TEXAS LEAGUE
NATURALS 5, TRAVELERS 3
SPRINGDALE --Northwest Arkansas catcher Micah Gibbs likes hitting against the Arkansas Travelers.
A lot.
"He's hitting about .800 against us," Travs Manager Phillip Wellman said. "We haven't figured out how to get him out.
"If he played us all the time, he'd probably be in Triple-A."
Gibbs is hitting .223 on the season, but he's at .350 against Arkansas (7 for 20) with five extra-base hits, including a home run that lifted the Naturals to a 5-3 victory Wednesday night at Arvest Ballpark before an announced crowd of 3,035.
"I have no idea," Gibbs said when asked why he hits the Travs so well. "I'm just glad it's against guys were competing against in the second half here.
"I guess I see the ball well against them."
Gibbs, who played at LSU, hit a two-run home run with two outs in the sixth inning to give the Naturals a 5-3 lead.
Gibbs hit a 1-0 pitch from starter Kramer Sneed (6-8) over the left-field fence after Cheslor Cuthbert had singled and stolen second.
Sneed then left the game after throwing 5 2/3 innings and allowing 6 hits and 5 earned runs.
"We had an extremely short bullpen and we probably left our starter in a little too long," Wellman said. "He sucked it up and gave us as much as he could.
"Hindsight is 20/20 and we probably left him in one hitter too long."
It was Gibbs' second home run this season and first since late May against Corpus Christi.
Gibbs said he hit a fastball from Sneed that cut over the middle of the plate.
"He sat on it and smoked it," Naturals Manager Vance Wilson said.
Arkansas had tied it 3-3 in the sixth inning when Matt Long drew a one-out walk, stole second and third, and scored on a groundout by Anderson De La Rosa.
"I wasn't real happy with how we let that run score," Wilson said. "So for us to come back and answer like we did was awesome."
Naturals starter Matt Murray went 5 innings, allowed 6 hits and 1 earned run, and had 6 strikeouts without a walk.
Angel Baez (1-4) got the victory with two innings of relief and closer Andrew Triggs earned his 15th save with two scoreless innings.
The Travs took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single by Adam Melker and a throwing error by Cuthbert, who played second base for the first time this season.
Naturals first baseman Max Ramirez hit a two-out, two-run single to tie the game 2-2 in bottom of the fourth inning.
The Naturals took a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning when Angel Franco doubled in Justin Trapp, who walked.
Northwest Arkansas (16-17) pulled within a game of the North Division-leading Travs (17-16).
"I was just looking for something over the middle of the plate," Gibbs said of his game-winning home run. "I tried to stay nice and easy, and it worked out.
"It felt good to come through and put us on top, especially in a big series like this."
Sports on 07/24/2014