NATURALS SCORE LATE WIN OVER CARDINALS

SPRINGDALE, Ark - The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (28-29, 63-64) broke up a tie game with a run in the eighth inning and then held on in the ninth for a 3-2 win over the Springfield Cardinals (23-34, 56-71) on Wednesday night at Arvest Ballpark. The victory improves Northwest Arkansas to 24-9 since July 19 and 4.5 games back of first place in the Texas League North Division.
With the game tied at 2-2 entering the bottom of the eighth, Springfield turned to reliever Connor Jones (L, 5-5). Samir Dueñez greeted Jones with a double to left then advanced to third on a bunt single by Kelvin Gutierrez . The next hitter, Alex Liddi , grounded into a 6-3 double play but that was all that was needed to plate Duenez from third for the eventual game-winning run as Andres Machado (S, 8) came in to pitch the ninth and worked around a pair of singles to secure his eighth save of the year.
The Cardinals opened the scoring as Andy Young led off the game with a solo home run to left field for the early 1-0 lead. Naturals' starter Jon Perrin would settle in after that and limit Springfield to another run on five hits in his 5.0 innings of work.
Adam Wainwright made a MLB Rehab start for Springfield and was solid through the first 3.0 innings. The 14-year big league veteran tossed 44 pitches, 29 for strikes, and held the Naturals without a run on two hits, walked none and struck out three.

Following Wainwright's outing for Springfield was scheduled starter Casey Meisner . The tall right-hander came into the game in the bottom of the fourth and the Naturals offense responded immediately. Gutierrez worked a leadoff walk and scored a double to the center field wall by Liddi to tie the game at 1-1. Then a couple of batters later, Alfredo Escalera followed with a double of his own to drive in Liddi for the 2-1 advantage. With the double, Escalera extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
The Cardinals would tie up the game in the sixth as Evan Mendoza singled, advanced to second on a single by Andrew Knizner , and eventually moved to third base then scored on wild pitches by Luis Lugo to setup the late game heroics by the Naturals.
Yunior Marte (W, 4-4) earned the win and performed well for Naturals' Manager Mike Rojas out of the bullpen. Marte was called upon with trouble in the sixth and got out of the jam then proceeded to fire scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth.
With the victory, the Naturals have guaranteed at least a split of this 4-game set as they go for the series win tomorrow night.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their series against the Springfield Cardinals, the Double-A Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, with Game 3 of this 4-game set tomorrow night - Thursday, August 23 - with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Gates will open at Arvest Ballpark at 6:00 p.m. for the final Thirsty Thursday of the 2018 season featuring a Jersey Cooler Giveaway by Casey's General Store. The Naturals will give the baseball to right-hander Scott Blewett (8-6, 5.11 ERA) and he'll be opposed by left-hander Evan Kruczynski (2-1, 0.43 ERA) of the Cardinals. Catch all of the live play-by-play action on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket starting at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch against the Double-A St. Louis Cardinals.
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 the 2018 season 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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