Naturals Shutout Travs, 1-0

North Little Rock, AR-The Arkansas Travelers (32-31) offense was shutout for the fourth time this season in a 1-0 defeat to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (31-32) on Monday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. The loss drops the Travs lead over the Naturals in the first half division race to just one game with seven to play. Tulsa and Springfield each lurk just two games off the pace. Both teams made several spectacular defensive plays but a defensive mistake turned out to be the difference. A throwing error on a ball being returned to the infield allowed a runner to advance into scoring position with that man later scoring for the only run of the night. Meanwhile, the Travs offense missed several good opportunities including two on and none out in two of the first three innings. They finished the night 0-6 with runners in scoring position and hit into three double plays.
Moments That Mattered
* The Travs got their first two hitters of the game on base but left them stranded. They also had back-to-back hits to open the third but a double play stalled the momentum in that inning.
* Jecksson Flores singled to open the fifth and moved to second when Chuck Taylor's return throw to the infield came in on a hop and evaded second baseman Chris Mariscal. Flores would score two pitches later on a base hit from Anderson Miller.
* Arkansas threatened in the eighth with two on and one out in the eighth but a double play ended the inning.
Notable Travs Performances
* CF Braden Bishop: 3-4
* SS Yonathan Mendoza: 3-3
* Max Povse: 8 IP, 6 H, UER, 2 BB, K
Up Next
The Travs will try to get a split of the four game series on Tuesday night with RH Chase De Jong (4-3, 3.95) on the mound against RH Zach Lovvorn (3-3, 5.25). First pitch is at 7:10 for a Zoosday Tuesday and Baseball Bingo. The game will also be broadcast on the Sports Animal 920, the First Pitch App, TuneIn radio and milb.tv.