NATURALS BEGIN ROAD TRIP WITH 5-0 LOSS AT MIDLAND

MIDLAND, Texas - Infielders, Jecksson Flores  and Erick Mejia  extended their personal hitting streaks to 13 and eight games, respectively; but the Naturals dropped the opener at Security Bank Ballpark by a 5-0 final score to the Midland RockHounds on Tuesday night.
Mejia wasted no time by singling in his first at-bat to open the ballgame. Flores extended the third inning against Midland starter, Norge Ruiz  (4-8, 4.63 ERA) with a double and later singled in the eighth to finish his night 2-for-4 at the plate.
Midland (53-67/20-31) scored three runs in the second inning off starter, Jace Vines (2-2, 6.52 ERA) and two more in the fourth inning to cut his night short. Vines went just four innings, allowed five runs on nine hits with a walk and a strikeout and was saddled with his second loss of the season.

Northwest Arkansas (58-62/23-27) could not manufacture anything offensively against Ruiz and was held to just seven hits on the night. Anderson Miller  helped out where he could with a pair of doubles in the contests, giving him a career-best 20 doubles on the season while Nick Heath and Kelvin Gutierrez  accounted for the other hits.
The offense finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position after entering the contest with a .429 average in such situations over the previous 10 games and stranded seven men on base.
The bullpen duo of left-hander, Cristian Castillo and right-hander, Grant Gavin combined for four innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts amongst the tandem.
The series continues on Wednesday night from Security Bank Ballpark with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. Left-hander, Emilio Ogando (9-6, 5.29 ERA) carries his 17.0 inning scoreless streak into the contest against right-hander, Brian Howard (2-2, 2.77 ERA) for the RockHounds.
Join the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, with a 6:10 Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to the 6:30 p.m. first pitch on the flagship station of the Naturals, 92.1-FM, the Ticket and across 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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