CLUTCH HITTING, STRONG BULLPEN EARNS NATURALS A WIN
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Logan Moon shot a two-out, two-run single up the middle in the seventh inning, vaulting the Naturals in front, 3-2 and the bullpen did its job with Reid Redman and Mark Peterson combining for a perfect final three innings of relief. Northwest Arkansas (47-56/18-15) salvaged the finale on Wednesday night, defeating Arkansas (49-54/17-16), 3-2, at Dickey-Stephens Park.
It took over six innings to solve the Travelers' starter, Tyler Carpenter (4-8, 5.46), but the Naturals recorded three straight one-out singles in the seventh by Mauricio Ramos, Cam Gallagher and Carlos Garica to set the table and jar Carpenter from the game. With reliever,Eduardo Paredes in the game, the right-hander uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Ramos to scamper home from third base to cut the deficit to 2-1 and moved Gallagher and Garcia into scoring position.
Two batters later, Moon drove a 0-1 pitch back up the middle to plate the tying and go-ahead runs, giving the Naturals' their first lead of the night.
Starter, Josh Staumont, worked 4.0 innings to open up the ballgame and dominated the Travelers bats. The flame-throwing right-hander struck out seven batters over his outing and made one mistake - a two-run home run - in the second inning, giving Arkansas an early advantage. Staumont final line read two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts to three walks, throwing 86 pitches, 47 for strikes.
Aroni Nina (1-0, 2.45) worked a scoreless fifth and sixth inning to earn the win before handing the ball over to Redman for the seventh and eighth innings. Redman struck out two of the six batter he faced on the night. Peterson notched his fifth save in six chances with a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a strikeout of his final batter.
Ramos led the offense with two hits on the night and recorded back-to-back multi-hit games in the final two games of the series. Garcia also finished with two hits on the night. Terrance Gore stole his 32nd bag on the season and has 71 career stolen bases as a Naturals, moving him into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time franchise stolen base list, trailing Lane Adams (82) for third on the list.
With the victory, the Naturals remain in first place by a game over the Travelers, entering play on Thursday night. Northwest Arkansas has held the top spot in the North Division for 20 days since the beginning of the second half on June 21.
The Naturals begin the final leg of the seven-game road trip on Thursday night in Springfield, Mo. opening a four-game series with the Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals).
Left-hander, Eric Skoglund (6-7, 3.44) will make his 20th start of the season and his second straight against the Cardinals. Countering for Springfield is right-hander, Luke Weaver (4-3, 1.31) in the series opener tomorrow night.
Game two of the series feature right-hander, Jake Junis (9-5, 2.92) while Yender Caramo (2-5, 2.60) is slated to start game three. The starter for the final on Sunday in Springfield is slated to be right-hander, Ashton Goudeau (3-10, 4.86).
Join the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, for a 6:50 p.m. Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show on Thursday night, leading up to the 7:10 p.m. first pitch on the flagship station of the Naturals, 92.1-FM, the Ticket from Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo.
Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Twitter @NWANaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime and #CrowntoCrown for all of our up-to-date information on the Season Nine of Naturals Baseball, tickets, groups, promotions, roster, season standings, player statistics, and updates on Naturals alumni.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark. For more information, including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.
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