NATURALS SWEPT IN NORTH LITTLE ROCK

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Northwest Arkansas came-up short in a pair of one-run games in Wednesday's double-header, falling 5-4 and 3-2 to the Arkansas Travelers at Dickey-Stephens Park. The Travelers completed the sweep with a two walk-off wins over the Naturals.
In game one, Northwest Arkansas (19-26) took a 4-1 lead in the third inning off starter, Ricardo Sánchez . After back-to-back two-out singles by Nick Heath and D.J. Burt , infielder, Gabriel Cancel roped a double down the leftfield line to give the Naturals a 2-1 lead. The next batter, Emmanuel Rivera clobbed his second home run of the season, sending it near the left-centerfield scored board. The ball cleared the grass berm in left-centerfield and pushed the advantage to 4-1.

Starter, Gerson Garabito finished five innings, allowed three runs on seven hits with three strikeout and left with a 4-3 lead. He handed the ball to left-hander, Gabe Speier . Arkansas scored the tying run against Speier in the sixth inning on an infield base-hit, aided by the sun.
The Travelers walked-off on Joseph Odom's single to leftfield with two-outs in the last of the seventh, clinching the series for Arkansas.
In game two, the Naturals led for the majority of the contests. Arkansas grabbed an initial 1-0 lead; but Burt led-off the third inning with a double down the leftfield line. He moved to third on a sac bunt by Heath and scored on a sac fly by Khalil Lee to tie the game.
Anderson Miller scored on a wild pitch from starter, Reggie McClain in the fourth and gave the Naturals' a 2-1 lead. Starter, Ofreidy Gomez worked five innings of one-run baseball with six strikeouts and scattered five hits.
Emilio Ogando threw a scoreless sixth inning and the Franco Terrero (2-3, 6.06 ERA) pitched the seventh. Terrero walked the first two batters and then allowed a single to load the bases. After striking out Kyle Lewis , he induced a ground-ball to second base. The force-out was made at second, but the relay throw back to first to complete what would have been a game-ending double play was wide, allowing the winning run to score.
The Naturals dropped three straight one-run games and have played in a league-high 21 one-run games, going 11-10 in such affairs. Northwest Arkansas has played in five straight one-run games, dating back to Saturday, May 18.
Burt led the offense on the day going 5-for-6 with a double and two runs scored. Heath finished 3-for-7 on the day with two stolen bases. The Naturals swiped six bags in the second game of the double-header, marking the third time this year the club has stolen six bases in a single game.
The seven-game road trip continues with a four-game series in Tulsa, Okla. against the Tulsa Drillers (Los Angeles Dodgers) at ONEOK Field. Right-hander, Conner Greene (3-2, 3.96 ERA) takes the ball in game one against knuckle-ball, right-hander, J.D. Martin (1-3, 6.25 ERA) for the Drillers.
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 AM-1590, the Ticket-2 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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