TEXAS LEAGUE

McClure wins game, friends

Northwest Arkansas shortstop Alex McClure (center), playing in only his sixth game in Class AA, celebrates with teammates Yem Prades (19) and Julio Rodriguez (21) after his ninth-inning single with two outs scored Carlo Testa from second with the winning run in a 3-2 victory over the Arkansas Travelers on Monday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
Northwest Arkansas shortstop Alex McClure (center), playing in only his sixth game in Class AA, celebrates with teammates Yem Prades (19) and Julio Rodriguez (21) after his ninth-inning single with two outs scored Carlo Testa from second with the winning run in a 3-2 victory over the Arkansas Travelers on Monday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

— There was some heat and pressure on the new kid.

Shortstop Alex McClure, playing in his sixth game since being promoted from Class A, singled in Carlo Testa with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Northwest Arkansas a 3-2 victory against Arkansas in front of a crowd of 4,080 Monday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

McClure was mobbed by his teammates on the infield as they celebrated not just a victory but getting started on a short vacation.

The Texas League All-Star Game is Thursday and all teams, minus the players who are participating, have three days off. No one wanted to play extra innings Monday especially with the temperatures in the mid-90s.

“It’s a silent, no-pressure thing,” McClure said. “It’s almost 100 degrees and everybody is anxious to get to the break. That’s the way to do it in regulation.”

Naturals Manager Brian Poldberg joked as he came out of the clubhouse that he wanted a fast post game interview because he had a six-hour drive back to Iowa. McClure’s RBI helped the Naturals split 2-2 with Arkansas in a series that saw three shutouts.

“All four games were back and forth,” Poldberg said. “Pitching was good, defense was good.”

Monday’s game was no different. Sugar Ray Marimon made his Naturals debut and pitched into the seventh, allowing 4 hits, 0 walks and 1 earned run, while Travelers starter Matt Oye gave up 8 hits and 2 runs in 8 innings.

“Outstanding, I can’t say enough about him to pitch eight innings in that heat,” Travelers Manager Mike Micucci said of Oye. “It was an unbelievable job. It was a well pitched game by both sides.”

The Naturals snapped a 20-inning scoreless streak with a run in the bottom of the first inning against Oye. After an opening out, Rey Navarro singled and moved to second when Brian Fletcher walked.

With two outs, Paulo Orlando singled to drive in Navarro and give Northwest Arkansas a 1-0 lead.

The Naturals extended their lead to 2-0 on Lorenzo Cain’s home run with one out in the fifth.

The Travelers cut the deficit to 2-1 on Travis Witherspoon’s two-out home run in the top of the sixth. Witherspoon’s home run ended a string of 14 consecutive batters retired by Marimon.

“That was the first time we’ve seen him,” Poldberg said of Marimon. “He pitched well. He pitched ahead. That was a great first start.”

But the Naturals couldn’t get Marimon a pitching victory in his debut. Reliever Ryan Dennick (4-1) came in the game in the seventh and cruised into the ninth, retiring seven consecutive batters before Jean Segura hit a home run with one out to tie the game.

Travelers reliever Andrew Taylor (2-2) retired the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth before hitting Testa with a pitch and walking Mario Lisson.

Taylor left an 0-2 slider a little too far over the plate and McClure pulled it down the third-base line to score Testa.

“Obviously, you want to get it done, and it feels good to do it,” McClure said. “It was a great week.”

MONDAY’S GAMES Northwest Arkansas 3, Arkansas 2 Springfield 5, Tulsa 1 San Antonio 2, Midland 1 Frisco 4, Corpus Christi 1

TODAY’S GAMES No games scheduled

UP NEXT FRISCO AT ARKANSAS WHEN 7:10 p.m. Friday

WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in Central Arkansas INTERNET travs.com PITCHERS Roughriders: TBD; Travelers: TBD WEEK AHEAD TODAY Off WEDNESDAY Off THURSDAY Texas League All-Star Game at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.

FRIDAY vs. Midland 7:10 p.m.

SATURDAY vs. Midland 7:10 p.m.

SUNDAY vs. Midland 6 p.m.

MONDAY vs. Frisco 7:10 p.m.

Sports, Pages 21 on 06/26/2012

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