Burns Leads Midland Past Northwest Arkansas

SPRINGDALE -- Midland center fielder Billy Burns used his bat and glove to take down Northwest Arkansas on Thursday night.

Burns went 3-for-5, scored three runs and stole two bases to lead the RockHounds to a 3-1 victory over the Naturals in front of 6,298 fans at Arvest Ballpark.

How They Scored

Midland^101^000^100^—^3^9^1

Northwest Arkansas^000^000^100^—^1^7^1

Jensen, Doolittle (7), Dull (8) and Forsythe; Sulbaran, Arguilles (7), Williams (9) and Graterol. W-Jensen, 5-7. L-Sulbaran, 5-6. Sv-Dull.

At A Glance

Texas League Standings

North Division

Team^W-L^GB

Arkansas^8-6^—

Northwest Arkansas^7-7^1.0

Tulsa^6-7^1.5

Springfield^5-9^3.0

Thursday’s Scores

Midland 3, Northwest Arkansas 1

Frisco 2, Arkansas 0

Corpus Christi 4, Springfield 2

Tulsa at San Antonio, (n)

Today’s Games

Tulsa at San Antonio, 5:05 p.m.

Frisco at Arkansas, 5:30 p.m.

Springfield at Corpus Christi, 6:30 p.m.

Midland at Northwest Arkansas, 7:05 p.m.

Burns finished with three singles, two that didn't leave the infield, but he also came up with a pair of huge defensive plays that also played a part in the RockHounds' win.

His first catch was a leaping grab of a Cheslor Cuthbert drive into the the left-center field gap with a runner on base to end the third inning. The other one was a diving snag hit by Angel Franco with two on in the eighth.

Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson pointed to Burns and his speed as a huge key in the game, but also the RockHounds overall defense.

"I saw Burns last year in the Carolina League and I know what he brings," Wilson said. "Ultimately, he caused two runs tonight. There's a reason why there's a place in this game for a guy like that. You've got to keep him off the base paths and quit hitting the ball in his general vicinity.

"They made seven plays tonight that either cost runs or base runners. The catch he had on Cheslor's ball was incredible. Tonight, I'll tip my cap to their defense."

Burns, who leads the Texas League in stolen bases, swiped his 41st and 42nd bases of the season in the seventh inning and scored on a Northwest Arkansas error to give Midland a 3-0 lead. The Naturals only run came on a sacrifice fly by Lane Adams in the seventh.

The RockHounds loaded the bases in the top of the first, but managed only one run as Burns scored on Jefry Marte's 6-4-3 double play for a 1-0 lead.

Midland added another in the third as Burns singled, moved to second on a balk and scored on Addison Russell's double down the left-field line.

Short Hops

• Midland shortstop Addison Russell is rated as the No. 1 prospect in the Oakland Athletics minor league organization and No 13 in all of baseball by Baseball America. He was sidelined by a hamstring injury for more than a month and entered Thursday's game hitting .326 in 12 games.

• Franco has been on fire recently, hitting .528 (19-of-36) in his last 10 games, scoring six runs and drive in six. He went 4-for-4 with RBIs and 2 runs scored in Wednesday's 6-5 win and also had two more hits on Thursday.

Extra Bases: Midland starting pitcher Chris Jensen hit his league-high 11th batter on Thursday when he plunked Juan Graterol in the second inning ... Only berm seats remain for tonight's series finale against Midland. ... Naturals starter J.C. Sulbaran turned in another solid outing, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits over 6.2 innings.

Royals Pipeline: Pitcher Sean Manaea tossed a scoreless inning for Class A advanced Wilmington against Potomoc on Wednesday, but did not return after a lengthy rain delay. The left-hander, who is rated as the No. 6 prospect in the Kansas City Royals organization by Baseball America, has struggled this season. He is 2-7 with a 4.75 ERA, but has notched 79 strikeouts in 60.2 innings.

On Deck: The Naturals will finish up a three-game series against Midland, at 7:05 p.m. tonight. Left-hander Sam Selman (3-5, 4.00 ERA) will oppose Midland RHP Sean Murphy (2-0, 3.06 ERA).

Today's Promotion: There will be a post-game fireworks display. In addition, the first 5,000 fans will receive a commemorative Fourth of July ticket.

On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1

On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com

Sports on 07/04/2014

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