TEXAS LEAGUE

Bianucci's infield single spurs Travs

The Arkansas Travelers' winning streak continued Wednesday night thanks to an unlikely candidate legging out an infield single in the seventh inning.

Designated hitter Mike Bianucci, a burly 6-1, 212 pounds with one stolen one base on the season, hit a ground ball to the right of San Antonio shortstop Diego Goris and barely beat the throw, allowing two runs to score to break a tie game as the Travs beat the Missions 6-3 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

"Man, I don't think I've beat out an infield single in a few years," Bianucci said. "Felt good, though. Glad to get a win."

Bianucci's single was the Travs' fourth of the inning and capped a three-run seventh that helped them come back from a 3-2 deficit.

Eric Stamets started it with a one-out single, before Maikol Gonzalez and Alex Yarbrough each singled to load the bases. Stamets scored to tie the game 3-3 when Michael Dimock's pitch went through the legs of Missions' catcher Robert Kral. After Brian Hernandez struck out, Bianucci beat out the single as both Gonzalez and Yarbrough scored.

"Good effort," Arkansas Manager Phillip Wellman said. "He busted his butt. Battled. Yarbrough didn't hesitate and ran hard the whole way. So, to his credit, he played the game right as well."

Wednesday's victory was the Travs' sixth consecutive to tie a season-long winning streak. They are 19-6 since July 11 while surging to a five-game lead over Northwest Arkansas for the top spot in the Texas League North Division.

"Not one stand-out thing, just finding different ways to win each game," Bianucci said.

Wednesday's victory came thanks to a rally after a usually reliable bullpen gave up a lead.

Jett Bandy hit his team-best 11th home run in the second inning and Michael Snyder singled and scored in the same inning to give the Travs a 2-0 lead. Adam Buschini singled and scored off Travs starter Orangel Arenas, who held the Missions to one run over five innings, in the third. The Missions took a lead in the seventh when Travis Jankowski hit a two-run single off reliever Carmine Giardina.

The Travs scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning, before Stamets added an insurance run in the eighth. The Travs shortstop lined a pitch over Hunter Renfroe's head in left field for a triple, then scored when a relay throw slipped out of Goris' hand to make it 6-3.

Stamets went 3 for 4 on Wednesday, his first three-hit game of the season. He's hit safely in six consecutive games while raising his batting average 25 percentage points to .222, the highest its been since June 17. Wellman used Stamets as an example of his team catching on late in the second half of the season.

"It's a good group of kids, they've stuck together, that's all we've preached all year," Wellman said. "Trust the process. And I think that's all kind of culminating right now. ... We're here to develop, but winning accelerates that development. It's hard to develop when you're getting your butt kicked every night."

Sports on 08/07/2014

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