RoughRiders Squeak Past Cardinals
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SPRINGFIELD, MO – The Frisco RoughRiders captured a series win over the Springfield Cardinals with a 5-4 victory at Hammonds Field on Friday night. It was Frisco’s second straight one-run win.
Neither starter was very sharp Friday. In fact, eight of the nine runs were scored off the starting pitchers. Frisco (26-21) scored twice in the first to jump out to a 2-0 lead on Springfield’s Seth Blair. They added another in the second on an RBI fielder’s choice from Hanser Alberto, scoring Ryan Strausborger to make it 3-0 RoughRiders.
Tyler Tufts worked a perfect first inning, but was hit hard in the second and the third. Consecutive doubles from Chris Swauger and Xavier Scruggs put the Cardinals (24-21) on the board, and Starlin Rodriguez cut the deficit to one with an RBI infield single two batters later.
Momentum went back-and-forth, but Frisco never trailed. Three straight singles to begin the Frisco third made it a two-run game again; the third of which scored the run, an RBI single from Chih-Hsien Chiang to make it 4-2. Chiang, along with Brett Nicholas, collected three hits in the game and now has a four-game hitting streak.
The final three runs all came on solo homers. Jake Lemmerman and Starlin Rodriguez knocked out long balls in the third and fourth innings, and Alberto homered for Frisco in the fourth as well. The Rodriguez homer came off Phil Klein, who entered the ballgame in the fourth in relief of Tufts, and the blast made it 5-4 Frisco.
The ‘Riders bullpen gave up just two hits after the home run by Rodriguez. Klein, Jimmy Reyes, and Ben Rowen combined to fire five scoreless innings to finish the ballgame.
Klein (1-0), the only reliever from either side to allow a run, picked up the win. Blair (2-4) took the loss. Rowen, the most oft-used RoughRiders reliever, collected his third save.
The RoughRiders play the first of three games with the Tulsa Drillers Saturday night at 7:05 pm. Tulsa is the only team Frisco has yet to play this season. Neil Ramirez (4-1, 3.19) faces off against Drillers left-hander Tyler Matzek (1-4, 4.99 ERA). Fans can tune in to the play-by-play broadcast on www.RidersBaseball.com beginning at 6:40.
The RoughRiders return to Dr Pepper Ballpark Tuesday at 7:05 pm, beginning their home stand with a series against the Springfield Cardinals. For information on tickets to see the RoughRiders in 2013, please call (972) 731-9200, email info@ridersbaseball.com or visit www.ridersbaseball.com.
