Ogando Deals Naturals a Series Opening Win
August 21, 2018 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
SPRINGDALE, Ark - Naturals left-hander Emilio Ogando (W, 11-6) has been as dominant as a starting pitcher can be since July 22. He continued his winning ways he collected his career-best sixth consecutive victory after dealing Northwest Arkansas (27-29, 62-64) a 4-1 win over the Springfield Cardinals (56-70, 23-33) in the series opener at Arvest Ballpark on Tuesday night.
Ogando, made his 24th start of the season and he was electric once again. The 25-year-old fired 7.0 innings of scoreless baseball in the victory and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a single by Johan Mieses. That was all of the offense that Springfield was able to muster against the lefty as he picked up his 11th win of the year and extended his scoreless innings streak to 31.0 consecutive frames. The scoreless innings streak is a franchise-best while the 11 wins lead the Texas League.
With the victory in tonight's game, Ogando continued his utter domination of the Cardinals this season where he owns a 4-1 record in six starts while only allowing two earned runs in 32.2 innings including back-to-back scoreless performances.
The Naturals offense wasn't required to do a lot on Tuesday night but provided just enough in the middle portion of the game. In the fourth inning, Samir Duenez got the Naturals' on the board with a long two-run home run over the wall in right-center for the 2-0 lead. Then in the fifth, Alex Liddi singled and scored a single by Kort Peterson that was misplayed by Mieses in right field. Peterson would eventually come around to score on a two-out single by Erick Mejia to give the Naturals a 4-0 advantage.
The game remained 4-0 in favor of Northwest Arkansas until the ninth when the Cardinals would collect their lone tally. Mieses, the offensive player of the game for Springfield, singled and scored on a John Nogowski single to set the final score at 4-1.
Left-hander Gabe Speier followed Ogando out of the Naturals' bullpen and tossed 2.0 innings of one-run ball. Meanwhile, Cardinals' starter Matt Pearce (L, 0-6) fell to the Naturals for a second time as he gave up three earned runs in 5.0 innings.
Mejia led the Northwest Arkansas offense with two hits and an RBI while also recording his 33rd stolen base of the season.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their series against the Springfield Cardinals, the Double-A Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, with Game 2 of this 4-game set tomorrow night - Wednesday, August 22 - with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Gates will open at Arvest Ballpark at 6:00 p.m. for the final What's It? Wednesday of the 2018 season. The Naturals will send right-hander Jon Perrin (0-1, 3.00 ERA) to the mound to square off against right-hander Casey Meisner (1-1, 3.24 ERA) of the Cardinals. Catch all of the live play-by-play action 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 against the Double-A Cardinals 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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Texas League Stories from August 21, 2018
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