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Midland rocks Springfield as Cards slip in standings
NEWS-LEADER STAFF
Spotted
a 2-0 first-inning lead, all Springfield pitcher Chris Lambert needed to do was
come out throwing strikes Saturday night at Midland, Texas.
Couldn't do it. Well,
when he did put one over the plate, the Midland RockHounds whacked it.
Lambert (2-6) lasted just
1 2/3 innings, walked four and gave up six runs, as the RockHounds pummeled the
Cardinals 15-5 before 4,949 at CitiBank Ballpark. The first six players in the
Midland lineup scored at least two runs apiece as the Cardinals (25-30) slipped
4 1/2 games behind Arkansas in the Texas League East Division with 15 games
remaining.
This one was over before
the beer got warm.
Steve Stanley led off the
Midland first with a single off the right-field wall, then Lambert walked Daric
Barton and Brian Stavisky.
Throw strikes, you say?
Be careful what you wish for.
Andre Ethier lashed a
run-scoring single, Jeremy Brown hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track, Jason
Perry walked, then Kevin Melillo struck out looking. Whoo. Two outs. Only two
runs in. A tie game.
Not for long. Shortstop
Mark Kiger, the No. 8 hitter, crushed the first pitch over the left-field wall
for a grand slam and 6-2 lead.
The whupping wasn't over
for Springfield.
Cardinals reliever Josh
Axelson replaced Lambert with two out and two on in the second and retired the
first five men he faced before hitting a wall in the fourth. Midland (31-25)
used three doubles, a single, a walk, a hit batsman and a fielder's choice to
put up five more runs for an 11-2 lead.
The RockHounds, who came
in batting a healthy .299 despite a 4-8 record against Springfield, put this one
away with four runs in the sixth against Alan Benes, the third Cardinals
pitcher.
On a night on which the
first three Cardinals pitchers lasted just 1 2/3 innings each, highlights were
hard to come by. Travis Hanson knocked in three runs with a first-inning
groundout in the first and a two-run homer in the eighth, padding his Texas
League-leading RBI total to 92. Rick Ankiel hit a solo homer in the sixth. Tyler
Minges went 2-for-3 with a walk, raising his average to .325. Josh Kinney, who
came off the disabled list Saturday, pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Cardinals' Stuart Pomeranz (4-5, 5.90 ERA) takes on Midland's Mike
Ninnini (6-0, 4.76) in the series finale at 6 tonight.
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