The Arkansas Travelers stranded five runners in the first three innings and were held to three hits in the final six Tuesday night.
They were still able to extend their season-long winning streak to five games with a 4-1 victory over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in front of an announced crowd of 3,025 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
The Travs took advantage of three Naturals errors that led to a pair of unearned runs and the work of five pitchers who added to the Naturals’ struggles at the plate.
“When they pitch like that, we don’t need many runs,” Arkansas Manager Tim Bogar said.
Mike Piazza was pushed back into Arkansas’ starting rotation when Jarrett Grube was sent to Class AAA Salt Lake on Monday. The right hander, in his third stint as a starter for the Travs this season, started for the first time since April 28.
He gave up a run in the first and walked four batters, but struck out five in four innings before giving way to a bullpen that held the Naturals to one hit over the final five innings.
Ryan Chafee gave up only one hit in two innings to earn his first victory. Caleb Graham, Josh Judy and Michael Cisco each pitched a hitless inning.
It was a collective performance that left Bogar not too concerned about missed opportunities in the early innings.
“I was more excited about how our pitchers threw,” Bogar said. “The bullpen was outstanding.”
Northwest Arkansas, which was hitting a Texas League-low .233 entering Tuesday, didn’t get a hit after Rey Navarro’s one-out single in the fifth and finished with three hits as the five Travelers pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts.
Alex Llanos’ error in the seventh - his throw to get Kaleb Cowart advancing to second base went into right field - allowed Rolando Gomez to score and make it 3-1. Then, in the eighth, center-fielder Yem Prades dropped a fly ball hit by Randal Grichuk that extended an inning that led to a run byTaylor Lindsey.
The defensive miscues made it even tougher on a Naturals lineup that consisted of only one player hitting better than .270.
“We don’t score many, so we can’t afford to give too many up,” Naturals Manager Brian Poldberg said.
The Naturals scored their lone run in the first inning when Navarro drew a lead off walk, moved to second on Prades’ one-out walk and scored on Manny Pina’s single to left field.
Piazza retired the next seven batters and pitched around a pair of walks in the fourth inning. Then, after Navarro’s single in the fifth, Chaffee struck out Orlando Calixte and the next 12 Naturals went down in order.
“Eventually, they’re going to find out they’re going to go home or they’re going to go down. That’s the nature of the game,” Poldberg said. “You figure it out or you find another job.’
Sports, Pages 21 on 05/15/2013