Northwest Arkansas Naturals Defeat Springfield Cardinals 9-6 - AA, Texas League

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com – Springfield - The Northwest Arkansas Naturals scored six times in the seventh inning, then held on for a 9-6 victory over the Springfield Cardinals on Thursday night at Hammons Field.  Mario Lisson’s grand slam off Cards’ reliever Josh Dew (0-2) snapped a 3-3 tie as part of a six-run seventh inning, as the Naturals dropped the Cards for a second straight game.  Trailing 9-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Springfield’s first five hitters reached to open the inning.  Jon Jay’s RBI single made it a 9-4 game.  Allen Craig would follow with a run-scoring single, making it 9-5.  After a walk to AJ Van Slyke loaded the bases, reliever Roman Colon was removed in favor of Kyle Crist.  Brandon Yarbrough grounded into a force out, as Jay scored to cut the deficit to three, at 9-6.  Crist got Luke Gorsett to pop up for the second out, then after walking Mark Shorey to reload the bases, got Casey Rowlett to fly out to the right-center field warning track, ending the Springfield threat.  Crist allowed a base hit to Jay in the ninth, but earned his first save by retiring Craig on a ground ball to end it.  The Naturals and Cards traded a pair of runs in the first.  Kila Kaaihue and Lisson had back-to-back run-scoring singles, giving Northwest Arkansas a 2-0 lead against Springfield starter Adam Daniels. Craig struck for a two-run blast off the scoreboard in left-center field in the bottom of the inning, tying the game at 2-2 against Naturals’ starter and eventual winner Julio Pimentel.  Pimentel allowed an unearned run in the third, when he threw away a ground ball off the bat of Tyler Greene, allowing Greene to reach third base.  Jay’s sac fly would bring Greene home to give Springfield their only lead of the night at 3-2.  Northwest Arkansas got even in the seventh, Jose Duarte reached on an infield single and eventually scored on a throwing error.  Lisson’s second homer of the year and Northwest Arkansas’ second grand slam in as many days gave the Naturals the lead for good at 7-3.  Pimentel (2-2) allowed three runs (two earned) in seven innings to get the win.  Cards’ starter Adam Daniels ran out of pitches in the fifth.  He allowed two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings in the no-decision.  Jon Jay and Shane Robinson both extended their hitting streaks, to 12 and eight respectively.  Springfield (12-15) now falls into a first place tie with the loss.  They send Jaime Garcia (3-2) to the bump on Friday night, while the Naturals will counter with left-hander Rowdy Hardy (0-2).

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