NATURALS FALL IN SERIES FINALE, 5-0
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Arkansas Travelers (38-33/2-0) defeated the Northwest Arkansas (40-32/0-2) in the series finale on Wednesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park by a final score of 5-0.
Second baseman, Alex Liddi singled in the ninth inning to extended his hitting streak to seven games, one shy of his season-high of eight games recorded between April 25 and May 2. Balbino Fuenmayor tallied a pair of singles and now has at least two hits in nine of his last 16 games. Fuenmayor currently ranks second in the Texas League with a .347 batting average.
The Travelers etched four runs (three earned) on four hits in the first inning off rehabbing starter Kris Medlen (0-1), 5.63) and added a fifth run in the third inning to supply the support to their starter, Michael Brady (3-2, 1.89).
Medlen worked 4.0 innings, allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits with two walks and a strikeout. He threw 71 pitches, 43 for strikes.
The Naturals bullpen silenced the Travelers' bats over the final four frames between the trio of Mark Peterson, Sam Selman and Aroni Nina.
Peterson worked 2.0 perfect frames with a strikeout while Selman tossed his scoreless inning in the seventh with Nina polishing off the game with a shutdown ninth with two strikeouts.
Brady picked up the win working 6.0 scoreless with eight strikeouts allowing just four hits while he and reliever Austin Wood combined to retire 14 straight Naturals hitters over from the fourth through the eighth innings.
Northwest Arkansas heads home for a four-game series against the Tulsa Drillers (Los Angeles Dodgers) this weekend before the All-Star break begins. Right-hander J.C. Sulbaran (4-5, 4.69) takes the ball for his 13th start of the season with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch from Arvest Ballpark.
Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Twitter @nwanaturals throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime for all of our up-to-date information on tickets, groups, promotions, and team-related information.
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.
-Naturals-