The Arkansas Travelers returned to Dickey-Stephens Park on Tuesday night fresh off a four-game road series in Springfield, Mo. Their opponent, the Midland RockHounds, traveled to Arkansas from a seven-game homestand in west Texas.
Both teams' offenses, though, must have been left somewhere on the highways en route to North Little Rock.
Tuesday's opener of a three-game series was a scoreless standstill until the top of the ninth, when the RockHounds drew two bases-loaded walks to propel them to a 2-0 victory.
"Usually [the RockHounds have] been more aggressive, and tonight they were seeing a lot more pitches and battling a lot more, so it caused our bullpen to go a little deeper into counts," Travs catcher Joseph Odom said. "We sticked to our plan and threw our pitchers' strengths, and we just ended up on the wrong end of it."
Midland batters combined for three walks and two hit-by-pitches in the ninth and didn't put a ball in play.
With one out and the bases loaded, Travs right-handed reliever Jake Haberer walked third baseman Dan Gamache to break the scoreless tie, after two close ball calls in a row by umpire Darius Ghani.
After a strikeout and a pitching change, right-hander Sam Delaplane was one strike away from ending the inning. Delaplane's pitch inside with a full count just barely nicked left-handed second baseman Nate Mondou's hands, causing another RockHound to score to make it 2-0.
Odom stood up in disbelief and pleaded with Ghani that it wasn't a hit-by-pitch and instead a strike. Travs Manager Cesar Nicolas emerged from the dugout confused, too. Both contested they didn't see or hear any contact with Mondou.
"I thought I caught it clean -- I even framed it," Odom said. "That's what I was justifying. I thought it was a strike."
Said Nicolas: "I just didn't really understand the call. It didn't sound like any contact. I go out there and Darius said he had a hit-by-pitch, so there's nothing really we can do about that."
Still, the Travs' offense, which collected six hits, couldn't back up what was otherwise a strong collective night from the pitching staff. Midland tallied just three hits.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Odom ripped a ball deep into the left-center field gap for what looked like a lead-off double.
Except Odom wasn't satisfied with just two bases.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder rounded second and sprinted toward third, but the cutoff throw was already on its way. Odom was thrown out at third.
"It's honestly probably bad baseball," Odom said. "Probably should've just stayed at second, gave my team a chance to drive me in there. For next time, it's a learning lesson."
In the bottom of the eighth, Evan White reached first base on a fielding error, Kyle Lewis smoked a double to deep lef-center field and Cal Raleigh was intentionally walked. With two outs and the bases loaded, Nick Zammarelli came to the plate with the Travs' best offensive opportunity all night.
But it all went to waste as Zammarelli lined out to center on a 1-1 pitch to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
"We had a couple chances there on offense that we weren't able to capitalize on," Nicolas said. "You just tip your cap to their guys. They pitched well. They were able to execute when they needed to. It just goes that way sometimes."
Travelers at a glance
ARKANSAS TRAVELERS VS. MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS
WHEN 7:10 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travelers: RH Logan Gilbert (first start for Travs); RockHounds: RH Brian Howard (7-6, 2.73 ERA)
TICKETS $12 box seats, $8 reserved, $6 general admission ($1 higher on game day). Gates open one hour before first pitch.
PROMOTIONS Diamantes Night
SHORT HOPS Right-handed pitchers Nabil Crismatt, who was recently named the Texas League Pitcher of the Week, and Darren McCaughan were called up to Class AAA Tacoma on Monday. Right-handed pitcher Jack Anderson was put on the seven-day injured list. Catcher Brennon Kaleiwahea was sent to short-season Everett. As a result, right-handed pitchers Logan Gilbert, Ljay Newsome and Kyle Wilcox and catcher Cal Raleigh were all called up from Class A Modesto. … Outfielder Luis Liberato remains on the seven-day injured list.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY vs. Midland, 7:10 p.m.
THURSDAY vs. Midland, 7:10 p.m.
FRIDAY vs. Frisco, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY vs. Frisco, 6:10 p.m.
SUNDAY vs. Frisco, 6:10 p.m.
MONDAY vs. Frisco, 7:10 p.m.
TUESDAY Off
Sports on 07/17/2019