TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Win 40th Game of the Season, 3-1 over Arkansas

June 21, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Right-hander Christian Binford was due for another quality start since he had not achieved one since May 18; but he continued his dominance of the Arkansas Travelers (35-33) on Sunday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. The Hagerstown, Md. native tossed 6.0 innings, scattered six hits and allowed just one run with four strikes to secure the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (40-29) 40th win of the season and Binford's second straight.

Binford (2-2, 5.12) retired the first seven batters and faced adversity in two innings allowing just one Travelers run to cross. The right-hander received a heads-up defensive play by shortstop Kenny Diekroeger in the fifth inning to nab the speedy runner Jared Mitchell attempting to advance from second to third on a ground ball right in front of him.

The Naturals' starter danced around trouble again in the sixth allowing two men to reach scoring position with Northwest Arkansas holding 3-1 lead. He struck out Drew Maggi looking for the second out of the frame and them endured a 10-pitch at-bat with Arkansas' catcher Anthony Bemboom which Binford eventually won getting Bemboom to fly out to right field to retire the side and end his night after 97 pitches, 66 found the strike zone.

Binford is now a career 3-0 against Arkansas in four starts made with a 1.80 ERA.

The offense came to Binford's aid in the fourth inning after Travelers' starter Kyle McGowin (4-5, 5.43) held the Naturals scoreless through three. Alex Liddi sparked the offense with a single into left. Two batters later, Balbino Fuenmayor rattled McGowin when he smacked his 19th double of the year to plate Liddi from third base.

The base eventually loaded after a pair of walks to Hunter Dozier and Bubba Starling which brought Zane Evans to the plate. Evans lifted a 2-2 pitch to centerfield to score Fuenmayor from third base to extend the advantage to 2-0.

Kenny Diekroeger then lined a singled into centerfield to score Dozier from third base giving Northwest Arkansas a 3-0 lead.

The Travelers run crossed in the fifth on an RBI fielder's choice by Sherman Johnson.

The bullpen stayed stout against Arkansas with left-hander Daniel Stumpf working 2.0 innings of hitless and scoreless baseball to convert his third hold of the season. Right-hander Malcom Culver secured his fifth save in as many tries with a perfect ninth inning. Northwest Arkansas's backend men now holds a 2.42 ERA against the Travelers in 13 games against this season.

Liddi led the offensive charge with a 2-for-4 night recording his 16th double of the season to account for two of the Naturals five hits.

The 40 wins for Northwest Arkansas is the most by the club since the Naturals won 44 games in the second half of the 2010 season. That same club won 42 contests in the first half of the same year.

The final game of the first half features left-hander Jonathan Dziedzic (4-3, 3.61) who is coming off fourth win of the year against the Springfield Cardinals on Wednesday. The southpaw will square off against the Travelers' all-star hurler Albert Suarez (6-5, 3.20) with a 7:10 first pitch from Dickey-Stephens Park on Monday, June 22.

Tune in with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, on Tuesday at 6:55 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to the first pitch on the Naturals flagship station, 92.1 - FM, the Ticket from Arvest Ballpark.

Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Twitter @nwanaturals throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime for all of our up-to-date information on tickets, groups, promotions, and team-related information.

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



Texas League Stories from June 21, 2015


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