Springfield, MO -
A four-run third inning helped Springfield take the first game of four-game series with the Tulsa Drillers, 7-4 Friday night at Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri.
Tulsa got on the board quickly in the first inning on back-to-back solo home runs by Hector Gomez and Ben Paulsen. But, the Cardinals roughed up Drillers starter Rob Scahill in the third.
Scahill issued four hits and a walk in the inning, but it was still just 2-1 before Matthew Adams crushed a two-out, 3-run homer over the left field wall for a 4-2 lead.
Tulsa would get a run back in the fifth when Tim Wheeler tripled to score Bronson Sardinha who led off the inning with a single.
The Cardinals scored the game-winning runs in the fifth inning on a Matthew Adams triple sandwiched in between a pair of doubles from Thomas Pham and Eric Duncan.
Tulsa scored a run in the sixth thanks to a pair of Springfield errors, but after a leadoff walk in the seventh, the Cardinals retired the final nine batters of the game in order.
Sardinha had a pair of singles and scored a run for the Drillers, who dropped the opener of a series for the third straight time.
Pham went 3-for-4 with a home run, an RBI and three runs scored for the Cardinals.
Despite the loss, Tulsa kept its spot atop the Texas League North Division thanks to a loss by Northwest Arkansas.
The Drillers and Cardinals will play game two Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. in Springfield.
