Darren McCaughan furnished the Arkansas Travelers with their third consecutive quality start Wednesday afternoon, but as a bonus the Travelers also enjoyed a solid day of hitting.
Leadoff batter Jake Fraley hit the first pitch he saw for a home run to ignite a seven-run first inning and the Travelers went on to claim an 8-1 victory over the Frisco RoughRiders in front of an announced crowd of 4,126 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
Frisco held Arkansas to a combined nine hits in shutout victories Monday and Tuesday, but the Travs banged out 15 hits off of four RoughRiders pitchers on a partly sunny Wednesday afternoon. Fraley's home run over the right-center wall snapped a 19-inning scoreless streak for the Travs.
"Everyone let out a huge sigh, like 'There we go, we're on the board,' " said Arkansas Manager Mitch Canham, whose team entered the day batting a meager .167 at home. "That builds confidence right away. Jake had a great day and it was nice to have a lot of guys getting knocked in."
Starters Ricardo Sanchez and Anthony Misiewicz were both hard-luck losers in the Travs' two previous games. Sanchez allowed only one run and five hits in a 4-0 loss to Frisco on Monday. Misiewicz struck out nine and tossed the first complete game of the Texas League this season on Tuesday, but lost 1-0.
McCaughan (1-1) turned in the Travs' third consecutive gem in front of a boisterous, Thunderstix-wielding crowd of youngsters, notching seven strikeouts while allowing only five hits in seven innings.
"I had a good week of work leading up to [Wednesday]," McCaughan said. "I went out and executed pitches today."
McCaughan started the season by throwing 14 consecutive scoreless innings. He gave up three home runs in a loss to Tulsa last Friday, but he lowered his ERA from 3.18 to 2.63 with Wednesday's performance.
"Every time he goes out there he just does his thing," said Fraley, who drove in three runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle. "He's very good with all of his pitches. He's very efficient. He hits his spots. He does everything that you could possibly need out of him. ... It was no surprise to us."
Frisco starter Jonathan Hernandez (1-2) failed to get out of the first inning, giving up six hits and two walks. He was replaced after Fraley's second hit of the inning -- a two-run double that increased the Travs' lead to 7-0.
"You don't really want to pitch like you have a seven-run lead," McCaughan said. "You don't want to take your foot off the gas pedal and that's what I told them. 'Let's keep attacking these guys. Let's stay aggressive.' A seven-run lead can disappear really quick."
Arkansas sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning. Logan Taylor singled in two runs, Jordan Cowan singled in one run and Aaron Knapp doubled to drive in a run. Knapp also drove in a run in the fourth inning with a bases-loaded walk.
McCaughan's lone miscue came in the third inning when he left a fastball up to Brendon Davis, who smashed his first home run of the season onto the berm in left field.
"He was throwing all of his pitches wherever he wanted it," Canham said of McCaughan. "He had great use of his offspeed [pitches]. ... He used all of the edges of the plate."
Arkansas relievers Dan Altavilla and Zac Grotz each tossed one scoreless inning with both of them collecting two strikeouts. The three Arkansas pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and no walks.
Dom Thompson-Williams and Kyle Lewis each had three hits for the Travs.
FRISCO AB R H BI ARKANSAS AB R H BI
Alvarez, cf 4 0 1 0 Fraley, rf 5 1 3 3
Cordero, 2b 4 0 0 0 White, 1b 5 0 0 0
Profar, 1b 4 0 0 0 Lewis, dh 5 1 3 0
Beck, dh 4 0 0 0 T-Williams, cf 4 2 3 0
Kowalczyk, c 4 0 1 0 Walton, ss 5 0 1 0
De Leon, ss 3 0 1 0 Cowan, 2b 5 1 2 1
Altmann, lf 3 0 1 0 Knapp, lf 4 1 1 2
Davis, 3b 3 1 1 1 Odom, c 2 1 1 0
Clark, rf 3 0 0 0 Taylor, 3b 3 1 1 2
TOTALS 32 1 5 1 totals 38 8 15 8
Frisco 001 000 000 -- 1 5 0
Arkansas 700 100 000 -- 8 15 0
DP -- Frisco 1. LOB -- Frisco 4, Arkansas 11. 2B -- Lewis, Knapp, Fraley. HR -- Davis (1), Fraley (2).
FRISCO IP H R ER BB SO
Hernandez L, 1-2 2/3 6 7 7 2 1
Medina 22/3 5 1 1 1 4
Jones 22/3 1 0 0 1 1
Weickel 2 3 0 0 0 3
ARKANSAs IP H R ER BB SO
McGaughan W, 1-1 7 5 1 1 0 7
Altavilla 1 0 0 0 0 2
Grotz 1 0 0 0 0 2
HBP -- by Medina (Odom). Umpires -- Home: Barrett; First: Ghani; Third: Walsh. Time -- 2:38. Attendance -- 4,126.
Today's game
ARKANSAS TRAVELERSVS. FRISCO ROUGHRIDERS
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
WHEN 7:10 p.m.
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travs: RHP Nabil Crismatt (0-1, 9.64 in AAA); Riders: RHP Emerson Martinez (1-0, 4.70)
PROMOTIONS Water Safety Night. Post-game tennis ball toss: A chance to toss a tennis ball to win a $50,000 boat.
SHORT HOPS First baseman Evan White was activated off the injured list Tuesday night and went 0 for 5 in Wednesday's game. Infielder Connor Hoover was transferred to extended spring training.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Frisco, 7:10 p.m.
FRIDAY Amarillo, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY Amarillo, 6:10 p.m.
SUNDAY Amarillo, 2:10 p.m.
MONDAY Amarillo, 7:10 p.m.
TUESDAY off
WEDNESDAY at Frisco, 11:05 a.m.
Sports on 04/25/2019