SINGER STRONG IN NATURALS 4-0 LOSS TO HOOKS

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Right-hander, Brady Singer , worked his second straight quality start; but unfortunately suffered his second straight loss. Northwest Arkansas dropped the middle-game with a chance to capture the series win on Wednesday night at Whataburger Field by a 4-0 final to the Corpus Christi Hooks.
 
Singer (2-2, 4.97 ERA) retired the first six batters faced and nine of the first 10. Corpus Christi struck for three runs in the fourth inning to take the lead against Northwest Arkansas. The first hitter reached on a fielding error and Singer proceeded to get the next two hitters - one via a strikeout.

He then allowed a single, hit a batter to load the bases with two outs in a scoreless game. Singer induced a groundball to third that was mishandled and turned into a three-run play, giving the Hooks a 3-0 lead. Singer stood tall and retired six of the last seven batters faced, four with a strikeout.
 
The 22-year old top prospect worked six innings, allowed two hits, three runs - all unearned - with one walk and six strikeouts against the one of the Texas League's top hitting clubs.
 
Meanwhile, Northwest Arkansas (42-51/11-14) presented multiple opportunities against Hooks' starter, Enoli Paredes (2-2, 3.89 ERA) in the first four innings. The Naturals had men in scoring position with less than two outs in all of the first four frames and could not come-up with the needed hit. Twice Northwest Arkansas had the lead-off hitter on and reach scoring position before the Corpus Christi defense occurred the first out.
 
The bats left nine men on base - eight in the first four innings - and went 0-for-9 with men in scoring position with all chances coming in from the first through the fourth frames.
 
Corpus Christi (45-50/12-14) scored all four of their runs unearned, capitalizing on three errors in the infield. Northwest Arkansas entered the contest having committed just one error in the team's previous five contests.
 
Right-hander, Franco Terrero allowed an unearned run in the seventh inning and struck out one. Grant Gavin pitched the eighth, struck out three and walked one. Gavin has not allowed an earned run in his last 17.0 innings of work, spanning 14 games. He's struck out 26 hitters over that stretch.
 
Northwest Arkansas hunts for the club's first series win in Corpus Christi, Texas since August, 2016 in the rubber-match of the three-game set on Thursday, July 18 at Whataburger Field.
 
Right-hander, Gerson Garabito (5-6, 4.04 ERA) takes the hill for his team-leading 19^th start of the season. Garabito owns a 1.93 ERA in his three starts in July and has worked a quality start in his last two outings. Right-hander, J.B. Bukauskas (1-4, 5.91 ERA) will go for the 18^th time and his 13^th start for the Hooks in the game.
 
Join the "Voice of the Naturals," Benjamin Kelly on 92.1-FM, the Ticket and the Naturals Radio Network for a 5:55 Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to the 6:15 p.m. first pitch.
 
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.
-Naturals-