Herb a success in Travs' return

The last time Tyler Herb toed the rubber at Dickey-Stephens Park before Sunday was June 20, when the Arkansas Travelers right-hander threw six pitches and exited after one-third of an inning with discomfort in his right forearm.

"It was a mild strain," Herb later found out. "Nothing very, very serious. But it was something you want to take care of and not let it get worse."

He returned to the mound 21 days later looking plenty comfortable in the series finale with the Frisco RoughRiders, a 5-1 Travs win. Herb allowed 1 hit -- a third-inning home run by Frisco's Melvin Novoa -- and struck out 4 over 4 innings on 56 pitches.

"The game plan coming in today was to make sure we don't have any setbacks," Herb said. "Everything felt good once I finished. It was nice to be back."

Herb's performance and four innings of no-hit relief from Steven Moyers set the table for the Travs' four-run eighth.

Keegan McGovern broke a 1-1 deadlock with an RBI single in the eighth, and David Masters followed with a 415-foot, three-run shot to left field. Travs reliever Michael Stryffeler closed the door on the one-hitter in the ninth after an 18-minute weather delay.

After his exit June 20, Herb said he would have been comfortable returning for his next start had it been a playoff game. Instead, he and the organization opted for a slow recovery. In the three weeks leading up to Sunday's start, Herb rehabbed his forearm, beginning with a rehabilitative throwing program before regaining comfort and stamina on the mound.

"It was just kind of building the strength back up in the forearm," he said. "It was kind of a quick return for that kind of an issue, but I really missed being on the mound here."

Herb threw 12 pitches in each of the first two innings and retired the first seven batters he faced before Novoa hit a 353-foot home run down the left-field line, leveling the game at 1-1 after Frisco starter A.J. Alexy balked in the first run during a four-walk first inning.

Novoa's home run was Herb's lone mistake as he didn't allow another base runner.

"I told [mental strength coach] David Franco that I was just going to keep it at 95% today and mentally grind through it and make it a mental game," Herb said. "I just competed."

Dueling bullpen gems from Moyers and Frisco's Sal Mendez kept the game tied 1-1 entering the eighth.

Mendez inherited two base runners with no out in the fourth, but he escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a soft grounder off the bat of Bobby Honeyman. He allowed only one runner of his own and struck out four Travs over four no-hit innings.

Moyers was nearly as good, retiring the RoughRiders in order in the fifth and seventh innings, and inducing double plays in the sixth and eighth.

"Steven did an excellent job," Herb said. "He was even better than me."

Masters also came back from injury this weekend, returning from a broken thumb Saturday. The shortstop initially feared he would miss as many as six weeks, but he was back on the field to close the series just two-and-a-half weeks after the injury.

The Travs led 2-1 in the eighthwhen Masters stepped to the plate to face Cole Uvila with runners on first and second. Seeking a low fastball, Masters jumped on the fourth pitch he saw and broke the game open with his sixth home run of the year that left the bat at 107 MPH.

"It's tough when you have to sit out and have to watch everybody else play," Masters said. "I was glad I could be back quicker than I thought, and that swing felt really, really good."

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