The prospect of facing one of the Texas League's best closers with a two-run deficit is not a pleasant thought.
It didn't bother the Arkansas Travelers on Monday night.
The Travs had been held to 2 hits and struck out 11 times through 7 innings, but they were encouraged knowing Alec Mills was off the mound and Kevin McCarthy was on it, even though McCarthy had converted six saves in a row and had yet to yield an earned run in 3 1/3 innings against the Travs this season.
They scored three runs off McCarthy on Monday, the last two coming in the ninth when Alex Yarbrough led off with a double, then scored on Eric Aguilera's double to left field. Aguilera scored the winning run on Jose Briceno's single for a 3-2 victory over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in front of 2,463 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
"McCarthy is good, but the guy who started was really good," Manager Mark Parent said. "I think the guys were just happy to get him out of there."
Mills retired the first 13 batters he faced and held the Travs to two hits while striking out a career-high 11. He didn't issue a walk through seven innings. It was the best Manager Vance Wilson has seen from Mills, who has been up-and-down since making one relief appearance with the Kansas City Royals on May 18.
"That's as good as it gets," Wilson said. "It's a really good wasted pitching performance, for sure."
When Mills left, McCarthy gave up a single to Bo Way and a triple to Angel Rosa to cut the Naturals' lead to 2-1 after eight. Aguilera's double to deep left field tied the game in the ninth after he fouled off five pitches.
"Honestly, in this park you never know," Aguilera said. "I know I got a good piece of it. I was just trying to move him over to third at that point, but I had to go with the pitch and fortunate enough it went."
Aguilera moved to third on Andrew Daniel's shallow single and scored on Briceno's single up the middle to give the Travs a third consecutive victory.
Starter Jordan Kipper left after 3 2/3 innings when a Carlos Garcia line drive went off the outside of his right knee. Kipper walked off the field under his own power, and Parent said it's not believed to be serious.
Sports on 06/14/2016