Braden Bishop and Dario Pizzano each slugged home runs to provide the Arkansas Travelers all the offense they needed Wednesday night in a 3-2 victory over the Springfield Cardinals at Dickey-Stephens Park.
Winning pitcher Nathan Bannister (6-5) and two relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Travelers snapped a four-game losing streak. The Travelers managed six hits and survived three errors -- two of them coming in the seventh inning -- but turned three double plays.
Today's game
ARKANSAS TRAVELERS VS. SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS
WHEN 7:10 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KARN-AM 920 in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travs: RHP Chase De Jong (4-4, 4.37 ERA); Cardinals: LHP Austin Warner (0-2, 10.38 ERA)
TICKETS $12 box, $8 reserved ($5 kids), $6 general admission ($4 kids). Gates open one hour before first pitch.
PROMOTIONS Wizards & Witches Night. Family night.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Springfield, 7;10 p.m.
THURSDAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
FRIDAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY Springfield, 6:10 p.m.
SUNDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
MONDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
Bishop's home run was his first since June 6 and the two home runs hit by the Travelers resulted in their first multi-homer game since June 2 when Bishop clubbed two home runs in a 6-3 home victory over Frisco.
"Any time you can hit home runs it's big," said Bishop, whose two-run blast to right in the third inning was his eighth of the season. "I think any time you can just drive the ball it's important. It's hard to hit balls out of this stadium. The wind was blowing out to right a little bit tonight and I think that helped us."
Pizzano's two-out home run in the fourth pushed the lead to 3-0 and proved to be the difference.
Springfield scored a run in the sixth on a RBI double by Ramon Urias and the Cardinals caused a stir in the ninth when center fielder Lane Thomas tagged Arkansas closer Matt Festa with a home run to lead off the inning.
Travs right fielder Chuck Taylor, however, chased down back-to-back liners by Victor Roache and Evan Mendoza to quell the rally. Festa, who earned his 12th save, got Luke Dykstra to ground out to first for the final out.
"Festa is the guy we want on the mound," Bishop said. "He forced them to make contact ... but I think it's a testament to Chuck Taylor and the work he's put in in the outfield. He made the catches and made them look easy, too."
Springfield loaded the bases in the seventh when both Roache and Dykstra reached on errors and Travelers reliever David McKay walked Blake Drake. McKay, however, got Tommy Edman to ground into a double play to end the inning.
McKay also induced a double play in the eighth.
Bannister walked 3 and struck out 2 and allowed 2 hits and 1 run in 6 innings.
Sports on 07/12/2018