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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Lerew completes gem; Naturals take Game 1

September 9, 2009 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MO - Anthony Lerew picked a heck of a time for his best pitching performance of the season, going the distance as the Naturals shutout the Springfield Cardinals 6-0 Wednesday in game one of the Texas League North Division Playoffs.

The right-hander allowed two hits in the top of the fourth inning but nothing more the remainder of the game in what was unquestionably the most dominating pitching performance in the Naturals short history. The veteran coming off Tommy John surgery won ten games during the regular season and appeared to get stronger as the season went on. He faced just two batters over the minimum, mowing his way elegantly through the Springfield lineup using just 73 pitches. He threw 57 of them for strikes, fanning four without issuing a walk.

The Naturals were able to get Lerew the little support he'd need in the first inning. Jarrod Dyson led off with a single and moved to third on an ensuing base hit from Kurt Mertins. With one out, Springfield starter Trey Hearne, their staff ace who posted a 12-3 record during the regular season, uncorked a wild pitch that scored Dyson for a 1-0 Naturals lead.

Mistakes continued for Springfield in the second, and again, the Naturals took full advantage. Corey Smith and Vance Wilson led off with back-to-back singles and were moved up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Cody Clark. Marc Maddox drew a walk to load the bases, and the next batter, Jarrod Dyson, reached first on a force when Springfield second baseman Colt Sedbrook booted what looked to be a potential double play ball. Both Smith and Wilson came in to score on the play to put the Naturals up 3-0.

Kurt Mertins brought in Maddox with a sacrifice fly, and Jeff Bianchi followed with a two run homer that cleared the left field fence to put the Naturals up by six runs. Hearne then issued a walk to Ed Lucas and a base hit to David Lough before Springfield manager Pop Warner turned things over to the bullpen. Reliever Ryan Kulik got Corey Smith, the tenth man to come to the plate for the Naturals in the inning, to ground into a force out, but the damage had been done.

Kulik and fellow relievers Gary Daley, Marco Gonzalez, and Chuckie Fick were saddled with 7 1/3 innings of work on Wednesday, and they performed admirably, allowing no runs and working around a bases loaded jam in the fifth. Hearne left having allowed six hits and six runs, two earned, in 1 2/3 innings. He walked two and fanned two.

Jim Rapoport singled to lead off the fourth for Springfield's first hit. After Colt Sedbrook grounded into a force play, Andrew Brown singled to left to put two runners on with one out. Lerew bucked down and got Joe Mather on strikes and got Tyler Henley to ground out, the first two outs amongst 17 consecutive Cardinal batters Lerew retired to finish his complete game effort and secure the Naturals first playoff victory ever.

The two teams will meet again in game two of the series, slated for Thursday night with a 7 P.M. start time. Right-hander Blake Johnson (8-8, 4.57) will go for the Naturals opposite Lance Lynn (11-4, 2.92), another right-hander, for Springfield. The game can be heard live on KURM 790 AM and online at www.kurm.net.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. The Naturals have a toll-free ticket hotline (1-877-444-2637) for fans to purchase Naturals tickets. Our website, nwanaturals.com offers fans the opportunity to purchase tickets online and avoid lines at the ticket windows by printing their tickets at home or at the office.

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