NATURALS WIN OPENER BEHIND STELLAR SINGER START

SPRINGDALE, Ark - Northwest Arkansas received another stellar start from right-hander Brady Singer (W, 6-3) on Monday night as the Naturals (54-76/23-39) win the series and homestand opener over the Midland RockHounds (67-65/33-30) by a 7-2 final at Arvest Ballpark. The win is his sixth as a member of the Naturals and gives Singer three victories in his last three starts.
Singer, a former first round draft pick by the Kansas City Royals in the 2018 draft, was making his 13^th start of the season for Northwest Arkansas and was on top of his game against the Double-A Affiliate of the Oakland A's. The Florida-native went 7.0 innings for the third time as a Natural as he limited the 'Hounds to just a run on six hits while striking out seven. Over his last five outings, he is 4-1 while allowing 10 earned runs in 35.3 innings dating back to a start against Amarillo on Sunday, July 28^th.

The Naturals raced out to a 2-0 lead in the home half of the second inning. Outfielder Khalil Lee got the offense started with a leadoff single before advancing to second base on an errant pick-off throw and then scoring on a RBI single by Gabriel Cancel . With one out and runners at second and third, Freddy Fermin drove home Cancel with a sacrifice fly for the early advantage.
The RockHounds would cut their deficit in half in the top of the fourth inning when Tyler Ramirez doubled home Edwin Diaz .
With Singer dealing, Northwest Arkansas began putting the game away in the middle innings as they scored a run in the fifth and four more in the sixth. Kevin Merrell continued his hitting ways against his former team with a RBI single in the fifth before Jordan George , Blake Perkins , and Dairon Blanco all drove in runs in the sixth to give the Naturals a commanding 7-1 lead.
Midland would add their second and final run in the eighth on a RBI single by Nate Mondou off reliever Dan Tillo but that would be all the offense for the visitors as right-hander Franco Terrero struck out two in a scoreless ninth to end the ballgame.
After struggling to find offense on the recent trip to Texas, the Naturals pounded out 10 hits and scored seven runs against the starting pitcher and former first round pick Grant Holmes (L, 6-5) and Midland relievers Zack Erwin, and John Gorman . Four hitters out of the Natural nine recorded multi-hit games including Merrell, Blanco, Lee and George while Perkins drove in two.
With the win, Northwest Arkansas is now 31-23 when scoring first and improved to 33-28 at Arvest Ballpark on the season.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their 9-game in 8-day homestand on Tuesday, August 27^th with Game 2 of this 4-game series against the Midland RockHounds (Double-A Oakland A's) at Arvest Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on an Arvest Customer Discount Night with Johnsonville Buck-A-Brats. The Naturals will send right-hander Gerson Garabito (6-10, 4.14 ERA) to the hill to face right-hander James Kaprielian (2-1, 1.96 ERA) of the RockHounds. Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show.
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, promotions, group options and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.
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