STRONG BULLPEN, DUENEZ HOMERS IN NATURALS 5-2 WIN

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A trio of Naturals' relievers combined for 4.1 innings of scoreless relief and Samir Dueñez  aided the offense with his fifth home run of the season in Northwest Arkansas's 5-2 win over the Arkansas Travelers on Monday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. The win gives the Naturals the edge in the four-game series two games to one.
Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning, Emilio Ogando  walked the bases loaded with one out in the frame and fell behind clean-up hitter, Joey Curletta with a 2-1 count. Curletta lined a sharp drive up the middle only to be stabbed in mid-air by second baseman, Nicky Lopez  who flipped to covering Erick Mejia at second base to double-off the base runner, ending the Travelers threat in the third.
Northwest Arkansas (11-19) used that momentum immediately in the top of the fourth inning. Nick Dini ripped the first pitch from starter, Nathan Bannister (2-2, 5.87) down the leftfield line for his second double of the season and on the very next pitch, Duenez blasted a 431-foot home run over the righfield wall to extend the Naturals' lead to 3-0.

Ogando worked his way into the fifth, despite a high pitch count and left the game with a runner on and two outs in the frame after giving up a two-run double to Curletta to cut the Naturals' lead to 3-2. Left-hander, Sam Selman (1-1, 6.52) notched the final out to end the Arkansas rally.
Selman finished 1.1 innings, allowed one hit, one walk and one strikeout en route to his first win on the season.
The Naturals got one of the runs back after Jecksson Flores  laid down a bunt single to the third-base side of the infield with Bannister fielding, he threw the ball up the rightfield line to move Flores to second base. Donnie Dewees  dropped in a two-out base-hit to left and scored Flores to make it a 4-2 lead.
Franco Terrero  worked a scoreless seventh inning and got the first two-outs in the eighth inning before Jake Newberry entered to notched the final four outs to earn his fifth save of the year, tying him with Tulsa's Josh Sborz  for most saves in the Texas League.
Duenez tacked on his third RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to push the Northwest Arkansas lead to 5-2.
The Naturals pounded out 11 hits in the affair, marking the fourth time in the last five games and third straight game in which the club has tallied double-figure hits. Northwest Arkansas is 5-6 when collecting 10-plus hits a game.
Mejia finished 3-for-4 on the night to lead the offense while Dewees ended 2-for-5 on the night.
The Naturals look for the club's second series win on the season in the finale at Dickey-Stephens Park on Tuesday night. It would be the team's first series victory since the club took two-out-of-three from San Antonio in the Alamo City in mid-April.
Right-hander, Glenn Sparkman (2-2, 2.96) will take the hill, fresh off his 8.0 inning performance from last Thursday against Travelers' left-hander, Anthony Misiewicz (0-1, 3.00).
Join the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, with a 6:50 p.m. pregame show leading up to first pitch to the 7:10 on 92.1-FM the Ticket and the Naturals Radio Network.
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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