Northwest Arkansas will make its third appearance in the Texas League Championship Series beginning tonight and the Naturals will a face familiar foe.
The RockHounds, the defending Texas League champions, have squared off against Northwest Arkansas in the championship series in both 2009 and 2010 with the Naturals winning their lone title in 2010.
At A Glance
Texas League Championship Series
Best of Three
Tonight
Game 1: Northwest Arkansas (Dziedzic) at Midland (Manaea), 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Game 2: Northwest Arkansas (Clemens) at Midland (Jensen), 6:50 p.m.
Friday
Game 3: Midland (Frazier) at Northwest Arkansas (Farrell), 7:05 p.m.
Saturday
Game 4: Midland (Sanchez) at Northwest Arkansas (Pounders), 2:05 p.m. (if necessary)
Sunday
Game 5: Midland (TBA at Northwest Arkansas (TBA), 2:05 p.m. (if necessary)
In addition, the Naturals will face left-hander Sean Manaea in the series opener tonight in First Security Park in Midland. He was pitching for Northwest Arkansas a little more than a month ago, but was part of a trade that sent Ben Zobrist to Kansas City in late August.
Manaea had been sidelined by an injury most of the season, but has hit his stride late with Midland. The former Kansas City Royals first-round pick went 6-0 in 7 starts with a 1.90 ERA. He didn't get the win in the playoffs, but was still effective allowing two runs in seven innings of work.
Midland, the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, won eight of the 12 meetings between the two teams this season, including five of the last six. The RockHounds won the South Division Series in four games over Corpus Christi to reach the championship series.
The RockHounds will be without Texas League Player of the Year Chad Pinder, who was put on the disabled list over the weekend with a hamstring injury.
Midland won the second-half South Division title buoyed by one of the best offenses in the league. The RockHounds led the league in team batting average (.278) and second to Corpus Christi in runs scored. The Naturals used solid pitching and defense to sweep Arkansas in the North Division Series.
The Naturals, who won the first-half North Division title, rallied to win two of the three playoff games and snapped a 3-3 tie to win the third against Arkansas. Shortstop Raul Mondesi and catcher Parker Morin supplied the offense. Morin helped Northwest Arkansas walk-off with a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth in the series opener. He finished 5-for-10 in the series.
Mondesi struggled the last couple of weeks of the regular season, but broke a 1-for-24 skid with a game-tying two-run home run in the opener. He added two RBIs late in the series-clincher.
Paul Boyd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulb.
Sports on 09/15/2015