After a rain delay that lasted more than three hours, the Double-A Springfield Cardinals shutout the Tulsa Drillers to advance to the championship finals. The game was shortened to a seven inning affair and the Cardinals came out on top with a 3-0 victory behind a great start from Brycen Mautz and a fourth-inning rally that saw the game’s only runs.

Springfield Cardinals advance to Double-A Championship

After Ixan Henderson twirled a six-inning shutout of his own in game one, fellow southpaw Brycen Mautz responded with five scoreless innings of his own. These two were the top of Springfield’s rotation all year and set the tone for the three-game series with their great performances.

Tulsa and Springfield traded zeroes for the first three innings and, after Mautz set down the Drillers in the top of the fourth, the Cardinals finally broke through. With one out, Springfield’s next three batters reached to put the Cardinals on the board. With runners on first and second and a 3-2 count to the next hitter, the Cardinals put the runners in motion on the pitch. Even though the pitch was called a ball, the Tulsa catcher still threw the ball to third but it sailed into the outfield to let the second run of the inning score and move the other runners up 90 feet. The third run would score on a forceout and that was all the Springfield pitching needed.

It looked like Mautz was going to let Tulsa chip away in the top of the fifth but an incredible relay on a deep double kept the Drillers off the board when the runner was thrown out at the plate. Mautz’ day would end when he got a flyout to finish the inning and he gave way to reliever Luis Gastelum to close the door and seal the victory. Gastelum was dominant in his two innings of work, setting down all six hitters in order and striking out three to lock down the save.

With the win, the Cardinals will now advance to the Double-A Championship that begins on Sunday in Springfield. The Cardinals will host the Midland RockHounds, affiliate of the Athletics, at 1:05pm to kick off the three-game series. The other games will be played at Midland on Tuesday and Wednesday, if necessary. All ticket and scheduling information can be found on the Springfield Cardinals website.