Naturals Walk-Off as Winners
Published on May 7, 2019 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
SPRINGDALE, Ark - With two outs in the ninth, Emmanuel Rivera drove home Gabriel Cancel with a double and the celebration ensued as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (12-18) walked-off as winners over the Midland RockHounds (16-14) on Monday night with a 3-2 victory. The win gives the Naturals a shot at the series split with another win in the finale on Tuesday morning.
Locked in a tie-game in the ninth, Northwest Arkansas relied on some two-out magic to end their four-game losing streak to Midland. With Cancel on first, having reached via a fielder's choice, Rivera lifted a ball to shallow right field. The diving attempt by Chase Calabuig came up empty letting the ball skip past him. Running on the play was Cancel and the Naturals' infielder had little trouble rounding the bases and scoring the game-winning run on the Rivera double and the post-game party began.
The duo of Rivera and Cancel have been thorns in the 'Hounds paws all season-long as they are hitting .414 and .333 respectively with 15 combined RBIs in seven games played this year against the RockHounds. Tonight was no different as Rivera collected two more hits to go along with a RBI and a run scored while Cancel scored his team-best seventh run against Midland.
The game began with three scoreless frames before Northwest Arkansas started the scoring in the fourth. After Rivera's first hit of the contest, Samir Duenez clubbed his first home run of the season deep over the wall in right field for the 2-0 advantage.
The 2-0 lead would remain until the seventh when the RockHounds would get to Naturals' reliever Andres Sotillet. Midland scored two runs on three hits as Jonah Heim had a RBI single while Kevin Merrell recorded a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-2 game.
Sotillet (W, 1-1) would settle into the game after the seventh and pick up his first win of the season as a result of the late-game heroics. He came into the game in relief of left-hander J.C. Cloney, whom made his Double-A debut for Northwest Arkansas on Monday night after being promoted from Advanced-A Wilmington over the weekend. The left-hander was brilliant in his first start at Arvest Ballpark as he tossed 6.0 scoreless innings while only allowing three hits, no walks and striking out three.
Northwest Arkansas will conclude their 4-game series against the Midland RockHounds (Double-A Oakland Athletics) as well as this 7-game homestand with the finale tomorrow morning - Tuesday, May 7 - with first pitch scheduled for 11:05 a.m. Tomorrow's game is a SWEPCO Education Day Game with gates opening at 10:00 a.m. for the numerous students and chaperones scheduled to be in attendance. Right-hander Conner Greene (2-2, 3.24 ERA) gets the baseball for the Naturals while the RockHounds will counter with a righty of their own in Matt Milburn (1-1, 4.35 ERA). Catch the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket at 10:45 a.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show.
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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- Naturals Walk-Off as Winners - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
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