Christian Binford would probably like to find a way to pitch every game against the Arkansas Travelers.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals' right-hander continued his dominance over his Texas League North Division rival Sunday, holding them to 1 run on 6 hits in 6 innings of a 3-1 Naturals victory at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
The 21-year-old who started the season at Class AAA Omaha has struggled for much of this season, but not against the Travs. He's 2-0 in 3 starts with a 1.50 ERA, 12 strikeouts and 5 walks in 18 innings. In his 4 other Class AA starts Binford is 0-2 with a 10.02 ERA.
Binford, who raced through three different levels last season, laughed when asked if he'd like to see the Travs every night. He attributed his success mostly to the number of times the teams have played each other and their proximity in the standings for much of the season.
"In division, second-place team, I think everybody is amped up for every game" he said. "We face these guys a lot. We've got a book on them, and they've got a book on us."
Naturals Manager Vance Wilson credited the improvement to Binford's work with pitching coach Jim Brower finally starting to show. Binford had a 5.68 ERA in five Class AAA starts this year but has become more comfortable with his curveball since his first start against Northwest Arkansas on May 18. A sinker that Wilson said Binford went away from at times is improving, too.
"Early on, I really only had one or two pitches that I could throw for a strike, that I was confident in," Binford said. "That kind of let hitters sit on pitches that were bad and wait for their pitch. Now I feel comfortable throwing curveballs behind in the count, or change-ups or two seamers."
Wilson said Binford's mechanical adjustments have added more velocity.
"He's a competitor," Wilson said. "He's the type of kid who wants to win, he wants to put zeroes up, so any time that stuff comes around it helps a kid with his confidence."
Binford received some help help when the Naturals scored three in the fourth on Balbino Fuenmayor's RBI double, Zane Evans' sacrifice fly and Kenny Diekroger's RBI single.
It was more than Binford would need. He allowed one run in the fifth when Anthony Bemboom singled and scored on Sherman Johnson's fielder's choice, then worked out of a jam in the sixth to finish with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk in 6 hits. It came five days after he held the Travs scoreless in five innings of a Naturals' victory.
"You've got too give him a lot of credit, for sure," Arkansas Manager Bill Richardson said. "I still like our approach, but the kid has done a great job. We see his numbers, but he's been really good the last two times against us."
Binford's success against the Travs is part of why the Naturals clinched the Texas League North Division on Thursday with four days left in the first half of the season. The Naturals improved to 12-1 against the Travs this season, a record that makes it so Richardson doesn't feel slighted with how the Naturals clinched the division.
The Travs' had a game against the Tulsa Drillers cancelled last week because of rain. If it had been played, they could have stayed in the race if they continued to win.
"There's no excuses," Richardson said. "Lets' call it what it is. We're 1-12 against them. We don't deserve to win a half like that. All I know is that it was a great atmosphere again tonight, and it's good baseball being played. Our goal in development is figuring out how to win these."
Sports on 06/22/2015