SCHWINDEL GRAND SLAM SENDS NATURALS PAST CARDINALS
SPRINGDALE, AR - Trailing 4-3 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Frank Schwindel stepped to the plate against Cardinals' reliever Ronnie Shaban and connected on a 1-0 pitch for a game-winning Grand Slam to send the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (22-34, 62-64) past the Springfield Cardinals (27-30, 57-70) by the score of 7-4 on Tuesday night at Arvest Ballpark.
Jorge Bonifacio began the eighth inning comeback with a single to left field. After consecutive outs, Hunter Dozier roped a double to left field to advance Bonifacio to third base. Parker Morin was then intentionally walked to set the stage for Schwindel's heroics. The Naturals first-baseman sent a blast over the left field wall for the team's first Grand Slam of the season and the 7-4 win over the Cards.
Northwest Arkansas' starter Jonathan Dziedzic came into tonight's contest against the Springfield Cardinals having won five of his last seven outings, while not losing a start since July 11. The Humble, Texas-native continued that dominant form with 6.0 shutout innings as he allowed only three hits, no walks, and struck out three. Dziedzic has led the Naturals' starting rotation throughout late July and during the month of August. Prior to tonight's no decision, he had gone 5-0 with a 1.54 ERA (7 ER in 41.0 IP) with 27 strikeouts to just eight walks in his last seven starts. With tonight's effort, Dziedzic lowered his ERA to 2.92, which is third best in the Texas League.
The Naturals offense provided their starter with some early run support in the game. With the game scoreless entering the bottom half of the second, the Naturals got things started behind a leadoff single by Alex Liddi. Lane Adams followed with a double off the left-center field wall to put runners at second and third with no out. Parker Morin got the Naturals on the board with a one-out, RBI single to score Liddi and then Adams would come around and score on a Kenny Diekroeger sacrifice fly to center. The single by Liddi extended his current hitting streak to 16 games, which is the longest active streak in the Texas League and the longest by a Natural this year. The Italian utility player has now recorded hits in 19 of 20 August games with 10 doubles, a triple and seven RBI during that span.
The Naturals would tack on another run in the bottom half of the fifth. Ramon Torres would connect on a one-out double down the left-field line to put a runner in scoring position. An out later, Bonifacio stepped to the plate and laced a 2-2 pitch to left field for a RBI single that scored Torres from second to make it a 3-0 ballgame. The RBI was Bonifacio's team-leading 60th of the season.
Struggling offensively all night, the Cardinals offense got on track against the Naturals bullpen in the seventh. Springfield loaded the bases with no outs. Bruce Caldwell got the Cardinals on the board with a RBI single and Patrick Wisdom followed with a sacrifice fly to center-field to make it a 3-2 game. Two batters later, Breyvic Valera, drove in two runs to give the Cardinals a brief 4-3 lead.
Daniel Stumpf (5-4, 3.84) earned the win for Northwest Arkansas with 1.2 scoreless innings of work. Benino Pruneda, Jr. (H, 2) collected his second hold of the season while Malcom Culver (S, 8) registered his eighth save of the year.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their series against the Springfield Cardinals, the Double-A Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, with Game 2 slated for 7:05 p.m. at Arvest Ballpark for our final Winning Wednesday presents #NaturalAwesomeness game of the year.
RHP Luke Farrell (3-3, 3.09 ERA) will toe the rubber for Northwest Arkansas and he will be opposed by RHP Corey Baker (5-5, 4.50 ERA) of the Cardinals. Tune in with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, at 6:50 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pre-Game Show leading up to the 7:05 p.m. first pitch at Arvest Ballpark on the Naturals' flagship station KQSM 92.1 - FM, the Ticket.
Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Twitter @nwanaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime for all of our up-to-date information on the Texas League playoffs, tickets, groups, promotions, roster, team news, and 2016 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.
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