For the second consecutive Friday, the Arkansas Travelers overcame a large deficit only to lose in extra innings.
Last week, the Travs came back from five down at Springfield before falling to the Cardinals 8-7 in 10 innings.
Friday night, the Travs rallied from a 4-0 deficit with one run in the fifth and three in the bottom of ninth in front of an announced crowd of 7,101 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
Arkansas shortstop Joey Wong forced the game into extra innings with a two-run single to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, then Drillers pinch runner Tim Locastro scored the game-winning run in the 11th by tagging from third base when Travs right fielder Kyle Waldrop made a diving catch to keep multiple runs from scoring.
The run was all Tulsa needed, as the Drillers defeated the Travs 5-4.
"Obviously it's frustrating," Wong said. "There've been a lot of games that we've lost this year that were close. A couple of pitches, a couple of hits away from winning games."
The Travs played from behind in each of the four games this week against Tulsa, overcoming a four-run deficit Tuesday to win on Kyle Waldrop's walkoff home run. The two teams split the series.
Three Travs batters had a chance to win Friday's game after Wong's tying hit, but there was a lineout, strikeout and pop out to send the game to extra innings.
"We had a runner at third base with nobody out and we weren't able to get him in," Travs Manager Daren Brown said. "That pretty much is the ballgame. We should have won it in nine, and then we kind of beat ourselves."
The late-inning excitement overshadowed Travs starting pitcher Max Povse's up-and-down performance.
The right-hander was on pace for a career night: He stuck out a season-high eight batters by the fourth inning, including the first six he faced, and was eyeing a career-high when Tulsa Drillers third baseman Edwin Rios batted in the fifth inning.
Three batters and three runs later, Povse's night was over.
Rios -- who went 4 for 10 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI in the four-game series -- hit an RBI double, Kyle Garlick hit a two-run home run and Povse (3-1, 3.51 ERA) appeared to be on his way to his second loss in as many decisions.
But after third baseman Jay Baum scored the Travs' first run on a passed ball in the sixth, first baseman Ryan Casteel's RBI single in the ninth and Wong's tying single, a Travs starting pitcher was once again not involved in the decision.
"I felt good out of the gate," said Povse, the Seattle Mariners' No. 4 prospect according to MLB.com. "But you never want to start an inning with a walk, and that gave them a little momentum."
The Travs are tied with the Drillers at 12-15 for the worst record in the Texas League, and the two teams will not play again until a four-game series in Tulsa starts on May 19.
Rios, who leads the league in slugging, left his damage.
"This series, I just kind of had everything planned," Rios said. "I knew they were going to try and pitch around me and just try to make me chase. But I stayed with my approach."
Today’s game
TRAVELERS VS. NATURALS
WHEN 6:35 p.m. WHERE Arvest Ballpark, Springdale RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas; KQSM-FM, 92.1, in Northwest Arkansas WEBSITES travs.com, nwanaturals.com PITCHERS Travs: RHP Dylan Unsworth (1-1, 4.96 ERA); Naturals: TBD
TRAVS WEEK AHEAD
TODAY at NW Arkansas, 6:35 p.m. SUNDAY at NW Arkansas, 5:35 p.m. MONDAY at NW Arkansas, 7:05 p.m. TUESDAY at NW Arkansas, 11:05 a.m. WEDNESDAY Off THURSDAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m. FRIDAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
NATURALS WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Arkansas, 6:35 p.m. SUNDAY Arkansas, 5:35 p.m. MONDAY Arkansas, 7:05 p.m. TUESDAY Arkansas, 11:05 a.m. WEDNESDAY Off THURSDAY Tulsa, 7:05 p.m. FRIDAY Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
Sports on 05/06/2017