SPRINGDALE -- The high-powered Northwest Arkansas lineup had no answer for two of the top pitching prospects in the Houston Astros organization.
Corpus Christi starter Vincent Velasquez and reliever Michael Feliz combined for 15 strikeouts and held Northwest Arkansas to four hits as the Hooks defeated the Naturals 4-1 before 3,100 fans in Arvest Ballpark on Tuesday.
Corpus Christi 4, Northwest Arkansas 1
Corpus Christi^000^002^00!^—^4^10^0
NW Arkansas^000^001^000^—^1^4^1
Corpus Christi^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG
Kemp, 2B^5^1^1^0^0^1^5^.323
Mier, SS^5^0^1^1^0^1^1^.262
Aplin, RF^5^0^2^1^0^0^4^.444
White, 3B^5^0^1^0^0^2^5^.305
Gregor, 1B^4^0^0^0^0^3^2^.281
Meredith, LF^3^1^2^0^1^0^0^.298
Kemmer, DH^3^0^1^0^1^0^1^.261
Pena, R, C^3^1^1^0^0^0^1^.280
Hernandez, T, CF^3^1^1^1^1^1^2^.189
Totals^36^4^10^3^3^8^21^
BATTING
TB: Mier; Kemmer; Pena, R; Meredith 2; Aplin 2; White; Hernandez, T; Kemp. RBI: Aplin (5), Hernandez, T (16), Mier (24). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kemp 2; Gregor; White 2. SAC: Pena, R. Team RISP: 3-for-11. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Aplin (7, 2nd base off Selman/Evans).
NW Arkansas^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG
Franco, 2B^4^0^0^0^0^0^2^.322
Mondesi, SS^4^1^1^1^0^0^0^.237
Bonifacio, J, RF^3^0^0^0^1^2^0^.238
Fuenmayor, 1B^4^0^1^0^0^3^0^.362
Dozier, 3B^4^0^0^0^0^4^2^.227
Evans, C^3^0^0^0^0^3^0^.318
Bianucci, DH^3^0^0^0^0^1^0^.298
Liddi, LF^3^0^1^0^0^2^0^.279
Gore, CF^3^0^1^0^0^0^0^.284
Totals^31^1^4^1^1^15^4^
BATTING HR: Mondesi (3, 6th inning off Feliz, M, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Gore; Mondesi 4; Fuenmayor; Liddi. RBI: Mondesi (7). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Dozier; Franco. Team RISP: 0-for-2. Team LOB: 4. FIELDING E: Evans (1, fielding). DP: (Franco-Fuenmayor-Mondesi).
Corpus Christi^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA
Velasquez (W, 2-0)^5.0^3^0^0^1^8^0^1.40
Feliz, M (S, 1)^4.0^1^1^1^0^7^1^2.25
NW Arkansas^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA
Dziedzic, J (L, 1-3)^5.0^3^2^2^1^3^0^3.76
Stumpf^2.0^3^0^0^0^3^0^2.05
Selman^1.0^1^0^0^0^2^0^3.50
Nina^0.1^3^2^2^2^0^0^7.64
Culver^0.2^0^0^0^0^0^0^2.95
Dziedzic, J pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.
WP: Velasquez.Umpires: HP: Nestor Ceja. 1B: Matthew Czajak. 3B: Lee Meyers. T: 2:35. Att: 3,100.
Velasquez, the No. 4 prospect for Houston as rated by Baseball America, gave up three hits and struck out eight in five innings of work. Feliz, the No. 5 prospect, struck out five and gave up one hit in four innings of work. Tuesday's game was the Double-A debut for Feliz after he started the season at Class A-advanced Lancaster.
"You have to tip your hat, two good arms," said Naturals manager Vance Wilson. "We made a lot of mistakes, fundamentally, that we haven't seen in a while. We will address that because we didn't pick the pitching up."
The Hooks took a 2-0 lead with two runs in the sixth on just one hit. Teoscar Hernandez started the inning with a walk and scored from third after Naturals catcher Zane Evans dropped a pop up in front of home plate. The ball bounced off Evans' glove and rolled towards the Naturals dugout as Hernandez scored.
Tony Kemp then upped the lead to 2-0 when he scored on a double-play.
Northwest Arkansas (29-15), which has the second best batting average in the Texas League, cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth when Raul Mondesi greeted Feliz with a solo home run. Feliz then retired the final 12 batters he faced.
Corpus Christi (30-14) then added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to win the first game between the top two teams in the Texas League.
Short Hops
• Naturals starter Jonathan Dziedzic took the loss after going five innings. Dziedzic retired the first 11 Hooks batters he faced but left in the sixth after a walk, a single and an error gave Corpus Christi a 1-0 lead.
• The Naturals put runners at first and third in the first inning and at first and second in the second inning but failed to score a run.
• Kansas City General Manager Dayton Moore will be at Arvest Ballpark on Saturday for a book signing for his new book, More Than A Season: Building a Championship Culture. Moore will sign books from 5-6 p.m. on the concourse.
Extra Bases: Mondesi's home run was the Naturals 51st home run of the year and the 35th solo home run. ... The 13 strikeouts by the Naturals was the most this season. ... The Naturals are now 19-5 at Arvest Ballpark this season.
On Deck: Northwest Arkansas will send right-handed pitcher Miguel Almonte (4-1, 2.92 ERA) to the mound tonight at 7 p.m. Corpus Christi will send right-hander Kyle Westwood (1-2, 5.01 ERA) to the hill. Baseball America rates Almonte as the No. 6 prospect in the Royals farm system.
Promotions: Winning Wednesday. If the Naturals win, all tickets from tonight's game are good for a free reserved ticket to the June 10 game against Tulsa.
On The Air: 92.1 The Ticket KQSM
On The Web: www.naturals.com
Sports on 05/27/2015