Baseball: Naturals Win Fourth Straight

 STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF @NWABenGoff Micah Gibbs, Northwest Arkansas Naturals catcher, hits a two-run double bottom of the fourth inning of the game against Thursday the Tulsa Drillers at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF @NWABenGoff Micah Gibbs, Northwest Arkansas Naturals catcher, hits a two-run double bottom of the fourth inning of the game against Thursday the Tulsa Drillers at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

Friday, June 20, 2014

SPRINGDALE -- The Northwest Arkansas Naturals equaled their longest winning streak of the season Thursday night.

Jason Adam had a season-high 10 strikeouts and Lane Adams hit his fourth home run in three games as the Naturals beat Tulsa 4-2 at Arvest Ballpark to earn their fourth consecutive win.

How They Scored

Minor League Baseball

Northwest Arkansas 4, Tulsa 2

Tulsa^100^100^000^—^2^7^2

NWA^101^200^00X^—^4^7^1

Castillo , Roberts (7) and Gonzalez. Adam, Alexander (6), Baez (8) and Gibbs. W – Adam, 2-6. L – Castillo, 2-6. S — Triggs (9). HRs – NWA, Adams (6).

The Naturals (28-45, 3-0) remained perfect to start the second half of Texas League play and were in control most of the way against Tulsa (28-34, 0-3).

"I think the biggest thing you look at is what our pitching's done," Naturals manager Vance Wilson said. "Starting in the middle of May rolling into June, we've been really good. It takes a little while to catch up to the league, especially offensively. We're starting to get timely hitting from everyone up and down the lineup.

"They're a good group of guys. We knew they would start playing better. The biggest thing is our pitching has been outstanding."

The Naturals took the lead for good on catcher Micah Gibbs' two-run double to right field in the bottom of the fourth. Gibbs' hit scored Cheslor Cuthbert and Justin Trapp, giving the Naturals a 4-2 lead.

Adam (2-6) was solid for his third straight start, striking out 10 and giving up six hits and one walk to earn the win in 5 1/3 innings. It was the right-hander's second win in three starts after beginning the season 0-6.

"He's made some adjustments," Wilson said. "He made a few mechanical adjustments (pitching coach Jim) Brower has helped him with."

Adams had another big night at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with a solo home run to deep left field in the bottom of the third inning. Andrew Triggs earned his ninth save of the year, striking out two while retiring the side in order in the top of the ninth.

SHORT HOPS

• The Naturals avoided a likely tying extra-base hit in the top of the eighth inning when right fielder Jorge Bonifacio hauled in Harold Riggins' deep two-out fly ball with his back to the wall.

• Adams' solo shot in the third was his fourth home run in 10 at-bats after homering just twice in his first 67 games. He also recorded his sixth multi-hit performance in his last 11 games.

• Adam's 10 strikeouts equaled or bettered his season high for strikeouts for the third consecutive game. He tied his season high with six against Arkansas on June 9, then broke it by striking out eight in his previous outing June 14.

Royals Pipeline: Naturals third baseman Hunter Dozier went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts while batting fifth in his AA debut. The 23-year-old prospect was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2013 draft and hit .295 with four home runs, 39 RBIs and a .397 on-base percentage in 66 games for Class A Wilmington, including hitting .329 since May 1.

On Deck: The Naturals will face Tulsa again in the second of the four-game series at 7:05 p.m. tonight. The Naturals will throw right-hander Tim Melville (1-6, 3.68 ERA) against Drillers right-hander Jon Gray (6-3, 3.39).

Today's Promotion: Strike's Birthday Postgame Fireworks Spectacular

On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1

On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com.

Sports on 06/20/2014