SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (August 16, 2025)—Sam Armstrong threw seven shutout innings in the longest start of his professional career in a 6-0 Wichita Wind Surge victory over the Springfield Cardinals at Hammons Field.
The Wind Surge have now won back-to-back games and can take the season series over the Cardinals with a win in tomorrow’s series finale. While Armstrong and Pete Hansen dueled on the mound for a scoreless first four frames, Rubel Cespedes lined an opposite-field solo home run over the left field wall in the top of the fifth to put Wichita on the board.
Kaelen Culpepper later cracked an RBI single into the right-center gap to give the Wind Surge a 2-0 lead heading toward the bottom of the fifth inning. Jose Salas added on with a bases-clearing double to the wall in left in the following frame to give Wichita a 5-0 advantage. Armstrong ended his night with seven scoreless innings, seven hits, and a strikeout as the winning pitcher.
The righthander’s outing was both his longest outing as a pro and the longest outing by a Wind Surge pitcher this season. He’s now an even 1-1 within the Minnesota Twins organization after coming over from the Chicago Cubs system ahead of the Trade Deadline.
Hendry Mendez brought in an insurance run on a run-scoring single in the top of the ninth for a 6-0 score with Wichita out in front.
Darren Bowen threw two one-hit innings of relief and struck out Trey Paige to secure the combined shutout victory for the Wind Surge.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Sam Armstrong throws his longest professional outing. The start marked his fourth quality start of the season and his first with Wichita.
- Kala’i Rosario is up to a 14 Game On Base Streak.
- Jose Salas finishes 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, marking his first 3 RBI performance this year with the Wind Surge.
- Hendry Mendez gets a pair of hits & now sports a .375 batting average over 11 games played with Wichita after being dealt to the Twins near the Trade Deadline.
- The Wind Surge fielded four 1-3 putouts throughout the game.
Wichita finishes the series with the Springfield Cardinals on August 17 at 1:05 PM. The Wind Surge return to Equity Bank Park for their final homestand of the season, starting with the Arkansas Travelers on August 26. You can listen to Wind Surge games on ESPN Wichita 92.3 FM and windsurge.com or watch online at MiLB.TV and Bally Sports Live. For ticket information, please visit windsurge.com/tickets.