Naturals Blast Four Homers, But Fall in 2015 Opener
Published on April 10, 2015 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
MIDLAND, Texas - The long ball was something the 2014 Naturals were missing, but they got plenty of it in the 2015 season opener on Thursday night at Security Bank Ballpark. Northwest Arkansas slugged 4 home runs - including two by *Mike Bianucci* - but were unable to slug their way past Midland in a 10-5 loss.
Bianucci sent his first long one of the season into the RockHounds' right field bullpen in the second inning off Midland starter, *Zach Neal (1-0, 3.60) *to cut the Naturals' deficit to 2-1. His second home run was a curtain call to *Hunter Dozier's* solo home run in the sixth off reliever *Ryan Doolittle. *The third baseman smacked a 2-2 pitch into the right-field bullpen and on the very next offering from Doolittle, Bianucci smacked over the left-field wall to cut the Midland lead to 6-4.
Two runs would be all the closer Northwest Arkansas got as *Jorge Bonifacio* hit his first home run of the season in the seventh inning.
Bianucci finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, Dozier ended 2-for-4 with two runs score and Bonifacio went 2-for-5 in the loss. Northwest Arkansas out-hit the opposition 11-9 and had two more home runs than Midland.
Naturals' starter *Miguel Almonte (0-1, 13.80) *took the loss allowing four runs on four hits in two innings in his Double-A, debut. *LHP Daniel Stumpf *and *RHP Reid Redman *made their Naturals debut tonight while *LHP Sam Selman *and *RHP Malcom Culver *also threw in tonight's contest.
Redman tossed 2.1 innings of one-run baseball and struck out two. Culver fanned three batters in 1.1 innings of work. The Naturals pitching staff walked 13 Midland RockHounds.
The Naturals will send *RHP Glenn Sparkman *to the mound for his Double-A debut against *RHP Chris Jensen *for the RockHounds. First pitch is set for 7:00 with a 6:45 pregame show with *Benjamin Kelly *on AM-1030, KFAY.
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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- Midland Doubles-Up Naturals 10-5 to Open 2015 - Midland RockHounds
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- Naturals Blast Four Homers, But Fall in 2015 Opener - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
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