Northwest Arkansas starting pitcher Jason Adam tied a franchise record with 11 strikeouts Thursday night against Corpus Christi, but the Naturals’ offense provided no help.
Jake Buchanan and Carlos Quevedo combined for a three-hitter as Corpus Christi defeated Northwest Arkansas 5-0 at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Naturals, who slipped 11 games behind the first-place Arkansas Travelers in the Texas League North Division standings. The Travs’ game against San Antonio in North Little Rock on Friday night was rained out.
Adam (0-7) struck out 11 in seven innings of work, but he allowed home runs to George Springer in the sixth inning and Erik Castro in the seventh inning, plus two runs in the third inning.
The Naturals managed just three singles. Orlando Calixte had two of the hits, one to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning and another in the ninth with one out. Rey Navarro followed Calixte’s hit in the ninth with a single to put runners on first and third, but Quevedo struck out Matt Fields and Yem Prades to end the game.
Carlo Testa reached on an error in the second inning and Calixte walked in the sixth inning for the Naturals’ only other base runners.
Corpus Christi scored twice in the top of the third inning on a Jiovanni Mier double and a Rene Garcia single.
Springer hit his league-leading 16th home run with two outs in the sixth, while Castro led off the seventh with his fifth of the season.
The Hooks added a fifth run in the eighth when Drew Muren led off the inning with a double against reliever Edwin Carl. Mier singled and Garcia walked to load the bases. Muren scored when the Naturals couldn’t turn a double play on a Domingo Santana ground ball to third.
Sports, Pages 25 on 05/31/2013