SPRINGDALE -- If Josh Staumont keeps it up, he won't be pitching at Northwest Arkansas much longer.
Staumont, a 23-year-old right-hander, ran his scoreless innings streak to 13 to lead the Naturals to a 2-0 win against Arkansas in the regular season finale at Arvest Ballpark on Monday.
"Sometimes, as a baseball player and a human, you go through struggles and get off track," said Naturals manager Vance Wilson. "You find out how simple it is when you simplify your work, and that's what he's done. I give him a lot of credit for the work he's put in, and he's gone back to basics.
"He's really gotten back to his old self."
Fresh off no-hitting Springfield for seven innings Aug. 23, Staumont (3-3) pitched six shutout innings to beat the Travelers (60-73, 28-35 second half) and help Northwest Arkansas (65-68, 26-37) avoid a series sweep. Staumont gave up a pair of bloop singles in the first inning before retiring 15 of the next 16 batters in order.
It's the longest streak of shutout innings in a professional career that began when Kansas City selected Staumont in the second round of the 2015 draft. He's the No. 9 prospect in the Royals' organization, according to MLB.com, and the third highest-ranked right-handed pitcher due to a fastball that can reach the triple digits and a hard-diving curveball.
Command and consistency have been the biggest knocks on Staumont's ability as this also was the first time he won back-to-back starts since he pitched for the Idaho Falls Chukars as a rookie. On Monday, he walked just one batter and struck out eight batters for the second consecutive game by throwing 57 strikes on 95 pitches.
"To have a couple of good outings stacked up here at the end of the season is really nice," Staumont said. "I've had some ups and downs this year, and when you have struggles, it's really two-sided with you as a person and you as a player. You take those struggles on the field with you off the field, and you start working too hard and pushing yourself too much.
"So I just had to take a step back and look at everything before I could take a step forward."
Staumont threw a breaking ball for a called third strike against Seth Mejias-Brean to end the first inning with runners stranded on second and third base. He threw the same pitch -- this time bouncing it in front of home plate -- to end the second and fourth innings with strikeouts. Staumont, who credited catcher Nick Dini with giving him confidence to throw pitches in the dirt, also was effective with other pitches as he fired mid-90s fastballs to finish off the fifth inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
"Catchers don't get enough credit when a pitcher has a good game, but Dini really deserves the credit," Staumont said. "When you have someone behind the plate like him who's not only a great person, but also a great catcher, it makes it a lot of fun."
The Naturals spotted Staumont a 2-0 lead when Humberto Arteaga and Nicky Lopez each drove in a run in the second inning. Alfredo Escalera and Anderson Miller each singled to leadoff the inning before later scoring on a sacrifice fly by Arteaga and a fielder's choice by Lopez.
Walker Shellar, who was transferred to Northwest Arkansas from Advanced-A Wilmington earlier on Monday, preserved the shutout by pitching the final three innings to pick up a save.
Wilson said it's not bittersweet to see a pitcher develop like Staumont. Sure, if he can string together several more similar outings, Staumont won't be in Wilson's starting rotation for long, but helping prospects advance is part of his job as a Double-A manager.
"I got into this game to, hopefully, be a catalyst for guys to get to experience what I experienced," said Wilson, who played eight seasons as Major League catcher. "To be part of a major league culture, there's nothing like it."
Short Hops
• Wilson's daughter, Peyton Wilson, took part in Monday's pregame ceremony. The high school senior plays in the drum line for the Springdale Har-Ber Marching Band, which performed the National Anthem.
• The Naturals were a perfect 4 of 4 on stole base attempts but got some help with the fourth. Escalera, after stealing second base, attempted to steal third. The ball appeared to arrive well ahead of Escalera's slide but was dropped by Mejias-Brean at third base.
• A rare "K-2-1-3" putout occurred in the second inning when Staumont struck out Willie Argo with a breaking ball in the dirt that bounced off Dini and back to Staumont, who threw to first base for the out.
Up Next: Northwest Arkansas travels to Tulsa for a three-game series beginning today at 7:05 p.m. The Naturals will send left-hander Emilio Ogando (9-9, 3.09) to the mound while the Drillers will counter with right-hander Andrew Sopko (4-6, 4.09).
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Sports on 08/29/2017