Kruczynski tosses 7 scoreless in debut, Cardinals top Drillers 6-3

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- If a 77-minute rain delay was supposed to rattle Evan Kruczynski before his first career Double-A start, the 6-foot-5 lefty didn't seem to know about it.

Kruczynski tossed seven scoreless innings Monday night for the Cardinals, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out eight in a key 6-3 Springfield victory over the first-place Drillers to kick off a three-game series.

The 23-year-old Kruczysnki (1-0) made things easy for Springfield's defense, and the offense responded with early run support initially sparked by a sluggish looking Drillers team that coughed up two unearned runs in the first.

Tommy Edman scored from second after a Randy Arozarena single to center slipped under the glove of D.J. Peters and stopped just short of the warning track. Arozarena ended up at third on that error and quickly scored off an Andrew Knizner sacrifice fly, making it 2-0 Cardinals.

Springfield poured on three more runs in the second off Drillers starter Kyle Lobstein (3-2). Two came when Victor Roache drove a two-run shot over the fence in left for a 4-0 lead after Kruczysnki reached on an infield single. It was Kruczynski's first career at-bat.

Every time Andy Young bats, something good seems to happen. It did again later in the second inning when his 40-foot bases-loaded dribbler turned into a run-scoring-infield single and a 5-0 score after two.

Earlier in the day, Young was awarded Texas League Player of the Week after mashing five home runs and batting .423 from July 23-29.

Springfield's lead swelled to 6-0 in the fourth when Edman reached and stole second and then was singled home by Knizner with two outs.

The Drillers scored all three of their runs courtesy of a Jacob Scavuzzo three-run homer off Eric Carter in the eighth.

Derian Gonzalez struck out the final batter of the game to earn his first Double-A save of the season.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals and Drillers meet for Game 2 of their three-game series Tuesday night at 6:30pm with gates opening at 5:30pm.

Tuesday is a Great Southern Bank $1 Dog Day at the ballpark with hot dogs available all night for just a buck.