Late Rally Falls Short in 8-6 Loss at Midland
September 16, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
MIDLAND, Texas - For the second straight night, Northwest Arkansas put together a late-inning rally plating two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but fell short in an 8-6 decision to the Midland RockHounds on Wednesday night at Security Bank Ballpark. The loss means the Naturals must win three straight games at Arvest Ballpark to capture their second Texas League Championship title.
Midland (2-0) built an early 6-0 advantage with a three-run home run by Renato Nunez in the opening inning off Naturals' starter Paul Clemens (0-1, 10.13) and added three more in the fourth inning.
Northwest Arkansas (0-2) came to life offensively against right-hander Chris Jensen (2-0, 5.25) who had no-hit the Naturals through four inning. The RockHound hurler issued a one-out walk to Bubba Starling to start the rally, two batters later, Frank Schwindel collected his first postseason hit and RBI plating Starling to crack the scoreboard.
Right-hander Aroni Nina pitched a scoreless fifth inning and sent the Naturals back to the plate trialing 6-1. Ramon Torres and Raul Mondesi both collected singles to set the table when Jorge Bonifacio took Jensen's one ball, one strike offering and belted it over the left-field wall to cut the deficit to 6-4.
Nina worked around a one-out walk and single stranding men at the corners by punching out the side in the sixth keeping momentum on the side of Northwest Arkansas. But Midland reliever Seth Frankoff silenced the bats in the Naturals' seventh inning and brought the edge back on the side of the RockHounds.
Midland plated two more in the seventh inning and extended their advantage back to a four-run cushion at 8-4.
Northwest Arkansas began the ninth inning with Starling being hit by a pitch from Brendan McCurry followed by a walk to Hunter Dozier and ended coming up with two runs in the top of the frame to make it an 8-6 game. But McCurry kept the score at that margin getting out of the inning without any further damage.
Bonifacio ended the night 2-for-4 with three RBI due to his first postseason home run while Torres collected a pair of hits and scored a run. Mondesi and Schwindel accounted for the other hits.
Clemens worked 2.2 innings allowing three runs on four this with three strikeouts. Right-hander Matt Murray followed and allowed three runs in his 1.2 frames. Nina ended with two scoreless innings and five punch out.
Left-hander Daniel Stumpf and right-hander Mark Peterson worked the final two innings in relief.
The two clubs will enjoy an off-day on Thrusday and prepare for Game 3 of the Texas League Championship Series. Right-hander Luke Farrell (0-0, 1.80) makes the start for Northwest Arkansas against right-hander Parker Frazier (0-1, 12.62) for Midland.
Tune in with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show at 6:50 leading up to the 7:05 first pitch of Game 3 on Friday, Sept. 18 on the flagship station of the Naturals, 92.1-FM the Ticket.
Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Twitter @nwanaturals throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime for all of our up-to-date information on tickets, groups, promotions, and team-related information.
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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Texas League Stories from September 16, 2015
- Late Rally Falls Short in 8-6 Loss at Midland - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Devenski Named Hooks Pitcher of the Year - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Manaea Pitches 'Hounds to Game One Win ... Naturally - Midland RockHounds
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