Springfield Edges Northwest Arkansas

 STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Max Ramirez, right, Northwest Arkansas Naturals first baseman, slides in safely ahead of the tag by Springfield Cardinals third baseman Patrick Wisdon after hitting an RBI triple during the fourth inning Thursday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Max Ramirez, right, Northwest Arkansas Naturals first baseman, slides in safely ahead of the tag by Springfield Cardinals third baseman Patrick Wisdon after hitting an RBI triple during the fourth inning Thursday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

SPRINGDALE -- The Springfield bullpen did its job Thursday night at Arvest Ballpark.

Four Cardinals relievers combined to throw 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief to help Springfield notch a 4-3 win over Northwest Arkansas in Texas League baseball.

How They Scored

Springfield 4, Northwest Arkansas 3

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Northwest Arkansas^001^200^000^—^3^10^1

Mayers, Sherriff (6), Berg (7), Wright (8), Blair (8) and Stanley; Ferguson, Culver (6), Wood (9) and Morin. W-Mayers, 2-4. L-Ferguson, 7-9. S-Blair (1).

Springfield center fielder Charlie Tilson slapped a two-run double into the left-center field gap in the top of the sixth to give the Cardinals the 4-3 lead and the Cardinals bullpen did the rest.

Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson acknowledged the Cardinals got great work out of their relievers.

"It was a great pitched game all the way around," Wilson said. "Our guy struggled a little bit early. Any time you start bringing guys out, funky guys that throw side-arm you tend to struggle a little bit. That's why they're situational type guys."

Springfield reliever Jeremy Berg, a side-arming right-hander, threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out three, while teammate Seth Blair threw the final 1.1 innings for his first save. It was an odd situation in the eighth when Blair was summoned after left-hander Justin Wright was injured while warming up and left without throwing a pitch.

But Blair got catcher Parker Morin to line out to left with the tying run on second to end the inning and hold the one-run lead.

Tilson, who was called up from Class A on Tuesday, went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs and a run scored out of the lead-off spot for Springfield.

The Cardinals (14-20) pushed across two runs in the first against Naturals starter Andy Ferguson (7-9) thanks to a squeeze bunt single by James Ramsey and a two-out, run-scoring single by Breyvic Valera.

The Naturals (16-18) cut the 2-0 deficit in half with a two-out, RBI single by Orlando Calixte in the third, then took a 3-2 lead in the fourth Justin Trapp slapped a two-out single to score Max Ramirez for the lead.

Short Hops

• Naturals reliever Malcom Culver 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out four and walking one.

• Naturals center fielder Lane Adams remains sidelined with a bruised wrist and has been sidelined since July 6. He was red-hot at the time of the injury, hitting a robust .390 with four homers and 15 RBIs in his last 10 games.

• Springfield catcher Cody Stanley ranks second in the league in batting average (.301) and fourth in slugging percents (.461).

Extra Bases: Ramirez hit his first triple in three years on Thursday night and his ninth in 10 minor league seasons. ... Angel Franco extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a fifth-inning single. ... The Naturals have now scored 16 runs with two outs in their last three games.

Royals Pipeline: Former Northwest Arkansas Natural Matt Fields accounted for all three of Triple-A Omaha's runs on Wednesday night with a home run in the Stormchasers' 5-3 loss to Memphis. It was the 19th home run of the season for Fields, which is tied for third in the Pacific Coast League entering Thursday night's action.

On Deck: The Naturals continue their series against Springfield. Northwest Arkansas will send RHP J.C. Sulbaran to the mound against LHP Jonathan Cornelius for Springfield tonight at 7:05 at Arvest Ballpark.

Today's Promotion: There will be a special appearance by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and postgame fireworks, while adults may enjoy free samples from Gallo Barefoot winery.

On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1

On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com

Sports on 07/25/2014

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