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TL Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Drop Third Straight Despite Good Pitching and Hard Contact

May 15, 2021 - Texas League (TL)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


Across the last two games with the Tulsa Drillers, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals pitching staff has held Drillers batters hitless scoreless in 16 of the 18 innings played. But two four-run innings have been the difference Friday and Saturday, with the Drillers winning 4-2 and 4-3.

Alec Marsh (MLB Pipeline's No. 12 Royals' prospect) pitched 6.0 innings Friday night, striking out 11 Tulsa batters. He retired the first 10 he faced and the final eight, but allowed four straight batters to score in the fourth on a walk and three hits.

Saturday night was similar, with Stephen Woods Jr. surrendering four in the first and combining with the bullpen to hold the Drillers off the board the rest of the night.

Three of the five Naturals runs scored came from home runs in the last two nights, as Nick Pratto (MLB Pipeline's No. 9 Royals' prospect) left the yard in the second inning on Friday, then Dennicher Carrasco did the same with a solo shot of his own in the fifth.

MJ Melendez (MLB Pipeline's No. 14 Royals' prospect) crushed his team-best third of the season in the second on Friday, but RBIs from Carrasco and Bobby Witt Jr. (MLB Pipeline's No. 7 prospect in baseball) were not enough to help the Naturals get past the Drillers.

As a club, the Naturals were patient at the plate, combining for 11 walks over the two nights, but also could not come through with the big hit, leaving 16 runners on base across the two games.

Across both games, the Naturals hitters consistently made hard contact, with two of the ninth inning's three outs on Sunday both on balls hit over 100 miles per hour.

Adalberto Mondesi continued his MLB rehab stint with Northwest Arkansas and went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles out of the two spot in the batting order. Mondesi served as the designated-hitter after playing the previous two games at shortstop.

Jon Heasley (MLB Pipeline's No. 13 Royals' prospect) has the ball for the Naturals on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. as Northwest Arkansas looks to split its first home series. Hot dogs at Arvest Ballpark are just $1 Sunday afternoon, while kids 12 and under eat free, then can run the bases after the game. Tomorrow's Kids Eat FREE Family Sunday is presented by Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales Cinnamon.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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