Braden Bishop's walk-off RBI single skipped past the right fielder, completing the ninth-inning comeback that gave the Arkansas Travelers a 2-1 victory over Corpus Christi on Friday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
The Travs have now won five consecutive games and won its three-game series against the South Division's first-half champion Hooks.
The teams complete their series tonight at 6:10 p.m.
Arkansas trailed 1-0 entering the ninth, and its batters had been 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position.
The Hooks scored their only run in the seventh inning on an RBI single by catcher Lorenzo Quintana.
Travs right fielder Eric Filia robbed a what would have been a 349-foot home run in the top of the fourth, when he reached over the short fence in right field to make the catch.
That provided the room for the Travs to make their comeback.
Travs designated hitter Dario Pizzano led off the bottom of the ninth with a triple to right-center field, just beyond the reach of the Hooks' diving center fielder, Chas McCormick.
"I was just trying to see something up," Pizzano said of Hooks left-handed reliever Kit Scheetz (1-1, 3.77 ERA), who earned the loss. "I knew he was going to show me fastball, and everything else was a slider. So, I was hoping he was going to hang one. I was right on top of it."
Two batters later, second baseman Donnie Walton bounced the ball past Hooks second baseman Ryne Birk.
The infield was playing tight, and Birk's error allowed Pizzano to come home and tie the game 1-1.
Then, Bishop, who had gone 0 for 4 leading up to the at bat, struck his game-winner to right field.
Travs right-hander David McKay (3-1, 3.08) earned the victory after pitching a scoreless night; and right-handed starter Nathan Bannister pitched 7 innings with 4 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk and tying a season-high 7 strikeouts.
Bannister, who was named to the Texas League All-Star team, has thrown 7 strikeouts in 3 of his last 5 games.
"We know the sequences I want to attack hitters with, and I think I'm putting the ball in a better spot," Bannister said. "There's a fine line between a strikeout pitch and getting an out. I think I've done a better job of that."
Bannister and McKay helped stop Randy Cesar's record-breaking hit streak at 42 games. The Hooks' third baseman already set the Texas League all-time record, and he is now tied at 14th all-time in all of minor league baseball.
Joe Wilhoit recorded his all-time record, 69-game hit streak with the Wichita Jobbers in 1919.
Cesar's hit streak began with a triple on May 5. Then, the 23-year-old set the Texas League record with his 38th hit on with a double on June 21. That broke Bobby Trevino's 37-game hitting streak from 1969 with the El Paso Sun Kings.
Friday night, Cesar went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Sports on 06/30/2018