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Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Vines Shines as Naturals Defeat Hooks

May 2, 2019 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, Ark - All it took was two early runs for starter Jace Vines. Staked the an early lead, the big right-hander shined as the Naturals (11-16) defeated the Corpus Christi Hooks (13-14) by a 2-1 final on Thursday afternoon at Arvest Ballpark. The win by Northwest Arkansas evens up this 3-game series at a game apiece with the rubber match set for Friday night at 7:05 p.m.

Vines (W, 1-3) made the most out of his fifth start and sixth appearance of the season to earn his first victory of the season. The Texas-native entered the game with a 1.54 ERA in three games at Arvest Ballpark before tossing a season-high 7.0 innings while striking out five and only allowing two hits and a run. He carried a no-hitter into the seventh before it was broken up by an Abraham Toro one-out single to right. Toro would eventually score on a Josh Rojas single for the only blemish on his stat line.

Reliever Grant Gavin (H, 1) took over for Vines in the eighth and struck out two of the four batters he faced before giving way to Gabe Speier. Speier (S, 4) got out of a mini jam in the eighth before working a clean ninth for his league-leading fourth save.

The Northwest Arkansas offense doubled their output from Wednesday night in the first inning and it proved to be just enough. Khalil Lee worked a one-out walk before advancing to third on a double by Gabriel Cancel, which was his eighth two-bagger of the season. The clean-up hitter, Samir Duenez, would plate Lee on a RBI fielder's choice before Taylor Featherston drove in what would ultimately be the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly to left field to score Cancel for the 2-0 advantage.

Hooks' starter Jose Hernandez-Urquidy (L, 1-2) took the loss after giving up two runs on four hits through 5.0 innings of work.

Northwest Arkansas will continue their 7-game homestand with the series finale against the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A Houston Astros) tomorrow night - Friday, May 3 - with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tomorrow night's game features a T-Shirt Giveaway for the first 500 fans in attendance on a Fireworks Friday presented by all® detergent. The Naturals will give the baseball to right-hander Gerson Garabito (2-1, 3.91 ERA) and he'll square off against right-hander Bryan Abreu (0-1, 12.00 ERA) of the Hooks. Catch all the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on AM 1590 - The Ticket 2 at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch at Arvest Ballpark against the Double-A Astros.

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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