SPRINGDALE, Ark - Northwest Arkansas received a stellar start from right-hander Conner Greene but it was not enough as the Naturals (4-2) drop a close one to the Arkansas Travelers (5-1) on Tuesday night at Arvest Ballpark by a 4-3 final. The win for the Travelers guarantees the series victory
SPRINGDALE, Ark - Northwest Arkansas received a stellar start from right-hander Conner Greene but it was not enough as the Naturals (4-2) drop a close one to the Arkansas Travelers (5-1) on Tuesday night at Arvest Ballpark by a 4-3 final. The win for the Travelers guarantees the series victory and drops the Naturals a game back in the Texas League North Division standings.
Greene, the Naturals' Opening Night starter, made his second start of the homestand at Arvest Ballpark and was sensational. The 24-year-old allowed just three hits through 6.0 scoreless innings of work and struck out eight. The eight strikeouts are the most in an outing by a Naturals' pitcher this year, eclipsing the previous high of seven in relief by Jake Kalish on April 4. In two starts this season, Greene has thrown 12.0 innings and has given up one run on six hits while striking out 11 over that stretch.
The Naturals broke up the scoreless game with a run in the third then two more tallies in the fourth. Kort Peterson led off the third inning with a double to right field and eventually scored on a two-out single by Khalil Lee for the 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Emmanuel Rivera reached via an error then moved to third on a single by Gabriel Cancel . After a hit by pitch loaded the bases, Taylor Featherston delivered a RBI single and Peterson knocked in Cancel with a RBI groundout for the early 3-0 advantage.
Arkansas would not go away though as the Travs came back to even the score in the top of the seventh against reliever Andrew Beckwith . Donnie Walton started the rally with a one-out single and moved to second on a single by Aaron Knapp . Then with two outs, Evan White hit a RBI double to plate Walton to make it a 3-1 game. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, North Little Rock took advantage of a defensive miscue by the Naturals' third baseman to pull within one at 3-2. Chris Mariscal , the very next batter, was hit by an errant Beckwith pitch with the bases loaded to knot the game at 3-3. Northwest Arkansas would make another move to the bullpen as Yunior Marte replaced Beckwith and struck out Jordan Cowan to end the threat.
The game would remain tied at 3-3 until the top of the ninth when back-to-back doubles by White and Dom Thompson-Williams off Marte gave the Travelers the 4-3 lead. Traveler closer Art Warren (S, 2) worked in and out of trouble in the ninth as he got pinch-hitter Meibrys Viloria to line out to end the game with Travis Jones , the game-tying run, stranded 90 feet away.
Parker Markel (1-0) earned the win in relief after striking out the side in each of his 2.0 innings while Marte (0-1) took the loss.
Northwest Arkansas will conclude their season opening 7-game homestand tomorrow night - Wednesday, April 10 - with the series finale against the Arkansas Travelers (Double-A Seattle Mariners) at Arvest Ballpark. Gates will open at 6:00 p.m. for the 7:05 p.m. game on Wednesday night that will feature the first-ever $1.50 BBQ Slider Night at Arvest Ballpark. BBQ Sliders will be sold all night out of The Bullpen Concession Stand for only $1.50 or a 6-for-$6 deal. The Naturals will give the baseball to right-hander Jace Vines (0-0, 0.00 ERA) in the series finale and he'll be facing off against left-hander Ricardo Sánchez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) of North Little Rock. Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch against the Double-A Seattle Mariners.
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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