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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Slugfest swings in Naturals' favor in Game 2

September 10, 2009 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MO - One night after the Springfield Cardinals removed their starter before he completed two innings, the Naturals did the same, but got a different result as their offense more than overcame some shaky starting pitching as they beat Springfield 12-7 Thursday night at Hammons Field.

The win gave the Naturals a commanding two games to none series lead in the Texas League North Division Series and ensured the Naturals three opportunities at clinching the series win on their home field at Arvest Ballpark.

With the score knotted up at seven entering the sixth inning, Kurt Mertins drove in his fourth run of the evening, a sacrifice fly to bring in Marc Maddox, who had led off the frame with a double. That represented the go-ahead run which put Northwest Arkansas up 8-7, a lead the Naturals would not relinquish. The next batter, Jeff Bianchi, launched his second home run of the series with a deep shot over the left field wall to put the Naturals up 9-7.

Springfield's offense struck first, getting their starter Lance Lynn some support in the bottom of the first. Jim Rapoport led off with a double and tagged up on Daryl Jones flyout to right. Andrew Brown plated Rapoport with an RBI single, the first of his three hits on the night. Johnson got a double play ball off the bat of cleanup man Steven Hill to get out of trouble in the first.

The Naturals answered right back and then some in the top of the second. David Lough led off the inning with a homer to right, the start to a 4-for-5 effort for the outfielder. The Naturals would load the bases on a single by Corey Smith and walks to Cody Clark and Jarrod Dyson. Kurt Mertins followed Dyson with a bases-clearing double to give the Naturals a 4-1 lead.

Blake Johnson would surrender that lead in the bottom of the second, leading to his early departure. Springfield loaded the bases with nobody out on a single by Tyler Henley, a walk to Joe Mather, and a single off the bat of Aaron Luna. Tony Cruz followed and singled to left to score Henley, and Springfield caught a break when Pete Kozma's liner deflected off of Johnson and ricocheted through the infield to score Mather and Luna and tie the game at four. Johnson was able to get Jim Rapoport swinging and retire Daryl Jones on a popout to third, but Andrew Brown followed with an RBI double that ended Johnson's evening. Chad Orvella was summoned from the bullpen and fanned Steven Hill to stop the bleeding with the Naturals down 5-4.

Orvella surrendered a one out RBI single to Tony Cruz in the third and a sacrifice fly by Pete Kozma which put the Cardinals up by three.

The Naturals got a two-run homer from Marc Maddox in the fourth to come within a run, and got the tying run after chasing Lance Lynn, Springfield's starter, in the fifth. Ed Lucas drew a one out walk from Lynn and moved to second on a single by David Lough. Lynn's wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet, and Corey Smith drew a walk to load the bases and move Lynn's pitch count to 98, ending his evening. Casey Mulligan relieved and the first batter he faced, Vance Wilson, lifted a fly ball to right just deep enough to score Lucas and tie up the ballgame. Mulligan got Cody Clark to groundout to end the inning.

In the sixth, Mulligan (0-1) allowed the sacrifice fly from Mertins as well as Bianchi's homer, and ended up saddled with the loss. Lynn, the Cards starter, was charged with seven runs in 4 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits, walked four and fanned five as Springfield had its second inconsistent start from its normally reliable one-two starting pitching tandem of Trey Hearne and Lance Lynn.

Ben Swaggerty came on from the Naturals' pen in the sixth and, along with Aaron Hartsock, blanked Springfield for the final four frames. Combined they allowed just one hit and two walks, Chad Orvella (1-0), who fanned five and allowed a pair of runs in a 3 1/3 inning outing in relief of the starter Blake Johnson, who was charged with Springfield's first five runs, was credited with the win.

Northwest Arkansas scored three runs in the ninth on an RBI single from Vance Wilson and a two-run homer by Cody Clark. All three runs were charged to Springfield closer Eduardo Sanchez, who hadn't allowed the Naturals a single earned run in the 2009 season prior to Thursday night.

The series now shifts to Arvest Ballpark for game three, and game four and five (if necessary). Game three is slated for Friday night at 7 P.M. start time, and plenty of great seats remain available. Right-hander Brandon Dickson (8-10, 3.78) starts for Springfield opposite soft-tossing lefty Rowdy Hardy (4-4, 3.43) for the Naturals. The game can be heard live on KURM 790 AM and online at www.kurm.net.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. The Naturals have a toll-free ticket hotline (1-877-444-2637) for fans to purchase Naturals tickets. Our website, nwanaturals.com offers fans the opportunity to purchase tickets online and avoid lines at the ticket windows by printing their tickets at home or at the office.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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