TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Cardinals Score Five in Ninth, Win It 6-5

Published on May 11, 2019 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Pinch-hitter, Johan Mieses, hit a game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to erase a 5-1 deficit and Conner Capel singled past the drawn-in infield to score the winning run. Springfield walked-off a 6-5 winner over the Naturals on Saturday night at Hammons Field to take a two games to one series advantage.

Northwest Arkansas (13-21) started hot in the early frames against Springfield starter, Johan Oviedo. Trailing 1-0 going into the second inning, Travis Jones sparked an extra-base hit extravaganza. He doubled down the rightfield line then proceeded to trade places with Kort Peterson who doubled him home with a gapper to left-centerfield. Following a walk to Blake Perkins, two batters later with two outs, Nick Heath tripled in two runs to push the Naturals in-front, 3-1.

On the very next pitch, Khalil Lee then doubled into the left-centerfield gap and scored Heath to complete the four-run frame. The Naturals added the fifth run in the third inning. Emmanuel Rivera doubled to begin the inning and scored on Peterson's base hit to right.

Starter, Gerson Garabito protected the 5-1 lead with five innings of one-run baseball. He scattered seven hits and struck out five in the no-decision effort. Left-hander, Emilio Ogando covered the sixth through the eighth inning with three frames of perfect relief and three strikeouts. Ogando owns a 1.71 ERA over his last eight appearances, consisting of 21.0 innings of relief work.

Gabriel Cancel's double in the ninth inning put the extra-base hit total at six for the game and put the double total at five. The five doubles are a season-best for the Naturals and the six extra-base hits are tied for a season-high, previously set on April 11 at Springfield. The Naturals also stole a season-high six stolen bases with Heath leading the way with three.

Grant Gavin (3-3, 7.07 ERA) took the loss for Northwest Arkansas after giving up back-to-back hits to begin the ninth, he plunked second baseman, Irving Lopez on a two-strike pitch and gave-up the game-tying grand slam against Mieses. He exited the game with a runner on an no outs in the ninth. Andres Sotillet gave-up the game-winning single with one-out in the inning.

The one-run loss marked the eighth one-run defeat this season. Northwest Arkansas is now 8-8 in one-run affairs. The four-run lead lost is the largest lead lost this season.

The series finale is on Sunday, May 12 as the Naturals look for a series-split. Right-hander, Ofreidy Gomez (1-2, 4.20 ERA) takes the hill for the Naturals against right-hander, Williams Perez (3-1, 4.86 ERA) for the Cardinals.

Join Benjamin Kelly for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show beginning at 3:50 p.m. leading up to the 4:10 first pitch on 92.1-FM, the Ticket and on the MiLB First Pitch app.

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.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from May 11, 2019


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