MIDLAND, Texas -- The Arkansas Travelers finished their week on the road in Texas with a winning record despite a 9-4 loss to the Midland RockHounds on Sunday.
Arkansas (64-61) swept Frisco (53-73) in three games in Texas earlier in the week. Frisco and Midland (56-69) sit at the bottom of the Texas League South division standings.
The Travelers were 35-35 at the midseason break and won the North division on a tiebreaker with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (61-64), who were also 35-35. Tulsa (65-59) leads the second half standings and the overall standings in the North.
Corpus Christi (76-48) leads the South ahead of San Antonio (68-56) in the Missions' final year in the league. The Double-A team will become a new team in Amarillo in 2019 with a new team playing as the Missions in San Antonio in Triple-A next season.
Arkansas had a brief 2-1 lead on Sunday. A two-out single in the third inning by right fielder Eric Filia put the Travelers on top.
Seth Brown hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning to put Midland in front for good. Arkansas third baseman Logan Taylor Logan Taylor answered in the fourth inning with a two-run home run, but Midland responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame to regain control.
The Travelers did not score again as James Naile (1-0, 4.50 ERA) allowed four runs on 10 hits in eight innings for the RockHounds.
Left fielder Chuck Taylor was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Designated hitter Dario Pizzano was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.
Pizzano led the Travelers back from three runs down on Friday with a 2-for-4 night at the plate, including a double and a home run, to tie the game at 4-4, but the RockHounds took the series opener, 5-4, on a walk-off hit by Jonah Heim. Pizzano drove in three runs on the night with a two-run home run and an RBI double with another run scoring on the play via an error.
Three of the RockHounds' first four runs scored with two outs in an inning. Back-to-back hits scored a pair in the third inning and then another hit in the fourth scored the final two-out run.
Pizzano got Arkansas on the board with his home run and his double sent the tying runs home. He struck out with two runners on base in the eighth inning for the second out. Arkansas loaded the bases after an error, but Joel Seddon got a flyout to end the threat.
Both starters carried the game deep with Arkansas' Nathan Bannister working six innings before handing the ball off and Midland's Ben Bracewell went seven innings. Both Bannister and Bracewell yielded four runs.
The winning hit for the RockHounds came off reliever Trevor Frank (1-2, 3.47), who retired the first seven batters he faced before consecutive hits brought the night to a close. Heim's hit was preceded by a hustle double from Luis Barrera that put the winning run in scoring position.
The Travelers were just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. It was the sixth walk-off loss of the season for Arkansas, but it was the first in exactly two months since a June 17 defeat at Northwest Arkansas.
First baseman Joey Curletta and shortstop Yonathan Mendoza were each 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Arkansas evened the series on Saturday with a 3-2 win. The Travelers were down two runs after one inning before tying the game in the fourth inning and pulling ahead in the eighth inning on an RBI hit by Curletta.
Chris Mazza surrendered the a two-run home run just fair down the right field line to Seth Brown in the first inning, then put five zeroes on the board. Mazza, making his Travelers debut after being signed by the Mariners earlier in the week, worked six innings and struck out six against just one walk.
Logan Taylor lined an 0-2 pitch with two outs to center field to knock home the tying run in the top of the fourth inning. Curletta gave Arkansas the lead with his groundball single to center field in the eighth. It was his third hit of the game and league-leading 89th RBI of the season.
Bryan Bonnell (3-3, 3.43) earned the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings before Matt Tenuta closed it out for his first save. Tenuta was asked to finish it off with regular closer Matt Festa called up to the Seattle Mariners earlier in the day.
Festa was 4-2 with 2.70 ERA and 18 saves in a team-leading 39 appearances this season. He had 58 strikeouts to just 10 walks in 43 1/3 innings.
Tenuta closed the game out by retiring all five batters he faced, including three strikeouts. He stranded the tying run at third base in the eighth inning before working a 1-2-3 ninth.
Right fielder Beau Amaral was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Curletta was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Pizzano hit 2-for-3 with a walk and a run. Pizzano and Curletta improved their team-leading batting averages to .304 and .303, respectively.
The Travelers open a seven-game home stand tonight after an off day on Monday with the first of four games against Tulsa. Right-hander Williams Perez (5-1, 2.44) is the expected starter for Arkansas against Driller lefty Ben Holmes (1-1, 2.84).
Sports on 08/21/2018