WITT COMES UP SINGLE SHY OF CYCLE IN 3-2 NATURALS WIN

Bobby Witt Jr. came a single shy of the cycle, Drew Parrish allowed just one hit in a five-inning start and Dylan Coleman struck out the side in the ninth to close the door in a 3-2 win for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals over the San Antonio Missions on Wednesday night.

On the first pitch of the game, Clay Dungan left the yard for his second leadoff home run of the year, the Naturals’ third of the season and second of the road trip (Blake Perkins led off with a home run June 10 at Frisco).

Witt Jr. (MLB Pipline’s No. 7 prospect in baseball) followed the home run with a triple. In the fifth, he hit a home run to right center field, his 11th of the season, to tie him for the team, league and Double-A lead (with Naturals teammates MJ Melendez and Nick Pratto).

In the ninth, Witt Jr. hit a broken-bat ground rule double to left field, but did not get another at-bat for an opportunity to complete the cycle.

Parrish made his second start with the Naturals and fired five innings of one-hit, one-run baseball, only allowing a run in the first. He consecutively retired the final 11 batters that he faced and faced the minimum beginning from the run he allowed.

After Parish’s four-strikeout performance, Yefri Del Rosario (MLB Pipeline’s No. 30 Royals’ prospect) threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and after taking over for Andres Nunez in the eighth inning, before Coleman recorded a four-out save, while striking out the side in the 9th.

Parrish picked up his first win of the season, improving to 1-1, while Coleman earned his fourth save, tying Josh Dye for the team lead.

Dungan and Melendez (MLB Pipeline’s No. 14 Royals’ prospect) both had a two-hit day, while six of the first seven hitters in the Naturals’ order recorded hits.

Northwest Arkansas looks to push back up to .500 Thursday, with the third game of a six-game series with San Antonio.