EARLY RUNS HARM NATURALS IN 8-3 LOSS TO TULSA

TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa struck for seven runs in the first four innings and cruised to an 8-3 win over the Naturals in the series opener at ONEOK Field on Thursday night.
Northwest Arkansas (19-27) took the early the lead against the knuckle-baller JD Martin (2-3, 5.57 ERA) on a bases-loaded single by Travis Jones to jump to an early 1-0 lead.

The Drillers tied the game against starter, Conner Greene (3-3, 4.89 ERA) in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run, scored twice more in the third frame and put up four more in the fourth inning to take a 7-1 lead.
Greene finished just 3.1 innings - his shortest outing of the season - and allowed seven runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. He started strong striking out the first two hitters of the game and worked around a one-out single in the first inning; but could not recover from the two-run third inning.
Martin stymied the Naturals over seven innings of one-run baseball with his floating knuckleball. Following his departure in the eighth, Taylor Featherston doubled home Khalil Lee from third following his lead-off double and a single by Emmanuel Rivera . Rivera scored on a wild pitch by reliever, Yordy Cabrera to pull the Naturals within 8-3.
Right-hander, Andres Sotillet cover three and two-third innings of one-run relief with two strikeouts and Yunior Marte finished off the eight with a scoreless frame.
Jones finished with two hits and his 14^th RBI of the season. DJ Burt collected his sixth hit in the last three games with a single in the first inning and stole two more bases in the game, giving him four over the last two days.
The Naturals and the Drillers will play game two of the four-game series on Friday, May 24 at ONEOK Field with right-hander, Jace Vines (2-4, 4.98 ERA) taking the ball for his ninth start against left-hander, Victor Gonzalez (0-0, 3.86 ERA) for the Drillers, making his second Double-A start for Tulsa.
First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. with the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show beginning at 6:45 with the "Voice of the Naturals," Benjamin Kelly on 92.1-FM, the Ticket and the Naturals Radio Network.
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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