Cards hang on for win, lead series
The Naturals had an early lead Saturday against Cardinals' starter Brian Broderick as Johnny Giavotella singled to center and Eric Hosmer followed with a two run homer, his third of the series for a quick 2-0 advantage.
After Naturals starter John Lamb threw two scoreless innings to start the game, the Cardinals would get a leadoff double from Daryl Jones and a walk from Nick Derba to start the bottom of the third. Jermaine Curtis followed with an RBI single to score Jones to bring the Cardinals within a run. Pete Kozma then singled to load the bases and chase starter Lamb from the game. Rowdy Hardy came in out of the bullpen and allowed a sacrifice fly to Matt Carpenter scoring Nick Derba to tie the game at two. Andrew Brown then singled to right field to load the bases again with one out, but Aaron Luna bounced into an inning ending double play to keep the score even.
The wheels fell off for Hardy and the Naturals in the fourth. Chris Swauger, Xavier Sruggs and Daryl Jones each singled to start the inning which loaded the bases. Nick Derba singled down the left field line to score Swauger and Scruggs to take a 4-2 lead. With runners on the corners, Jermaine Curtis then reached on a fielder's choice allowing Jones to score from third. Still with no outs, Hardy hit Pete Kozma to load the bases and was taken out of the game in favor of Brandon Sisk. Sisk immediately allowed an RBI single to Matt Carpenter to make it 6-2. Andrew Brown then drew a bases loaded walk to put the Cards up by a 7-2 margin. Aaron Luna struck out for the first out of inning and Chris Swauger popped up for the second out before Xavuer Scruggs tripled off the right field wall to clear the bases and give the Cardinals a 10-2 lead.
Springfield's offense kept the pressure on in the fifthas Nick Derba and Jermaine Curtis singled before Matt Carpenter doubled to score Derba. After a fly out, Aaron Luna singled through the left side to score Curtis to increase the Cardinals lead to ten runs.
Brian Broderick scattered just three hits after allowing the first inning homer while striking out five over his six solid inning of work.
Thomas Eager came in out of the Cardinals bullpen and after retiring the lead off batter, Eager hit Manny Pina with a pitch before allowing a two run homer to Anthony Seratelli which cut the Cards' lead to 12-4.
Springfield added another run to their total in the 7th as Matt Carpenter reached on a two base error before Andrew Brown lined a double into the left field corner to score Carpenter to make the score 13-4 .
Jason Buursma came in for the ninth and after retiring the first batter allowed five straight hits including an RBI double to Chris McConnell, an RBI single to Derrick Robinson and a two-run double to Johnny Giavotella to make the score 13-8. After a ground out, Clint Robinson singled to right to score Giavotella to bring the score to 13-9. Buursma then hit Nick Van Stratten with a pitch to put the potential tying run in the on-deck circle. Blake King then came in out of the bullpen and struck out Tim Smith to end the threat and put the Naturals' dream season on the brink of elimination.
With the Cards now in posession of a 2-1 series lead, the Naturals will need to win Sunday's road game in order to force a game five at Arvest Ballpark on Monday night. Left-hander Will Smith, making his Naturals debut, will go for Northwest Arkansas opposite left-hander Nick Additon (9-6, 4.43) for Springfield. First Pitch is set for 2:10 P.M, and you can listen live online or on ESPN 92.1 the Ticket.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. The Naturals have a toll-free ticket hotline (1-877-444-2637) for fans to purchase Naturals tickets. Our website, nwanaturals.com offers fans the opportunity to purchase tickets online and avoid lines at the ticket windows by printing their tickets at home or at the office.