Taylor's HR Carries Travs Back Into First Place

Springfield, MO-Chuck Taylor hit the go-ahead homerun off of rehabbing Major Leaguer Greg Holland as the Arkansas Travelers took down the Springfield Cardinals, 3-1 on Friday night. The win combined with NW Arkansas' loss at Tulsa puts the Travs alone atop the division with three games to play. NW Arkansas is one game back while Springfield and Tulsa remain alive, two games out. The homer by Taylor was his first of the season after hitting nine for the Travs a year ago. Donnie Walton drove in the other two Trav runs on a fourth inning single and an eighth inning double. Williams Pérez earned the win in his third start with Arkansas by tossing six innings of one-run ball. Bryan Bonnell and Matt Festa combined on the last nine outs to close it out.
Moments That Mattered
* Walton's first Double-A hit hard groundball up the middle that tied the score.
* Taylor's homer came with two out in the seventh after Holland had retired the first two batters of the inning including a strikeout.
* Festa entered with two on and two out in the eighth and struck out league homerun leader Victor Roache to preserve the lead.
Notable Travs Performances
* LF Chuck Taylor: 2-4, run, BB, HR, RBI
* 2B Donnie Walton: 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI
* Williams Perez: Win, 6 IP, 5 H, R, BB, 4 K
* Matt Festa: Sv, 1.1 IP, H, 2 K
Up Next
The Travs try to move another step closer to the first half championship when they close out the series at Springfield on Saturday night. RH Max Povse (2-2, 3.41) goes up against RH Mike O'Reilly (2-1, 3.57) in a 6:10 first pitch. The game will be broadcast on the Sports Animal 920, the First Pitch App, TuneIn radio and milb.tv.