The Arkansas Travelers were the first team in its division to be eliminated from the first-half title chase over the weekend, more than a week before the end of the first-half schedule.
The Travs have played like one of the Texas League's best teams since then, but the two facts aren't necessarily linked.
In fact, some said after Tuesday's 6-1 victory over Northwest Arkansas at Dickey-Stephens Park that so little was said about being eliminated from the North Division title chase that they didn't even know that it had happened.
They certainly wouldn't call it the driving force behind their four-game winning streak, which started immediately after they were knocked out of the race with a loss to Springfield on Friday night.
"I honestly had no idea," said second baseman Alex Yarbrough, who went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI as the Travs finished off a four-game sweep of the Naturals in front of an announced crowd of 6,974.
"Nothing was made of it," Manager Mark Parent said. "It's not about winning and losing, so much. It's just about playing the game right and giving yourself a chance to win."
They've done that, at least offensively, this week. Arkansas hit .278 in the four-game series, 34 points above its season average, and .333 with runners in scoring position. Every Traveler got a hit Tuesday, while Jabari Henry and Angel Rosa each had two.
Yarbrough, who was 7-for-17 in the series while using a bat loaned to him by former teammate Cal Towey, said it might be the best the Travs have played since he arrived from Class AAA in mid-April. Parent wouldn't go that far, but did say he saw steps taken this week for a team that jumped the Naturals to climb out of last place in the division.
"This is four games in a row that we haven't shot ourselves in the foot so bad we couldn't recover from it," he said. "We're starting to do the little things we need to do on a more consistent basis, as we should. It just so happens we've won four games, there's still a lot of room for improvement."
The sweep impressed Naturals Manager Vance Wilson, whose team lost its fifth consecutive game Tuesday and for the ninth time in its last 10 games.
"They're just competing, man," Wilson said. "They're not trying to hit the ball out of the park. Typically, even the team last year, when they got in trouble they let the park get to them. This team's not doing that. They're keeping the ball in the air, line drives, hitting the ball the other way. Just a really solid approach."
It's what the Naturals have lacked as of late.
Tyler Carpenter held Northwest Arkansas to 1 run on 6 hits and struck out 4 over 6 innings to earn his first victory since May 18. Austin Adams, Josh Roenicke, a 33-year-old veteran who made his Travs debut, and Edward Paredes then combined to pitch three shutout innings.
The Naturals, who were officially eliminated from the division race after Monday's loss, have been held to two runs or less in four of their last five games. Bubba Starling's single that scored Corey Toups in the first was all they managed Tuesday.
"Our approach has not been good," Wilson said. "It's not like our guys aren't trying. They're pressing. But the biggest thing is we haven't been able to sustain any rallies."
The Travs, however clueless they were with regard to the standings, scored three runs in the the third and the fifth innings. Yarbrough's third-inning single scored Forrestt Allday, then Eric Aguilera followed that with a double to score Yarbrough and Aguilera scored on Henry's single to left field to make it 3-1.
In the sixth, Yarbrough doubled, then scored on Jose Briceno's single to left. Briceno then scored on Bo Ways' double, and Way scored on Angel Rosa's single to right to make it 6-1.
The series-capping victory came after the Travs won pitching duels Sunday and Monday, which came after it won with 11 hits and a ninth-inning rally Saturday.
"It's fun to win," Yarbrough said, "especially when you're doing it different ways."
Today’s game
ARKANSAS VS. TULSA
WHEN 7:10 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travelers: Alex Blackford (RHP, 2-2, 2.43 ERA); Drillers: Chase De Jong (RHP, 6-2, 2.34)
TICKETS Gates open 1 hour before first pitch. Box $13, reserved $9 ($6 children), general admission $7 ($5 children)
PROMOTIONS $1 hot dogs and $3 off admission with a college ID.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Tulsa, 7:10 p.m.
THURSDAY Tulsa, 7:10 p.m.
FRIDAY Tulsa, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY Tulsa, 7:10 p.m.
SUNDAY at NW Arkansas, 2:05 p.m.
MONDAY at NW Arkansas, 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY at NW Arkansas, 7:05 p.m.
Sports on 06/15/2016