Corey Baker doesn't need long to recall his only start at Dickey-Stephens Park before Saturday night.
"Unfortunately, I do remember that," he said with a wide smile. "That was a rough night."
It came June 25 and marked the low point of his first full season at Class AA Springfield, when he gave up six runs in the first inning, including a grand slam, in a loss. But Baker's Saturday return to North Little Rock continued a resurgent 2016.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS VS. SPRINGFIELD
WHEN 2 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travelers: Kyle McGowin (RHP, 2-1, 3.52 ERA); Cardinals: Mike Mayers (RHP, 1-1, 1.45)
TICKETS Gates open one hour before first pitch. $13 box, $9 reserved ($6 children), $7 general admission ($5 children) PROMOTIONS $3 discount coupons available at Edwards Food Giant locations. Anyone with military identification will receive a $3 admission discount. A church bulletin admits an entire family for $10 (maximum 4 children).
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Springfield, 2 p.m.
MONDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY at Tulsa, 11:05 a.m.
THURSDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
FRIDAY at Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY at Springfield, 6:10 p.m.
The right-hander held the Travs to 4 hits over 61/3 innings and struck out 6 while leading the Cardinals to a 3-0 victory, snapping the Travs' four-game winning streak in front of an announced season-high crowd of 8,478.
Baker scattered four singles, all in different innings, over his longest outing of the season. His six strikeouts were a season high, and the Travs struck out 13 times in all while failing to draw a walk.
It came 10 months after Baker's last start against the Travs, when he gave up a double, a single, a walk, a two-run single and then a grand slam to Wade Hinkle in the Travs 6-0 victory. Baker, 26, said he flashed back to that outing before the game but relied on what's worked so well for him this season: a quick pace, hitting his spots and staying out of fastball counts.
"I'm going to pitch to contact, so those singles are going to happen," said Baker, who lowered his ERA to 1.76. "They're good hitters, too, so I'll just make the defense work. Pretty happy about that, and my guys behind me did a good job."
Arkansas Manager Mark Parent said the difference was Baker's fast pace between pitches and the Travelers' inability to get him off rhythm.
"Real quick tempo, and we didn't do anything to slow him down," Parent said. "He knew what he was doing, and we didn't tonight."
Chad Hinshaw led off the first with a single, but Bo Way followed by grounding into a double play. Way singled in the fourth but was caught stealing. Eric Aguilera singled in the fifth but was forced out. Way led off the seventh with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error, but Baker struck out Alex Yarbrough and reliever Corey Littrell later got out of the inning.
Springfield, which struck out 14 times, scored single runs in the third, fifth and eighth, taking a lead on a throwing error by catcher Anthony Bemboom, his first of the season and the Travs first since April 15.
It was set up by Hank Bader's single up the middle. He then stole second base and moved to third on a wild pitch. After Collin Radack walked, Bemboom blocked a pitch from Blayne Weller in the dirt. Radack took off for second base, Bemboom corralled the ball and fired, but his throw sailed into center field, scoring Bader to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Parent, a catcher for seven big-league teams over 13 seasons, said he liked Bemboom's reaction to the ball in the dirt.
"Especially at that point in the game, we had to get that out," Parent said. "So, he handled it fine, he just threw it away. He didn't get a grip. He could have taken another step."
The Cardinals loaded the bases in the fifth on an Alex Mejia single, a hit-by pitch and a walk. Left-hander Edward Paredes, who relieved Weller to face left-hander Bruce Caldwell, issued a four-pitch walk, the last one missing way low and outside to make it 2-0.
"If I thought [Paredes] was going to be effective, he probably would have stayed in the game and gotten a little bit more work," Parent said. "He wasn't trying to throw bad, it just didn't work out."
sp'field AB R H BI arkansas AB R H BI
Bader, cf 3 1 2 1 Hinshaw, cf 4 0 1 0
McElroy, lf 4 0 0 0 Way, lf 4 0 2 0
Radack, rf 2 0 0 0 Yarbrough, 2b 4 0 0 0
Voit, 1b 4 0 0 0 Aguilera, 1b 3 0 2 0
Caldwell, 2b 4 0 0 1 Towey, 3b 3 0 0 0
Jacobs, dh 4 0 0 0 Bayardi, rf 3 0 0 0
DeJong, 3b 3 0 1 0 Bemboom, c 3 0 0 0
Kelly, c 4 1 1 0 McGee, dh 3 0 0 0
Mejia, ss 2 1 2 0 Phillips, ss 3 0 0 0
Totals 30 3 6 2 totals 30 0 5 0
Springfield 001 010 010 -- 3 6 1
Arkansas 000 000 000 -- 0 5 1
E -- Baker, Bemboom. DP -- Springfield 1, Arkansas 1. LOB -- Springfield 11, Arkansas 3. S -- McElroy. CS -- Mejia, Way.
springfield IP H R ER BB SO
Baker W, 1-0 61/3 4 0 0 0 6
Littrell 1 1 0 0 0 3
Heyer 2/3 0 0 0 0 2
Shaban S, 4 1 0 0 0 0 2
arkansas IP H R ER BB SO
Weller L, 0-3 42/3 4 2 1 3 6
Paredes 0 0 0 0 1 0
Reynolds 21/3 0 0 0 2 5
Adams 2 2 1 1 2 3
Paredes faced 1 batter in 5th
WP -- Weller 2, Reynolds. HBP -- by Weller (Dejong), by Weller (Bader). PB -- Bemboom. Umpires -- Home: Gorman; First: Meyers; Third: Tomlinson. Time -- 2:57. Attendance -- 8,478.
Sports on 04/24/2016