No dousing, but yet another Travs rally to win

Kentrail Davis avoided a teammate's attempt with a water bucket Monday night, but not the paper plate covered with shaving cream.

The Arkansas Travelers' left fielder had just hit a bloop single down the left field line that scored Brian Hernandez from second base, giving the Travs' a 6-5 victory over the Springfield Cardinals at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

Davis then side-stepped Hernandez's attempt at dumping a bucket of water on him on the field, but couldn't avoid pitcher Kyle McGowin's plate of shaving cream as he entered the clubhouse. It was a familiar scene for the first-place Travs, who completed an eight-game homestand Monday during which three of their five victories came in the last at-bat.

"Nobody ever really panics," Davis said. "We're just a good momentum team. It seems like one guy gets a hit, then another guy does. It's contagious."

Davis, who was 2 for 4 on Monday, delivered the game-winner after the Travs trailed 4-3 and gave up a 5-4 lead to enter the ninth inning tied 5-5. It followed game winning hits by catcher Anthony Bemboom on April 27 and first baseman Wade Hinkle two days later, both of which beat Tulsa. Eight of the Travs' 16 victories this season have come in games during which they've trailed.

Arkansas Manager Bill Richardson said he wishes the victories came a bit smoother, but understands their value at a level that concentrates on development. Learning to come through in clutch situations, Richardson said, will be just as important as any other skill his players will learn in Class AA.

"They're aging me rather quickly," Richardson said. "But, yes, it is so good."

It wasn't just Davis' game-winner, either.

Richardson pointed to Hinkle's bunt in the ninth inning that moved Hernandez, who led off the inning with a single, into scoring position and allowed Davis' hit to drive in the winning run.

Richardson also credited Austin Wood, the Travs' right-handed reliever who overcame his own fielding error to get out of a key eighth-inning jam and held the Cardinals to 1 run on 2 hits over 4 innings.

After Wood misplayed a bunt that helped put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth, he struck out Michael Ohlman and got Anthony Garcia to pop out to end the inning. Wood then pitched a perfect ninth and improved to 4-0 on the season.

"So valuable," Richardson said. "That kid got better tonight. If you can play one game and the kid gets better, that makes the process go so much faster."

Unlike Sunday's victory, during which the Travs rallied from a 4-0 deficit, they blew an early lead before rallying Monday.

Chad Hinshaw singled and scored in the first. Then Sherman Johnson hit an RBI double in the second and Drew Maggi singled and scored on a passed ball to give the Travs a 3-0 lead.

Springfield, which has lost 10 of 11, then scored three in the third inning, aided by an error and a wild pitch. The Cardinals then took a 4-3 lead on Breyvic Valera's RBI single in the fifth.

Alan Busenitz, who is transitioning from a reliever to a starter, gave up 4 runs on 8 hits before Wood calmed the Cardinals starting in the sixth. The Travs also had two more errors Monday, increasing their total to 11 in the four-game series, 19 over the eight-game homestand and 30 in the first 24 games of the season.

"I don't think the inconsistency is coming from a lack of skill," Richardson said. "It's coming from trying to do too much in the moment. That's a good thing to have. But it's a thing you can fix pretty quickly if you can just get in it enough times. And, believe me, we got in it enough times."

Sports on 05/05/2015

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