RoughRiders Beat Cardinals

FRISCO, TEXAS – The Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and held on late to defeat the Springfield Cardinals 9-6 Wednesday night at Dr Pepper Ballpark.

After scoring a pair of runs in the first two innings to take a 2-1 lead, Frisco (58-63 overall, 20-32 second half) piled on six runs in the fourth against Cardinals starter Matt Pearce (0-2). Alexeis Bell got the big inning started with a solo home run, his first in Minor League Baseball. The Riders followed by loading the bases for Eduard Pinto, who cleared them with a double to center. Andy Ibanez capped off the scoring with a two-out, two-run single.

For the second time in three outings since returning to the Riders, Reed Garrett (3-5) turned in a quality start. In six innings of work, he allowed just one unearned run on an RBI single by Jesse Jenner in the second and a total of five hits.

The Cardinals (65-56, 24-27) tacked on two additional unearned runs in the seventh inning against reliever Luke Jackson. Blake Drake hit a three-run homer off Frank Lopez in the eighth to bring the Cardinals within three runs at 9-6. However, Ryne Slack worked a scoreless ninth to earn his fourth save of the year.

In addition to the home run in fourth, Bell doubled in the fifth and seventh to finish a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate. Bell was one of four players who had multi-hit games for the RoughRiders, who out-hit the Cardinals 12-9. Pinto, Ibanez, and Darin Mastroianni each collected two hits.

The Riders wrap up the three-game series Thursday at 7:05 p.m. against Springfield. Right-hander Ariel Jurado (1-2, 3.27 ERA) toes the rubber against Springfield’s Johnny Walter (0-4, 6.35 ERA). Fans can watch the action live on Fox Sports Southwest and MiLB.tv (subscription required), or listen live on the Frisco RoughRiders Radio Network, the TuneIn Radio App, and the MiLB First Pitch App.