TEXAS LEAGUE
TRAVELERS 7, NATURALS 0
One night after striking out four times in an extra-inning loss Sunday afternoon, Kyle Thomas got some revenge Monday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock as the Arkansas Travelers inched closer to division-leading Tulsa with a 7-0 victory over Northwest Arkansas.
Tulsa, which hosts Northwest Arkansas in a five-game series beginning today, lost 5-3 to Springfield on Monday and leads the Texas League North by 2 1/2 games over the Travelers.
Thomas, the Travelers center fielder, collected three hits in four at-bats Monday night, including a 428-foot solo home run off the scoreboard beyond the left-field berm. He also added two singles and scored two runs, one of them in a six-run second inning.
"For sure, that was one of my best of the year," Lewis said of his home run. "I've been working hard, coming in early and I think I've had some of my hardest hits of the year recently."
Lewis sees good things for the Travelers in the playoffs, which start Sept. 5 at Dickey-Stephens Park.
"Tulsa will be a good matchup for us," he said. "They have a good pitching staff, lot of power arms. It will be a good challenge. If we get some momentum going before the playoffs, I think we'll do OK."
Arkansas' Eric Filia worked John Perrin (0-2) for a five-pitch walk to lead off the bottom of the second. Logan Taylor followed by taking a called third strike. Lewis picked up the Travelers' first hit with a single, but Donnie Walton flew out to center for the second out.
Catcher Joseph Odom singled to drive in Filia, then Yonathan Mendoza walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Chuck Taylor drove in the second run of the inning with a single. Dario Pizzano walked on another 3-2 pitch to score Lewis. Joey Curletta reached on an error by Flores that resulted in Mendoza and Chuck Taylor scoring and leaving Pizzano at third. A wild pitch from reliever Walker Sheller scored Pizzano to make it 6-0.
The Travelers brought 12 batters to the plate in the inning, needing only three hits and an error for their runs.
The Travelers managed to get two runners on in the third, thanks to hits from Odom and Mendoza, but both were left stranded.
Lewis led off the fifth against Grant Gavin, the Naturals' third pitcher, by hammering a line-drive off the scoreboard for his third home run of the year.
Anthony Misiewicz (3-11) got the victory, scattering 4 hits in 6 innings, striking out 7.
Sports on 08/28/2018