TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Survive Late Scare, Beat Tulsa

Published on August 3, 2011 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


TULSA, OK - The Naturals were held to just four hits Wednesday, but took advantage of Drillers' mistakes and made those hits count as they outlasted Tulsa 5-4 at ONEOK Field. Down 1-0 in the fourth, the Naturals parlayed a Drillers' error, a walk, and a single by Jamie Romak to load the bases for Paulo Orlando, who tripled to the deepest part of the ballpark in center, clearing the bases for a 3-1 lead for Northwest Arkansas (20-19, 55-51). The ensuing groundout from Wil Myers plated Orlando for a 4-1 lead.

Bronson Sardinha's one-out homer in the second had given Tulsa (19-20, 52-57) the early lead against southpaw starter Wil Smith (10-8), who pitched 6 1/3, allowing three runs on four hits. He walked a pair and fanned five as he became the Naturals' first ten game winner this season.

Jamie Romak gave the Naturals what turned out to be much-needed insurance, taking Tulsa starter Dan Houston (3-3) deep with one out in the sixth. For Romak, it was his 20th home run on the season, making him the fifth Natural in four seasons (Kila Ka'aihue, Corey Smith, Mike Moustakas, and Clint Robinson) to reach that mark in a Northwest Arkansas uniform.

Houston was charged with all five Naturals runs, four of them earned, as he took the loss for Tulsa. The bullpen bent but didn't break as the Naturals were able to load the bases on a single and a pair of walks in the seventh but couldn't come up with a run as Tulsa turned a twin-killing on a grounder off the bat of Mario Lisson.

Tulsa cut the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh as Wilin Rosario led off with a ground-rule double and came in on a single by Mike Mitchell. Smith was then lifted in favor of southpaw Kevin Chapman from the Naturals' pen, and Thomas Field, who had drawn a one-out walk, was driven in by Erik Wetzel who chipped in an RBI single. Chapman was then able to get Texas League home run leader Tim Wheeler to ground out to end further damage.

But in the ninth, Mitchell reached on a one-out single for Tulsa, and, after Chapman fanned Brian Rike, had to be lifted for pitch count purposes. Blaine Hardy, on to record the final out, allowed another RBI single to Wetzel to cut the Naturals' lead to one. Wheeler followed up with a single and a wild pitch put the tying run at third, but Hardy was able to get Hector Gomez to swing at strike three to end the game, earning him his third save on the season.

Now back up by a game in the Texas League North, the Naturals and Drillers will have the rubber game of the three-game set on Thursday evening. Right-hander Jeremy Jeffress (0-1, 6.75) will make his fourth start of his stint in Northwest Arkansas as he faces right-hander Alex White, making a rehab start for the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies acquired White from Cleveland as part of a four-player package for ace pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. This season, the 22-year old right-hander has made four starts for Triple-A Columbus and three starts for the Cleveland Indians, where he was 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA. First pitch is at 7 P.M. and you can catch the broadcast on ESPN 92.1 The Ticket. This game can also be viewed online with MILB.TV (subscription required).

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Texas League Stories from August 3, 2011


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