Naturals bats awaken, pound Hooks 9-7

SPRINGDALE, AR- Starting pitcher Anthony Lerew lead the way as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals defeated the Corpus Christi Hooks 9-7 at Arvest Ballpark. The 7,452 that witnessed the ballgame were treated to dominate pitching early and offensive fireworks late. The crowd was the fourth largest ever at Arvest Ballpark.

Anthony Lerew (1-0) earned his first victory of the season as he lasted 6 2/3 innings on Tuesday afternoon. Lerew is the first Naturals starter to get credited with a victory this season. Lerew lasted six and two thirds innings allowing eight hits and three earned runs. He struck out four and walked one. On the season Lerew's ERA is 3.07.

The Naturals offense came to play on Tuesday afternoon. They racked up a season high in runs (nine), hits (13), and extra base hits (seven) against four different Hooks pitchers. Four Naturals players had at least two hits.

Cody Strait and Kurt Mertins both went three for four. Mertins added two doubles to go along with his three RBI. Strait finished up with one double and one home run, his first as a Natural. Jose Duarte and Jordan Parraz each had two hits; both of Duarte's hits were doubles. Northwest Arkansas scored in the final four at bats while tagging Polin Trinidad with his second loss on the season.

Northwest Arkansas (6-6) made things interesting down the stretch but were able to escape and preserve Anthony Lerew's first victory. Greg Holland was the first man out of the pen and lasted 1 1/3 inning while earning his second hold of the season. Chris Nicoll would replace Gilbert de la Vara on his way to picking up the Naturals first save. The bullpen gave up four runs but all were unearned.

Polin Trinidad completed five innings and gave up seven hits and five runs. He did overpower the Naturals at times; he racked up six strikeouts and issued zero walks.

Five Hooks players had two or more hits against the Naturals pitching staff. Outfielder Mitch Einertson paced the offense for Corpus Christi (6-6) with three hits and two RBI.

The Naturals will enjoy a day off on Wednesday before making the short trip down to North Little Rock. The Naturals and Arkansas Travelers will face each other for the first time during the 2009 season. The Naturals won the Arkansas Diamond Series 18-14 over the Travs in 2008.

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.