TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Offense Comes Alive as Farrell, Naturals Salvage Finale

August 9, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


TULSA, Okla. - June 11th at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, Okla. was the last time Sunday's starter Luke Farrell earned a win. The 24-year old right-hander found his second of his Double-A career working 7.0 one-run innings in an 8-1 win over the Tulsa Drillers as Northwest Arkansas won their third straight series finale at ONEOK Field.

Farrell (2-3, 3.39) set the tone for the night working around a lead-off double and a walk to begin his night. The West Lake, Ohio native went on to retire seven straight as the offense backed him throughout the night.

Alex Liddi drove in the first run of the night in the third inning off Drillers' starter Chris Anderson (9-7, 4.19) plating Ramon Torres to take an early 1-0 advantage. The surge continued for Northwest Arkansas (56-57/16-27) in the fourth with Parker Morin scoring two-runs with a double and he came around to score on Torres's RBI double to extend the lead to 4-0.

The Naturals exploded for 14 total hits on the night, the most the club has collected since pounding out 15 knocks on July 28 in a 10-4 win over Arkansas.

Farrell's final line read 7.0 innings of one-run baseball scattering four hits, two walks and striking out five on the night. The right-hander turned in the second straight 7.0 inning performance by a Naturals starter following Jonathan Dziedzic's seven-inning no-decision on Saturday, August 8.

Two more runs crossed in the sixth inning for the Naturals with doubles by Torres and Raul Mondesi fueling the runs. Single tallies were recorded in the eighth inning on an RBI base-hit by Mondesi and Bubba Starling put the icing on the cake in the ninth inning with his 8th home run of the season en route to the 8-1 win.

Three Naturals recorded three-hit games with Liddi finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI and his 28th double of the season. Morin ended his evening 3-for-5 with three runs batted in and a pair of two baggers while Torres collected three hits in four at-bats with a pair of doubles and two runs scored.

Northwest Arkansas has won three straight series finales and seven of their last eight in sets.

The bullpen stayed strong tonight with left-hander Daniel Stumpf facing the minimum in the eighth inning while Mark Peterson worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.

The Naturals will have their first off-day on Monday, August 10 since July 14 after playing 26 straight games.

A six-game homestand against the Texas League South Division is set to commence at Arvest Ballpark on Tuesday, August 11 with the San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres) coming to two for a three-game series followed by three contests with the Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston Astros) beginning on Friday, August 14.

Right-hander Brooks Pounders (1-1, 2.31) will take the ball in game one against the Missions while right-hander Kyle Zimmer (2-1, 2.16) works game two. Left-hander Jonathan Dziedzic (7-6, 3.23) is slated to start game three against San Antonio.

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 August 9, 2015


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