SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Carlos Martinez returned from a month-long layoff with a brief but successful Class AA debut for Springfield, and four relievers finished off the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Friday.
Martinez, a 20-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic, allowed 1 unearned run and 3 hits in 3 innings, and Xavier Scruggs drove in 3 runs to help Springfield defeat the Naturals 5-2 before 5,945 fans at Hammons Field.
Northwest Arkansas (34-32) and Springfield (34-32) trail the Texas League North Division-leading Tulsa Drillers by four games with four games left in the first half of the season.
Kevin Thomas (2-0) followed Martinez with three scoreless, hitless innings and struck out four batters to earn the victory. Deryk Hooker, Eric Fornataro and Keith Butler added one scoreless inning each for the Cardinals, with Butler closing it out to pick up his Texas League-leading 14th save.
Martinez is ranked by Baseball America as the St. Louis Cardinals’ No. 2 prospect and the No. 27 overall prospect in the minor leagues. He walked 1 batter and struck out 3, throwing 27 of his 46 pitches for strikes in an abbreviated outing after sitting out with shoulder soreness since his last start May 14.
After struggling at advanced Class A Palm Beach (Fla.) last year, Martinez returned to Palm Beach this season and went 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 33 innings before his injury.
Naturals starter Justin Marks (3-3) struck out 7 batters and walked just 1 in 5 2/3 innings but gave up 3 runs off 6 hits and took the loss.
Greg Garcia and Kolten Wong had RBI singles in the bottom of the second inning to give Springfield a 2-0 lead. The Naturals scored their first run on a throwing error by Scruggs, the Cardinals’ first baseman, in the top of the third inning, but Scruggs bounced back with a home run in the fourth inning and a two-run single in the eighth.
The Naturals scored their final run on a seventh-inning sacrifice fly by Sharlon Schoop.
Scruggs, Wong and Oscar Taveras had two hits apiece for Springfield, which held the Naturals to four hits.
THURSDAY’S GAMES NW Arkansas 4, Springfield 3 Tulsa 5, Arkansas 1 Frisco 4, Corpus Christi 3 Midland 5, San Antonio 1 FRIDAY’S GAMES Springfield 5, Northwest Arkansas 2 Tulsa 2, Arkansas 1 Frisco 3, Corpus Christi 2 San Antonio 6, Midland 2 TODAY’S GAMES - All times Central NW Arkansas at Springfield, 6:08 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Frisco, 7 p.m.
San Antonio at Midland, 7 p.m.
Tulsa at Arkansas, 7:10 p.m.
Today’s game
NW ARKANSAS AT SPRINGFIELD WHEN 6:08 p.m. Central WHERE Hammons Field, Springfield, Mo.
PITCHERS NW Arkansas: Elisaul Pimentel (RHP, 2-4, 5.96 ERA); Springfield: Scott Gorgen (RHP, 2-5, 4.36) RADIO KFAY-AM, 1030, in NW Arkansas WEB SITE nwanaturals.com SHORT HOPS Naturals shortstop Christian Colon was in Kansas City on Friday for X-rays after leaving Wednesday’s game with an ankle injury. Colon, who is batting .290 with 5 home runs, 24 RBI and 11 stolen bases this year, was named Thursday as a starter for the Texas League All-Star game, but Naturals Manager Brian Poldberg said Colon will likely sit out the contest, which is June 28 in Tulsa.
THE WEEK AHEAD TODAY at Springfield, 6:08 p.m.
SUNDAY at Springfield, 6:08 p.m.
MONDAY vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m.
Sports, Pages 19 on 06/16/2012