GRIFFIN DAZZLES IN DEBUT IN 5-1 WIN AT FRISCO

FRISCO, Texas - Left-hander, Foster Griffin tossed 6.0 innings of one-run baseball in his Double-A debut and stymied the sticks of Frisco in 5-1 win at Dr. Pepper Ballpark on Tuesday night to start the six-game roadtrip with a win. The victory increases the Naturals' win-streak to four straight games.
From the outset, the presented itself as a pitcher's duel with right-hander Connor Sadzeck (3-3, 4.81) and Griffin (1-0, 1.80) both working scoreless first innings. Northwest Arkansas (26-23) jumped on Sadzeck in the visiting half of the second. Alfredo Escalera led the frame off with a broken-bat single into center which was eventually followed by a two-out walk to Logan Moon .

A Sadzeck fastball squeaked by the reaching glove of Jose Trevino behind the plate and moved Escalera and Moon both into scoring position. Luis Villegas made his counter-part pay with a full-count, two-out, two-run single - his first of the season - giving the Naturals a 2-0 lead.
Elier Hernandez extended the lead off the hard-throwing right-hander, Sadzeck, when he took a 1-0 fastball up and in over the leftfield wall for his first home run of the season.
Griffin allowed just one run in the fifth inning and retired five of the final six hitters faced in his 6.0 inning performance. The left-hander struck out three batters, walked one and threw 87 pitches, with 56 finding the strike zone on the night to earn his first win of the season.
Jack Lopez added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning off reliever, Garrett Reed. With two men on first and second base, Villegas bluffed a sacrifice bunt and hit a towering fly ball to allow both runners to move up to second and third respectively. Lopez doubled into the left-centerfield gap and extended the lead to 5-1.
Luis Rico worked 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and closer, Jake Newberry , notched the final five outs for his league-leading seventh save of the season. Rico struck out three batters in his outing.
Lopez finished 3-for-4 on the night to lead the offense. The utility infielder has nine hits over his last four games with three going for extra bases. He's brought home a total of seven runs during the four-game stretch.
The Naturals pounded out 12 hits on the night and handed Sadzeck his first career loss against the Northwest Arkansas in his fourth career start. It's the first victory of the season for the Naturals over the RoughRiders and the club will look to cinch the series in Game 2 on Wednesday night at Dr. Pepper Ballpark.
Right-hander, Ashton Goudeau (2-4, 3.51) takes the ball for his 13^th appearance and third start of the season against right-hander, Ariel Jurado (5-3, 3.86) for Frisco.
Join the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, with a 6:45 a.m. pregame show, leading up to the 7:05 p.m. first pitch on the flagship station of the Naturals, 92.1-FM, the Ticket.
Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Facebook and Twitter @NWANaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime and #CrowntoCrown for all of our up-to-date information on Season 10 of Naturals baseball.
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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