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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Bats Erupt to Even Series in 12-2 Win at San Antonio

August 19, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SAN ANTONIO - The offense started early as the Naturals plated six runs in the first inning, four more in the third and added two more late to polish off the San Antonio Missions in game two of the series on Tuesday night by a 12-2 final at Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium. Each man in the starting nine reached base at least once while seven of the nine starters recorded at least one hit.

Northwest Arkansas (59-62/19-32) tagged San Antonio starter Casey Kelly early in the first inning with Raul Mondesi starting a chain reaction of three-straight hits. Alex Liddi's run-scoring single in the opening frame put the Naturals up 1-0; but that would not come close to final outcome.

After Bubba Starling plated the second run of the first inning with the bases loaded, Zane Evans smacked a bases-clearing, three-run double down the left field line to make it a 5-0 advantage. Evans scored on three pitches later with on a base-hit by Parker Morin to highlight the six-run inning.

Northwest Arkansas hung a crooked number up in the third inning plating four runs off Kelly (1-8, 4.94) highlighted by Lane Adams' two-run home run, his ninth of the season. Jorge Bonifacio's RBI single knocked Kelly from the game after 2.2 innings of work.

The early run support proved to be ample for starter Jonathan Dziedzic (9-6, 3.06) who worked through 5.0 innings allowing two runs - one earned - on four San Antonio hits with a strikeout to win his fourth game over his last five starts. Dziedzic lowered his ERA from 3.12 entering the game down to 3.06 to maintain one of the top four averages in the Texas League.

The Naturals scored two more runs in the eighth inning with Evans collecting his fourth RBI in the frame to polish off San Antonio (55-67/24-28), snapping the Missions' four-game winning streak.

Mondesi, Liddi and Morin all collected four hits on the night while Starling added three in four official at-bats. Bonifacio finished 2-for-6 on the night with an RBI while Ramon Torres extended his on-base streak to 25 straight games reaching base three times and bringing home a run in the eighth inning after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Liddi tallied his 32nd double of the season tying a career-high for the Italian utility man set back in 2011 while playing with Triple-A, Seattle.

Reliever Malcom Culver worked a perfect sixth inning in relief of Dziedzic striking out the side in order on 13 pitches. Newly added right-hander Paul Clemens tossed the final three frames of scoreless baseball to notch his first save of the season.

With the win, the Naturals now set up a rubber match against the Missions as right-hander Luke Farrell (3-3, 3.23) hunts for his third straight win on the season as he makes his 13th start of the year. Right-hander Bryce Morrow (3-3, 5.68) makes a spot-start for San Antonio in the series finale set for Thursday, August 20 at Wolff Stadium.

Tune in with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, with a 6:50 p.m. pregame show leading up the 7:05 p.m. first pitch 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 August 19, 2015


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