SPRINGDALE -- Changing teams didn't change the outcome for Northwest Arkansas.
The Arkansas Travelers scored five runs in the fourth inning and defeated the Naturals 11-5 Monday before a crowd of 3,257 at Arvest Ballpark. Northwest Arkansas has lost 14 of its past 17 games, including four of five on its current seven-game homestand.
Northwest Arkansas grabbed an early 3-0 lead Monday to start a three-game series with Arkansas. But the Travelers took a 6-3 lead in the fourth inning with five runs on five hits.
Kyle Waldrop had a two-run single in the inning followed by a two-run double by Seth Mejias-Brean to against Corey Ray (6-9), who took the loss. Ray, who leads the Northwest Arkansas with 22 starts, was battered for 12 hits and eight runs in 4 1/3 innings.
"Each guy has to do his job and pitchers have to locate, which we're not doing," Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson said. "Our offense was a little better tonight, but we did some not-so-smart things on the basepaths that kind of hurt. We're struggling and it's been a long stretch. Guys are tired but all teams are tired."
Justin DeFratus (5-5) pitched five innings to earn the victory for the Travelers (17-21/49-59), who were swept in a four-game series at Tulsa. Shawn O'Malley went 4-for-4 with a home run for Arkansas, which outhit the Naturals 18-14.
"We swung the bats well and DeFratus did a good job of holding them in check," Arkansas manager Daren Brown said. "We were able to get some separation from them and the bullpen was able to hold onto to the lead."
Northwest Arkansas (14-24/54-54) didn't do much after tagging DeFratus for three runs on four hits in the second inning. Nicky Lopez had a two-out, two-run single in the second inning after Cody Jones put the Naturals ahead with a run-scoring single to right field.
Donnie Dewees had three hits, including an RBI triple, to lead Northwest Arkansas.
SHORT HOPS
• Northwest Arkansas starter Corey Ray did a good job of maintaining his focus after being hit by a batted ball in the third inning. Arkansas opened the inning with three consecutive hits, including an infield single by Braden Bishop that glanced off Ray. The right-hander came strong and struck out Kyle Waldrop, Seth Mejias-Brean, and Ryan Casteel to end the inning.
• Third baseman Carlos Diaz provided one of the few highlights for the Naturals on Monday. Diaz stopped a hard grounder and threw from his knees to begin a 5-4-3 double play to end the sixth inning for the Travelers. Diaz also had a single and double for the Naturals.
• Monday proved to be a bad night for top farm teams of the Kansas City Royals.
Besides the Naturals' 11-5 defeat to Arkansas, Class A-Advance Wilmington lost 4-2 to the Buies Creek Astros and Triple-A Omaha lost 6-4 to Fresno.
On Deck: Right-hander Nick Neidert (0-2, 8.68 ERA) will take the mound for Arkansas tonight against left-hander Foster Griffin (7-3, 3.13 ERA) for the Naturals. Griffin allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings during a 6-2 loss to Springfield in his last start.
Todays' Promotion: Buck-A-Brat night with $1 brats at the Johnsonville Grill Cart. Two for Tuesday, which includes $5 dugout premium tickets for Arvest customers and two for one specials on Kids Zone wristbands and souvenir game programs.
On The Air: 92.1 FM, The Ticket
On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com
Sports on 08/01/2017