NATURALS FALL TO DRILLERS IN SERIES FINALE

SPRINGDALE, Ark - Outfielder Nick Heath hit his fifth home run of the season - all five have come in his last 35 games - but it was not enough as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (41-50/10-13) fall to the Tulsa Drillers (50-43/12-11) at Arvest Ballpark by a 9-2 final in Sunday afternoon's series finale. With the victory, Tulsa wins the 4-game series with three wins to just one defeat.
Tulsa came out blazing with two runs in each of the first two innings of the contest. Christian Santana and Cody Thomas provided the RBI singles in the first while Santana continued his big day with a two-run double in the second for the 4-0 lead.

Northwest Arkansas began to claw back into it in the home half of the second as Emmanuel Rivera singled and Taylor Featherston walked to begin the frame. With one out in the inning, Anderson Miller grounded into a force out but reached on a throwing error by second baseman Angelo Mora of Tulsa, which allowed Rivera to score to make it a 4-1 ballgame before the aforementioned Heath led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run to right field to cut the deficit to two at 4-2.
The score remained the same into the fifth before the Drillers extended their lead to 5-2 on a RBI single by Logan Landon . That would end the day for Naturals' starter Ofreidy Gomez (L, 6-7) as he was replaced by Emilio Ogando . The veteran left-hander was unable to get out of the jam as Drew Avans greeted him with a two-out, two-run double for a commanding 7-2 lead.
Gomez had been pitching well but ended up taking the loss in the finale as he was responsible for the seven runs while allowing 11 hits. Meanwhile, relievers Grant Gavin and Franco Terrero tossed 2.0 scoreless innings before giving way to Andrew Beckwith in the ninth where Jared Walker and Avans recorded RBI singles for the Drillers, which set the final score at 9-2.
Tulsa used an "opener" to start the game as reliever Jordan Sheffield gave up a run on one hit with two strikeouts in an inning. Parker Curry (W, 2-4) replaced Sheffield in the second and earned the win after tossing 5.0 innings of one-run baseball in relief.
The finale was played in three hours and twenty minutes plus an additional twenty-two minute delay for a brief rain shower.
Today's game concluded the homestand for Northwest Arkansas. The Naturals will enjoy a league-wide OFF day on Monday before opening up a 7-game road trip in Corpus Christi where they'll face the Hooks (Double-A Affiliate Houston Astros) for a 3-game series before visiting the Sod Poodles (Double-A San Diego Padres) in Amarillo for the final 4-games of the Texas swing.
Catch the play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket at 5:55 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch from Whataburger Field at 6:15 p.m. Northwest Arkansas will give the baseball to right-hander Jackson Kowar (1-2, 1.61 ERA) and he'll square off against fellow righty Chad Donato (1-0, 2.79 ERA) of the Hooks.
The Naturals will return to Arvest Ballpark on Wednesday, July 24^th for a 7-game homestand through Tuesday, July 30^th.
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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