Yem Prades hit his first home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals never trailed in a 6-2 victory over the Springfield Cardinals on Thursday night at Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo.
The Naturals scored three more in the fifth and two in the eighth. Meanwhile, the Cardinals managed only home runs by Audry Perez in the fifth and Thomas Pham in the eighth. Springfield finished with just five hits against four Northwest Arkansas pitchers.
Prades’ home run to left field came just after Mitch Canham was thrown out stealing at second by Perez.
In the fifth, Roman Hernandez scored on Angel Franco’s double to give the Naturals a 2-0 lead. Canham and Prades drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning for a 4-0 advantage.
Perez’s home run against Naturals starter Justin Marks cut the deficit to 4-1 in the fifth, but the Naturals pushed the advantage to 6-1 in the eighth on a one-out, two-run home run by Matt Fields.
THURSDAY’S GAMES Arkansas 9, Tulsa 6 NW Arkansas 6, Springfield 2 Midland 6, Corpus Christi 0 San Antonio 2, Frisco 1 TODAY’S GAMES All times Central Corpus Christi at Frisco, 7 p.m.
San Antonio at Midland, 7 p.m.
NW Arkansas at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
Arkansas at Springfield, 7:09 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAMES Arkansas at Springfield, 6:09 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Frisco, 7 p.m.
San Antonio at Midland, 7 p.m.
NW Arkansas at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY’S GAMES San Antonio at Midland, 2 p.m.
NW Arkansas at Tulsa, 2:05 p.m.
Arkansas at Springfield, 2:09 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Frisco, 4 p.m.
MONDAY’S GAMES NW Arkansas at Tulsa, 11:05 a.m.
Arkansas at Springfield, 11:09 a.m.
San Antonio at Midland, 6:30 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Frisco, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY’S GAMES Springfield at NW Arkansas, 7 p.m.
San Antonio at Frisco, 7 p.m.
Midland at Corpus Christi, 7:05 p.m.
Tulsa at Arkansas, 7:10 p.m.
Sports, Pages 17 on 04/26/2013