TL Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Late Inning Rally Falls Short, Naturals Drop Series Finale 11-10

June 27, 2021 - Texas League (TL)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


The Northwest Arkansas Naturals rallied late, scoring four runs between the seventh and eighth innings, but came up short in an 11-10 loss to the Arkansas Travelers Sunday afternoon at Arvest Ballpark.

It seemed that every inning the Naturals scored, the Travelers had some sort of counter. After the Naturals took a 5-3 lead with a five-run third inning, the Travelers countered with a five-run fourth to take the lead for good.

When the Naturals scored one in the fifth, the Travelers countered with two in the sixth. When the Naturals scored one in the seventh, the Travelers countered with one in the eighth.

While Northwest Arkansas scored three runs in the eighth, they couldn't get the tying run home from third and were shut down in the ninth inning, retired 1-2-3.

Arkansas jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring a run in each of their first three frames. But Northwest Arkansas stormed back, as MJ Melendez (MLB Pipeline's No. 13 Royals' prospect) capped the five-run third inning with his 13th home run of the season, a three-run shot to right field.

Melendez added his fourth RBI of the game in the fifth, when he singled home Rudy Martin, who also had two RBI.

Martin singled in a run in the third, then added another in the eighth.

Clay Dungan went 2-for-5 with a couple of runs scored, he tripled and scored in the seventh on a Bobby Witt Jr. (MLB Pipeline's No. 7 prospect in baseball) groundout, he scored again in the eighth on a Nick Pratto (MLB Pipeline's No. 9 Royals' prospect) single.

Dairon Blanco put together a three-hit game, going 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. He nearly tied the game in the ninth inning, but was robbed in left-center field of what would have been either a home run or at least extra bases.

Combined, the two teams totaled 21 runs on 27 hits, stranding 18 runners on base.

Angel Zerpa (MLB Pipeline's No. 28 Royals' prospect) took the loss in his second start of the week, surrendering eight runs on eight hits over 3.0+ innings, striking out four.

Andres Nunez, Collin Snider, Nolan Watson and Carlos Sanabria combined for six innings out of the bullpen, limiting the Travelers to three runs. Combined, the five pitchers struck out 13, including two from Sanabria in a 1-2-3 ninth.

Northwest Arkansas (22-23) hits the road for two weeks beginning Tuesday for seven games in Springfield against the Cardinals before six in Wichita against the Wind Surge.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics



Texas League Stories from June 27, 2021


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