TEXAS LEAGUE

Travs lose control of winning ways

The Arkansas Travelers' four-game victory streak ended when their recent stretch of consistent pitching faltered in a 6-3 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks on Saturday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

In the previous four games, the Travs (47-43) had a 2.75 ERA partly because the pitching staff struck out 38 batters while walking 10.

Saturday night's game against the Hooks (54-32) unraveled when the Travs' pitchers lost that command.

The Travs led 3-1 in the sixth inning when starting pitcher Johendi Jiminian was relieved after recording the first two outs of the inning.

Jiminian threw 5⅔ innings, with 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts, surrendering a 400-foot home run to left field to Hooks first baseman Yordan Alvarez in the second inning.

Travs reliever Stephen Perakslis walked his first batter, then gave up an RBI double to Alvarez.

Perakslis hit his first batter of the seventh, then was replaced by righty reliever Bryan Bonnell, who walked his first batter.

The Hooks took a 5-3 lead during the inning, scoring on a Bonnell wild pitch and an RBI single by center fielder Chas McCormick.

Bonnell (1-1, 4.22 ERA) earned the loss, pitching 1⅔ innings with 2 hits, 2 earned runs a walk and a strikeout.

"The common theme for our relievers tonight: walking the first hitter you faced, and all of them scored," Travs Manager Daren Brown said. "That's easy to look back at as not something that concerns me, because it's something that's easily fixed. All these guys had the All-Star break. They haven't pitched in four or five days. Sometimes those things happen."

Corpus Christi set the final score when it scored a run on a fielder's choice in the ninth.

Hooks right-hander Brandon Bielak earned the victory after pitching 4⅔ relief innings with 3 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts.

First baseman Joey Curletta provided the only Travs runs with a three-run, 373-foot home run to left field in the bottom of the first, which gave the Travs a 3-0 lead.

Curletta's 13 home runs are tied for fourth in the Texas League, and he now has hit more home runs this season than any individual Traveler did last season. He is also on pace to match his career-high of 17 home runs in 2016, when he also had 13 home runs through 78 games.

Costen Shockley holds the Travs' single-season home run record, hitting 36 home runs in 1964 when they were a Class AAA affiliate for the Philadelphia Phillies.

In the past four series, Curletta is batting .333 and slugging .578 in 12 games.

"He's been pretty good all year," Brown said of the Texas League All-Star. "He just needs to continue doing what he's doing. He's put together a solid season to this point."

Today’s game

ARKANSAS TRAVELERS

VS. SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS

WHEN 2:10 p.m.

WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock

RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas

WEBSITE travs.com

PITCHERS Travs: RHP Chase De Jong (4-3, 4.16 ERA); Missions: LHP Jerry Keel (6-2, 4.55)

TICKETS $12 box, $8 reserved ($5 kids), $6 general admission ($4 kids). Gates open one hour before first pitch.

PROMOTIONS Pre-game kids clinic beginning at 12:20 p.m. and kids run the bases. $3 admission discount with military identification or with a coupon available at Edwards Food Giant locations.

Sports on 07/01/2018

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