Tanner Franklin gave Springfield six innings sturdy enough to survive a ninth that nearly swallowed the night whole.
Franklin struck out eight and allowed one earned run, turning an early Arkansas lead into background noise while the Cardinals found their footing. A three-run cushion eventually shrank to one, and the tying run reached second before Michael Watson struck out Anthony Donofrio to finish a 4-3 victory Thursday at Route 66 Stadium.
It was Springfield’s seventh straight win and its 19th in 21 games, improving the Cardinals to 77-57 overall and 46-20 in the second half.
Franklin improved to 3-0 with two walks across his six innings. Arkansas’ only run against him came in the second, when Sammy Siani doubled and Josh Hood sent a soft liner into right. Tre Richardson III bobbled the ball after fielding it, allowing Siani to score and Hood to take second.
Franklin did not permit the mistake to grow. Jesús Báez cut down Hood at third on the next play, and Rainiel Rodriguez caught Carter Dorighi stealing to end the inning. Franklin struck out five of the next nine batters he faced, including both Charlie Pagliarini and Hunter Fitz-Gerald in the fourth.
St. Louis assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio said Franklin’s work carried added significance because of how far his workload has stretched beyond last season.
“It’s been an impressive year for him. I mean, just a year ago, this guy’s thrown in relief at Tennessee and pitching two or three innings a weekend. And now he’s getting over the 100 innings clip for the first time in his career. And just an impressive year for him, holding velocity this late in the season. He’s done a great job.”
— Rob Cerfolio, St. Louis Cardinals Assistant General Manager
Springfield broke through against Nico Tellache in the third. Cade McGee drove the first pitch of the inning beyond Jonny Farmelo’s reach in center, the ball carrying to the base of the wall for the Cardinals’ first baserunner. With two outs, Josiah Ragsdale slipped a ground ball up the middle to bring McGee home.
Rodriguez followed with a single, and Ragsdale scored on a throwing error for a 2-1 lead.
Franklin needed help protecting it in the fifth. Hood singled and tried to score when Dorighi’s ground-ball double skipped into center. Richardson gathered it and threw to Báez, whose relay reached Rodriguez with ample time for the tag at home. Franklin later stranded two more runners by striking out Donofrio and Farmelo.
Cerfolio saw in Báez the kind of ability that can alter an inning.
“Like, he can do some things on the baseball field that your average major league or even just any professional, regardless of level, what he can do talent-wise, there’s not a lot of that.”
— Rob Cerfolio, St. Louis Cardinals Assistant General Manager
Richardson supplied the separation an inning later. Deniel Ortiz singled, and Jack Gurevitch lined a double into center to put both runners in scoring position. After McGee popped out, Richardson drove a ball over Farmelo’s head in center. Ortiz and Gurevitch scored as Richardson pulled into second with a two-run double and a 4-1 lead.
The hit completed Richardson’s answer to the second-inning error. He finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Cerfolio pointed to Richardson’s season-long development as another measure of the depth in Springfield’s lineup.
“What a great story, Trey. He’s got 20 big flies, hitting eighth in the lineup right now, and turned his entire season around with some great work back in Peoria in early April, and our hitting group, and obviously Trey deserves a ton of credit for that, But, like, you know, that stat line’s hitting eighth in this lineup. That’s not happening a ton.”
— Rob Cerfolio, St. Louis Cardinals Assistant General Manager
Domenic Picone followed Franklin with 1 2/3 scoreless innings and two strikeouts, earning his eighth hold. Christian Worley recorded the final out of the eighth, but Arkansas finally broke through again in the ninth.
Pagliarini doubled, and Fitz-Gerald launched his 28th home run to right-center, clearing the wall and landing on the roof of a nearby building. Siani walked, and Austin St. Laurent’s two-out single moved him to second.
That brought Watson in with Springfield’s winning streak suddenly balanced on one confrontation. He struck out Donofrio, earned his first save and left the Cardinals with the narrowest possible reward for the cushion Franklin and Richardson had built.