Ian Petrutz had waited through seven hitless at-bats for his first Double-A hit. When it came Sunday at Whataburger Field, there was no need to hurry out of the batter’s box.
Petrutz drove a 2-1 pitch deep down the right-field line, watched it hook toward the foul pole and stay fair, then circled the bases with the grand slam that finished Springfield’s six-run eighth inning. His first hit and first home run at the level transformed a one-run game into an 8-2 Cardinals victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks.
The blast gave Petrutz a 1-for-4 day with four RBIs. It also supplied the exclamation point after Springfield spent much of the afternoon searching for a breakthrough against Corpus Christi starter James Hicks.
Tied 2-2 entering the eighth, the Cardinals finally found one.
Josiah Ragsdale opened the inning with a walk against Ramsey David. After Rainiel Rodriguez popped out, Jesús Báez lined his third hit of the game into left-center. Ragsdale raced to third, and Báez took second when the throw skipped off second baseman Hector Salas’ glove and rolled toward the mound.
Springfield moved ahead on a wild pitch, and another wild pitch came during Cade McGee’s walk, allowing Báez to score for a 4-2 lead. Ryan Campos walked before Amilcar Chirinos replaced David, and Tre Richardson III drew another walk to load the bases.
Petrutz followed by pulling Chirinos’ pitch high and deep toward the right-field pole. What had been a tense tie through seven innings was suddenly an 8-2 game.
David took the loss after allowing four earned runs in one inning, with three walks. Chirinos was charged with the final two runs of the rally.
Báez had provided Springfield’s first answer four innings earlier. Corpus Christi took its only lead in the third, when Marcus Brown singled and Chase Call drove Fajardo’s first pitch deep to left-center for a two-run homer.
Rodriguez singled with one out in the fourth, bringing Báez to the plate against Hicks. Down 0-2, Báez lifted a breaking ball high toward left field, admired its flight and discarded his bat before beginning his trip around the bases. His 23rd homer tied the game at 2-2.
Báez finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs, accounting for nearly half of Springfield’s seven hits. His day also included a sixth-inning single that helped put runners at the corners, though Hicks escaped by retiring McGee.
Hicks held the Cardinals to two runs over 6.2 innings, striking out seven without a walk. Springfield could not break the tie while he was in the game, but the Hooks’ bullpen and defense could not preserve it.
The Cardinals’ pitching staff made the tie hold long enough for the lineup to break through. Yhoiker Fajardo allowed Call’s two-run homer but little else, yielding two earned runs over 3.2 innings with three strikeouts and no walks.
From there, Springfield’s bullpen erased Corpus Christi’s offense. Michael Watson, Nolan Sparks, Randel Clemente and Darlin Saladin combined for 5.1 scoreless, hitless innings, striking out 10 and walking three.
Sparks recorded all three of his outs by strikeout in the sixth, working around a walk. Clemente retired the Hooks in order in the seventh and handled the first two outs of the eighth before Saladin took over. Clemente earned the win with 1.2 scoreless innings and improved to 4-2.
Saladin finished the eighth with a strikeout, then worked around a ninth-inning walk to close the victory.
Corpus Christi managed only three hits and committed three errors. Springfield finished with eight runs, seven hits and no errors, but the afternoon belonged to the hit that traveled farthest: Petrutz’s drive down the line, a first Double-A hit worth four runs and one emphatic finish.