GARABITO GUIDES NATURALS TO SERIES OPENING WIN

SPRINGDALE, Ark - A twenty-nine minute pre-game delay did nothing to deter Naturals' starter Gerson Garabito on Monday night as the young right-hander offered his best outing of the season. Garabito earned his third win of the season as he guided Northwest Arkansas (24-32) to a 4-2 series opening win over the division-leading Arkansas Travelers (35-20) at Arvest Ballpark.
Making his 11^th start of the season, Gerson Garabito (W, 3-3) made the most of his third consecutive start against the Travelers. The Dominican Republic-native only allowed three hits through 7.0 scoreless frames while striking out five. It is the second straight start where he has worked 7.0 innings and he has now limited the Travs to six runs over his last 21.0 innings. The Naturals' starter entered the game with a 4.17 ERA, which was good for sixth best in the league, but has now lowered it to 3.65.

Ricardo Sánchez (L, 4-4), his counterpart from North Little Rock, was equally effective throughout most of the game as the lefty kept Northwest Arkansas off the scoreboard through 6.0 innings. Ultimately, the Naturals were able to get to him in the seventh as Gabriel Cancel connected on his league-leading 12^th home run, a solo shot, which gives him 49 RBIs - also best in the circuit. Northwest Arkansas wasn't done though as Nate Esposito delivered a two-out, run-scoring single for the 2-0 advantage.
The Naturals would add to it in the eighth as Emmanuel Rivera hit a two-run home run off reliever Darin Gillies for the 4-0 lead. Rivera, whom was named the Naturals' Player of the Month for May by the Kansas City Royals, now has eight homers this year.
The additional runs proved important for Northwest Arkansas as Nick Zammarelli of the Travs hit a two-run homer in the ninth to pull the visitors within 4-2 but that would be as close as they'd get as Franco Terrero (S, 6) closed it out for his sixth save.
The game was played at a brisk pace as it was completed in two hours and twenty-one minutes following the pre-game delay.
The Naturals improved to 17-8 when they out-hit their opponent (6-to-5 tonight) and 12-5 when allowing three or less runs.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their 7-game homestand tomorrow night - Tuesday, June 4th - with Game 2 of this 3-game series against the Arkansas Travelers (Double-A Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners) at Arvest Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and it's an Arvest Customer Discount Night with Johnsonville Buck-A-Brats. The Naturals will send right-hander Ofreidy Gomez (2-3, 4.35 ERA) to the bump while the Travelers will counter with a right-hander of their own in Andrew Moore (0-0, 3.09 ERA). Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch against the Double-A Mariners from Arvest Ballpark.
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-