All the Northwest Arkansas Naturals needed to end their slide was an appearance from Danny Duffy on a rehab assignment.
Duffy, a 24-year-old left-hander who pitched for Northwest Arkansas in 2010, made his first appearance on the mound in more than a year on a rehab assignment with the Naturals on Sunday. Duffy tore an elbow ligament pitching for the Kansas City Royals last May in Chicago. He had elbow ligament replacement surgery in June and made his first start Sunday.
Duffy pitched three scoreless innings in the first game of a doubleheader at Wolff Stadium in San Antonio, giving up 2 hits, striking out 4 and walking 2 to spark the Naturals to a 4-1 victory in seven innings.
The victory ended a five-game losing streak for the Naturals, who had lost 11 of their past 12 games before Sunday. San Antonio came back to win the second game of the doubleheader 1-0.
Former Arkansas Razorback Brett Eibner also contributed to the Naturals’ game 1 victory. He went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored 3 runs.
Northwest Arkansas scored a run in the first, one in the third and two in the fifth off San Antonio starter Jose De Paula (3-5), who gave up 4 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings.
Duffy, on a strict pitch count, gave way to Edwin Carl, Santiago Garrido and Matt Ridings, who combined to give up 1 run on 4 hits over the final four innings. Carl earned his second victory, while Ridings earned his first save.
The Naturals were held to four hits in the second game, spoiling the efforts of Sugar Ray Marimon (2-7), who gave up 1 run on 6 hits and struck out 6 in 6 innings.
The Missions’ only run came in the third inning when Rico Noel hit an RBI single with two outs.
SUNDAY’S GAMES NW Arkansas 4-0, San Antonio 1-1 Arkansas 8, Corpus Christi 6 Midland 3, Springfield 2 Frisco 3, Tulsa 1 TODAY’S GAMES All times Central Midland at Springfield, 12:09 p.m.
Frisco at Tulsa, 1:05 p.m.
NW Arkansas at San Antonio, 2:05 p.m. Arkansas at Corpus Christi, 4:05 p.m.
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/27/2013