Naturals Take Game Three Behind Hosmer Homerun
That 2-1 margin is now also the Naturals' advantage in the best-of-5 title series, meaning a NW Arkansas win Saturday would give the Naturals the Texas League crown, while a RockHounds win would force a fifth and final game Sunday. Games 4 and 5 (if the 'Hounds can force it) will be played at Citibank Ballpark.
Pitching and defense were dominant in the game, virtually start to finish. Starters Ryan Edell and John Lamb were brilliant, with Edell going 7.0 shutout innings and Lamb allowing just one run over six-and-two-thirds.
In the RockHounds' 6th, Grant Green sent a towering drive high over the wall in left field, breaking the scoreless tie. Oakland's top choice in the 2009 draft (13th overall out of USC), Grant hit his second home run since joining the RockHounds in time for the final game of the South Division Championship Series.
The Naturals also knocked the ball out of the yard, but the swing came with a man on base. Mickey Storey, uncharacteristically, walked Derrick Robinson on four pitches with one out in the 8th. One out later, Eric Hosmer ripped a line drive to right for a 2-run home run, giving the Naturals the lead. Hosmer, an outstanding prospect who joined the Naturals in the second half following the promotion of Texas League Player of the Year Mike Moustakas, hit 13 homers in 50 regular season games. He added five more in Northwest Arkansas' 3-2 series win over Springfield, and his sixth of the post-season would put the Naturals within one game of the Texas League title.
A year ago, the RockHounds won the Texas League crown at Springdale, Arkansas, defeating the Naturals in four games. NW Arkansas is now a win away from doing the same at Citibank Ballpark. The 'Hounds, meanwhile, would like to force the issue to a Sunday evening winner-take-all.