Urias on Saturday night. So they waited him out instead.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' top pitching prospect, who is regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball, held the Travs without a hit while pitching into the sixth inning. But Urias, 18, issued two walks in the sixth that ended his day, and the Travs scored three runs off reliever Ramon Benjamin for a 3-1 victory at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

Ranked by MLB.com and Baseball America as baseball's top left-handed pitching prospect, Urias struck out 6, walked 4 and gave up 2 runs while pitching 5 1/3 hitless innings.

"I liked the way we competed against him. He's just really that good," Arkansas Manager Bill Richardson said. "We get better every time we play against him. It doesn't show it, but you really have to be on your best game."

With a 1-0 lead, Urias issued consecutive one-out walks in the sixth, the second ending with his 71st pitch to get him near his pitch limit of 75.

Chad Hinshaw drew a walk off Benjamin and Maggi scored when Tulsa couldn't turn a double play off Blake Gailen's ground ball. Brian Hernandez followed with a bloop single to shallow right to score Johnson, and Hinkle followed with an RBI single to give the Travs a 3-1 lead.

The Travs didn't get another hit but didn't need one as they beat Urias for the second time in seven days. The Travs beat the Drillers 4-1 on July 26 in Tulsa, when they scored four runs off Urias in his first Class AA start in two months.

The Travs were still impressed by Urias, who mixed fastballs, curveballs and change-ups Saturday.

"He's a dominant guy," Hinkle said. "Any guy that's throwing the ball like that is going to have some good success. Honestly, we were just trying to do what we can. He had his stuff today."

Richardson was a little concerned about how his team would respond after a tough Friday night loss that was followed by an unusual Saturday schedule.

Tulsa's 8-6 victory in 12 innings Friday lasted 4 hours, 48 minutes, the longest game at Dickey-Stephens Park in more than three years, and didn't end until 11:59 p.m. Then players and coaches were at Dickey-Stephens Park at 12:30 p.m. Saturday for a luncheon with season ticket holders, and first-pitch was scheduled 90 minutes earlier than usual because of a postgame concert.

The Travs' pregame was routine was lighter than usual as players hit in the batting cages instead of on the field and there was no infield work. Richardson said that was planned before Friday's marathon, but Hinkle welcomed the coincidence.

"It just helps resting the body," he said. "We had a late night last night and a quick turnaround today. It helps the body just recoup a little bit before the game and it allows to get our feet back under us."

It took a little while for the offense to come around, but the three-run sixth held up thanks to starter Michael Antonini and relievers Austin Wood and Danny Reynolds.

Antonini, who had given up 11 earned runs in his first 15 innings pitched for the Travs, held Tulsa to 5 hits over 5 innings while striking out 4 and allowed only 1 unearned run in the third. Wood pitched three shutout innings to earn his eighth victory, and Reynolds pitched a perfect ninth to earn his seventh save.

It all equaled to a come-from-behind victory Richardson's team missed out Friday.

"They stayed the course just like they did last night," Richardson said. "The sixth inning they put on was really special. That was the kind of unbridled enthusiasm they were playing with."

Sports on 08/02/2015

Upcoming Events