On most nights, seven innings of scoreless, two-hit ball would put a team in position for a victory.
And when all the momentum is on one side after a two-out, bases-clearing double, those odds go up quite a bit.
It still didn't work out for the Arkansas Travelers on Saturday night.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals scored three runs in each of the eighth and ninth innings, capitalizing on several walks from the Travs' bullpen to pick up a 6-3 victory at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. Naturals starter Alec Marsh threw 5 hitless innings, striking out 9 while walking 3. Reliever Josh Dye earned the victory, closing things out with 2 1/3 shutout frames while surrendering two hits.
"He was sharp and was throwing around 97 [mph] for five innings with a good breaking ball," Travs Manager Collin Cowgill said of Marsh, the No. 12 prospect in the Kansas City Royals' system according to MLB.com. "We tried to make some adjustments but we didn't."
Those fixes came once Marsh headed to the dugout after 85 pitches. The Travs picked up their first hit of the game in the sixth, then loaded the bases in the seventh on an error, a single and a walk before back-to-back strikeouts from the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters put them in peril of coming up empty yet again.
Jordan Cowan slapped a bases-clearing double down the left-field line to break up the shutout and give the hosts a good opportunity to win a third consecutive game.
"Cowan's an absolute leader," Cowgill said. "He's the longest-tenured Mariner we have in the minor leagues, so he's been around. And there's probably nobody else I'd want at the top of my lineup than Jordan Cowan at the moment."
The good vibes wouldn't last. After Devin Sweet started things off for the Travs with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless ball with 7 strikeouts -- but also 6 free passes -- the bullpen surrendered another 8 walks.
Michael Stryffeler put the first two runners on in the eighth with walks, one of which came around to score on a Bobby Witt Jr. single and another who crossed home via a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.
Witt tied things up for the Naturals with a magnificent slide, reaching around Travelers catcher Brian O'Keefe on a throw from center field that looked to beat him by several feet.
The Travs would again put the leadoff man on base in the ninth via a free pass, and Northwest Arkansas took advantage again. Although Arkansas pitchers did register 15 of the night's 27 outs by strikeout, their mistakes were far too much to overcome.
"When you walk 14 guys, it doesn't give us much of a chance to win," Cowgill said.
The bottom of the Travs' lineup continues to provide little pop. Dom Thompson-Williams was the only one of the 7-9 hitters to log a base hit Saturday, and designated hitter Jake Scheiner remains the only constant piece of offense for Cowgill's team.
The former fourth-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies went 1 for 4 with a run, giving him a team-high five on the season. Cowgill also rotated his lineup in the fifth game of the series, bumping Stephen Wrenn up to the No. 2 hole and slotting Joe Rizzo at third base right behind him after Rizzo sat Friday.
It's something Cowgill expects to do much of the year as the Travs play exclusively six-game sets due to modified scheduling as a result of covid-19.
"Guys have to play," Cowgill said. "I'm not going to run a guy out there for six straight games and not play another guy at all or half the time. Guys have to have an opportunity to play and we're going to give it to them."