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 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Stay Hot; Sweep RockHounds in Twin Bill

August 8, 2018 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, Ark - Back-to-back off nights did nothing to cool down Northwest Arkansas as the Naturals (20-25, 55-60) stay red hot by sweeping the Midland RockHounds (17-29, 50-65) in a doubleheader on Wednesday night at Arvest Ballpark. With two more wins in tonight's twin bill, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals have now won 16 of their last 21 games overall including seven straight victories at home where they own a record of 12-2 in their last 14 games played at Arvest Ballpark.

GAME 1 -- Northwest Arkansas Naturals - 4, Midland RockHounds - 3

Northwest Arkansas overcame an early Midland run and then held on late in the opener for a 4-3 win in Game 1.

The RockHounds opened the scoring with a run in the top of the second as J.P. Sportman scored on a RBI groundout by Luis Barrera; however, the Naturals would respond with a run of their own in the home half on an Anderson Miller sacrifice fly.

Northwest Arkansas would take the lead in the third inning as Erick Mejia drove in Nick Heath with a RBI double after Heath had singled and stole second earlier in the frame. The Naturals behind Nick Dini would make it a 4-1 advantage after the fourth as the Northwest Arkansas catcher slugged a two-run home run for his eighth big fly of the year to go along with 34 RBIs.

Tyler Ramirez of Midland would bring the RockHounds within a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and a run-scoring single in the seventh but Naturals' reliever Andres Machado (S, 6) would close the door on a final rally to secure the 4-3 victory.

Northwest Arkansas received yet another solid start this homestand, this time by right-hander Jace Vines. Vines (W, 2-1) collected his second win of the season and first at Arvest Ballpark as a Natural after tossing 5.0 innings of two-run baseball.

Norge Ruiz (L, 3-8) went the distance for Midland but took the loss as he gave up four runs on seven hits through 6.0 innings.

GAME 2 -- Northwest Arkansas Naturals - 2, Midland RockHounds - 0

In the nightcap, left-hander Emilio Ogando (W, 9-6) took the ball for the Naturals in Game 2 and offered arguably his best outing of the year. After getting a couple of early runs from the offense, the veteran tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and struck out five while only allowing two hits in the 2-0 shutout victory over the RockHounds. Ogando continued the tear he has been on of late as he is now 4-0 with five straight quality starts while owning the second-lowest ERA in the Texas League since July 17.

Naturals' reliever Pedro Fernandez (S, 2) followed Ogando and fired a perfect seventh inning to secure the doubleheader sweep. The pitching combination of Ogando and Fernandez faced the minimum of 21 batters in Game 2. Both batters that reached via hit against Ogando were retired in the form of a double-play in the very next at-bat.

The Naturals offense spotted their pitchers a run in the first and another in the second. Three straight singles by Erick Mejia, Jecksson Flores and Samir Duenez plated the first run as Duenez knocked in Mejia with a single to left-center and the 1-0 lead. Then in the second, Flores knocked home Anderson Miller with a two-out single to put the home team up by the eventual final.

Northwest Arkansas tallied seven hits in both games with Flores leading the way with three hits to raise his average to .320.

Northwest Arkansas will conclude their series against the Midland RockHounds, the Double-A Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, with the series finale tomorrow night - Thursday, August 9 - with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Gates will open at Arvest Ballpark at 6:00 p.m. for a Thirsty Thursday presented by Cigna. The 'Hounds will send right-hander Brian Howard (2-2, 2.36 ERA) to the mound while the Naturals have yet to name a starting pitcher for the series finale. Catch all of the live play-by-play action on Thursday night with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket starting at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch at 7:05 p.m. against Double-A Oakland Athletics from Arvest Ballpark.

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.


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