MARTINEZ DOMINATES WITH 9 STRIKEOUTS IN 4-1 NATURALS WIN

Marcelo Martinez picked up his first win of the season, behind a dominant performance on the mound as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals picked up a 4-1 win over the Tulsa Drillers Tuesday night.

Across 6.0 innings, Martinez allowed just one run on two hits, both to Tulsa’s Jeren Kendall, while not walking a batter and striking out nine.

The Northwest Arkansas bullpen backed up Martinez, with Andres Nunez and Dylan Coleman combining for 3.0 scoreless innings to close out the game, striking out five. Coleman picked up the last out of the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his second save of the year.

Dairon Blanco left the yard in the second inning for the first time this season, a two-run shot that the Naturals did not look back from. NWA added a run in the third on a Brhet Bewley groundout that scored Nick Pratto, then Pratto (MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 Royals’ prospect) drove in Rudy Martin with a fielder’s choice in the eighth.

Blanco, Bobby Witt Jr. (MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 prospect in baseball) and Brewer Hicklen (MLB Pipeline’s No. 2254 Royals’ prospect) each contributed a two-hit effort, as six of nine Naturals batters reached with a hit tonight.

The Naturals look for three straight wins Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. against Tulsa once more, with right-hander Stephen Woods Jr. making his fourth start of the year on the mound.