TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Open Series with Win over Travs

Published on July 23, 2018 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, Ark - Outfielder Khalil Lee, the Royals Top Prospect, seems to be getting comfortable at the Double-A level as he collected his second straight three-hit game as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (8-21, 43-56) opened up their series against the Arkansas Travelers (16-13, 51-48) with a 4-2 victory on Monday night in front of a crowd of 3,901 at Arvest Ballpark.

Lee singled in the first, third and seventh innings in tonight's game. The biggest hit was his last as he broke open a 2-2 game with an infield single to short where the 20-year-old showed off his speed to beat the throw on a play that scored Nick Dini. The multi-hit game was Lee's fourth in his last six games while he is currently hitting .417 (10-for-24) during that stretch.

Northwest Arkansas jumped out in front of the third as Nick Heath and Lee singled to put runners on first and second. Jecksson Flores brought home Heath with a double to right before Lee scored on a RBI groundout by Erick Mejia for the early 2-0 lead.

The Travs got a run back in the fourth as Eric Filia scored on a RBI groundout by Dario Pizzano to cut the deficit to 2-1. Arkansas would then tie up the score in the sixth as they loaded the bases with no-one out. Joey Curletta brought home the game-tying run with a sacrifice fly before Scott Blewett induced an inning-ending double play, which proved to be a pivotal moment.

The Naturals would regain the lead on Lee's infield single in the seventh before adding an insurance run in the eight on a Kelvin Gutierrez RBI double. Gutierrez had a nice night at the plate as the third basemen went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a RBI.

Royals' left-hander and former 2016-2017 Natural Eric Skoglund made a Major League rehab assignment start for Northwest Arkansas and threw well in his 4.0 innings of work. Skoglund gave up an unearned run on three hits with two strikeouts. Blewett (W, 5-5), the scheduled starter, came in relief and fired 3.0 innings of one run baseball to earn his fifth victory of the year.

The Naturals then turned to the bullpen arms of Cristian Castillo (H, 2) and Franco Terrero (S, 4). The lefty-righty combination were brilliant late as Castillo struck out the side in the eighth before Terrero closed the door in the ninth for his fourth save.

The veteran Chase DeJong (L, 5-5) got the start for the Travelers and pitched well but ultimately took the defeat. The right-hander gave up three runs on seven hits and struck out seven through 7.0 innings before giving way to Trevor Frank.

Northwest Arkansas will continue their series against the Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, tomorrow night - Tuesday, July 24 - with a doubleheader with Game 1 scheduled to start at 5:05 p.m. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. for an Arvest Two for Tuesday with Johnsonville Buck-A-Brat. In Game 1 of the twin-bill, the Naturals will send Foster Griffin (4-12, 5.99 ERA) to the mound to square off against Williams Perez (2-0, 2.93 ERA) of the Travelers. Neither team has announced a starter for Game 2. Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket starting at 4:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch of Game 1 at 5:05 p.m.

Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Facebook and Twitter @NWANaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime and #CrowntoCrown for all of our up-to-date information on the 2018 season of Naturals baseball.

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 July 23, 2018


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