NATURALS FALL AS TRAVELERS CLAIM FIRST-HALF TITLE

SPRINGDALE, Ark - In a winner-take-all game at Arvest Ballpark on Tuesday night, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (0-1, 35-36) were unable to overcome an early deficit as they fall to Arkansas (1-0, 36-35) by a 7-1 final. The victory gives the Travelers the First-Half Title and secures them a trip to the Texas League Playoffs in September where they'll await the Second-Half winner.
After back-to-back losses, the Travelers raced out to an early lead in the top of the first. Chuck Taylor started things off with a one-out single then scored when Joey Curletta jumped on a first pitch for a two-out, two-run homerun for the early 2-0 lead.
Arkansas started to pull away a bit after a four run third inning. Braden Bishop led-off the frame with a single and advanced to third on a single by Eric Filia . After an intentional walk to Curletta loaded the bases, Chris Mariscal drove home two with a double to left field before Beau Amaral completed the scoring with a two-run single to give the Travs a commanding 6-0 lead.

Northwest Arkansas was able to get a run on the scoreboard in the home half of the sixth as Nate Esposito began the inning with a double to center field. After a walk to Donnie Dewees , the runners moved up on a groundout by Erick Mejia . Nicky Lopez then came to the plate and brought home Esposito with a sacrifice fly to left field to cut the deficit to five runs at 6-1.
The Naturals would mount their biggest threat in the seventh when they loaded the bases with nobody out after three consecutive singles by Jecksson Flores , Anderson Miller and Alex Liddi ; however, Traveler reliever Bryan Bonnell was up to the task. He coaxed a line out by pinch-hitter Xavier Fernández , struck out Esposito before giving way to left-hander Daniel Schlereth . The lefty followed suit and got Dewees to ground out to second to end the frame without surrendering a run.
The visitors would regain their six-run advantage with an insurance run in the eighth on a Yonathan Mendoza RBI single.
Northwest Arkansas fell behind early and just wasn't able to mount another comeback like they had done on Monday night. The Travelers out-hit them by a 12-to-6 clip with Curletta leading the way with three hits, two RBIs and a homer in the game.
North Little Rock starter Johendí Jiminian (W, 4-3) was extremely good throughout his 6.0 innings of work as he earned the win by limiting the Naturals to just a run on five hits. Emilio Ogando (L, 4-4) of Northwest Arkansas was tagged with the defeat.
Tonight's game served not only as a de facto First-Half Championship Game in the Texas League North Division but also as the first game of the Second-Half of the season as 69 games remain before the start of the Texas League Playoffs in September.
Northwest Arkansas will conclude their series against the Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, with the series finale tomorrow afternoon - Wednesday, June 20 - with first pitch scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Gates will open at 11:00 a.m. for Matinee Baseball at Arvest Ballpark. The Naturals will send LHP Jake Kalish (4-4, 5.40 ERA) to the hill where he'll be opposed by RHP Williams Pérez (1-0, 2.70 ERA) of the Travel. Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket starting at 11:45 a.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show.
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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