Oscar Mercado homered on the game's first pitch and the Springfield Cardinals rolled to an 8-1 victory over the Arkansas Travelers before an announced crowd of 5,379 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock Sunday.
Mercado's home run to left field off Travs starter Andrew Moore set the tone for the visiting Cardinals, who had 14 hits, including four for extra bases.
Cardinals Alex Mejia and Jose Adolis Garcia each went 3 for 5. Casey Grayson and Nick Martini went 2 for 5 with Martini scoring a run and driving in one.
Jack Flaherty (4-0) pitched six scoreless innings to get the victory with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk.
Moore (1-1) gave up 3 runs on 9 hits in 5 2/3 innings with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. Relievers Steve Cishek and Blake Perry were responsible for giving up 5 runs, 3 earned, on 4 hits and 3 walks in the seventh and eighth innings.
Cishek, a 7-year Major League veteran with 140 career saves, including 25 last season with the Mariners, is with the Travelers as he continues to rehab from hip surgery during the off-season.
Shortstop Jean Segura, another Mariner on a rehab assignment, went 0 for 5 Sunday after going 1 for 6 with a walk on Friday and Saturday. Segura, on the disabled list with a hamstring strain, is expected to rejoin the Mariners Tuesday in Detroit.
The Travelers had nine hits, but left nine men on base and were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. Kyle Waldrop and Kle Petty went 2 for 4 with Petty scoring Travs' only run.
The Cardinals added two in the third inning when Luis Cruz led off the inning with a double, moved to third on Mercado's sacrifice bunt and scored on Martini's double. Garcia's single moved Martini to third, and Bruce Caldwell hit a ground ball to the first baseman Ryan Casteel, who tried to get Caldwell at second on a force play. However, Casteel's throw sailed past the Segura, allowing Martini to score to make it 3-0.
The Cardinals made it 5-0 in the seventh when Jacob Wilson singled to to left to score Garcia, who singled and moved to second on Caldwell's walk to make it 4-0. A double by Eliezer Alvarez scored Caldwell to make it 5-0.
The Travs scored in the seventh when Petty, who singled, moved to third on ground outs by Joey Wong and Segura, and came home on a wild pitch by Cardinals reliever Blake McKnight.
Sports on 04/24/2017