As Connor Jones tossed the first pitch at 12:07 p.m. on Wednesday, few of the actual seats inside North Little Rock's Dickey-Stephens Park were occupied.
Of the many kids in attendance for the Arkansas Travelers' summer camp day, most found spots in one of the last few rows, clinging onto the last few inches of shade on a day where temperatures touched 100 degrees. The rest either parked themselves underneath the concourse or the pavilion beyond the right-field fence.
Perhaps the best spot, however -- at least for the first few innings -- was Otey's Splash Pad, the water playground in center field.
Not only was it a chance to stay cool but also to avoid watching the Travs' opponent tee off on Jones.
That early barrage included a seven-run second inning, more than enough to power the Springfield Cardinals to a 9-5 win. The Travs scored all five of their runs in the bottom of the ninth, putting the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, but couldn't complete what would've been the most improbable of comebacks.
It would have also salvaged a fourth straight rough outing from Jones, who retired just five Cardinals. Ben Onyshko didn't help the cause when the first batter he faced after replacing Jones sent a three-run homer onto the left-field berm, pushing the Travs' starter's line to eight earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.
The rest of the damage, though, was self-inflicted. Four of the Cards' first five hitters in the inning reached via walk, bringing one run in. Singles by Masyn Winn and Malcolm Nunez later in the inning scored three more.
That was after Winn had blasted a solo home run in the first and Jordan Walker doubled off the wall in straightaway center to give Springfield a 2-0 lead before the Travs even came to bat.
"He's just finding himself a little bit," Travelers pitching coach Sean McGrath said of Jones, who has allowed at least four earned runs in each of his past four outings while failing to make it out of the fifth inning. "He's trying to figure some things out and gain control in those moments where things don't [go his way]."
Jones' recent slide has all come since perhaps the best run of his professional career -- three games in May when he didn't allow a run over 22 innings, one of which was a seven-inning no-hitter.
He was twice named Texas League Pitcher of the Week during that stretch and his ERA got as low as 3.32 entering the month of June.
Since then, everything has been going the other way for the 27-year-old right-hander.
"I don't think he got too big for himself," McGrath said. "It's his ability to manage pitch to pitch. At times, he does that really well, and then other times, it seems like he struggles to do that. ... He was making a ton of quality pitches and he's working to get back to that."
Today's game
ARKANSAS TRAVELERS VS. SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS
WHEN 6:35 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KKSP-FM, 93.3, in Central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travs: RHP Stephen Kolek (4-7, 4.91 ERA); Cardinals: Gordon Graceffo (4-1, 3.07 ERA)
TICKETS $13 box; $9 reserved; $7 general admission
PROMOTIONS $3 Thursday
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Springfield, 6:35 p.m.
FRIDAY Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY Springfield, 1:35 p.m.
MONDAY Off
TUESDAY at Wichita, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY at Wichita, 12:05 p.m.