SPRINGDALE — Northwest Arkansas pitcher Aaron Brooks retired the first 13 Midland batters he faced and Matt Fields led a 12-hit attack with a towering three-run home run as the Naturals defeated the RockHounds, 9-6, before 3,086 fans in Arvest Ballpark.
Brooks had seven strikeouts before Vinnie Catricala recorded Midland’s first hit with one out in the fifth. Brooks (3-1) gave up four hits and two runs while striking out eight in six innings of work. He did not walk a batter.
Cheslor Cuthbert, who was promoted to the Naturals June 14 from Class A-Advanced Wilmington, started the hit parade with a two-run single in the first inning. Fields then hit his 19th home run of the year over the Midland bullpen in the second inning for a 5-0 lead.
Minor League Baseball
Northwest Arkansas 9
Midland 5
Midland^000^002^300^5^5^1
Northwest Arkansas^233^000^10^9^12^0
Neal, Long (4), Fisher (6), Urlaub (7), DeMark (9) and Freitas; Brooks, Keck (7), Sulbaran (7), Alexander (8) and Pina. W — Brooks, 3-1. L — Neal, 5-6. HRs — Northwest Arkansas, Fields (19); Midland, Ladendorf (3).
Manny Pina added a two-run single in the Naturals (4-3) three-run third that upped the lead to 8-0.
The Lingo“That was Brooks’ fourth start and he has been solid in every outing. His fastball was a quality pitch early and he was able to throw his offspeed pitches early, too.
— Brian Poldberg
NWA Naturals Manager
Short Hops:
• Eight of the nine batters in the Naturals order had at least one hit and four Northwest Arkansas pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts.
• Naturals outfielder Yem Prades broke an 0-for-25 stretch with a single in the third. Prades was 12-of-37 (.324) before his hitless streak. He also had an RBI single in the seventh that gave the Naturals a 9-5 lead.
• Midland’s Tyler Ladendorf hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning that cut the Naturals lead to 8-5.
Extra Bases: Naturals infielder Angel Franco is still on the disabled list (June 14) with a hamstring injury. … Brian Fletcher extended his hitting streak to six games with a single in the first inning. … Northwest Arkansas is 22-19 when they hit a home runs and 8-29 when they don’t hit a home run.
Royals Pipeline: Bubba Starling, the Royals No. 1 draft pick in 2011, is batting .314 over his last 10 games, and .217 on the year at Class A Lexington. Starling had a six-game hitting streak end Tuesday. … Lexington first baseman Mark Donato leads Lexington with a .337 batting average. Donato, a 26th round pick by the Royals in 2012 has only played in 24 games after being suspended last August after he failed a drug test, testing positive for an amphetamine.
On Deck: The two teams will play the second game of the three game series tonight at 7 p.m. Right-handed pitcher Brooks Pounders (2-4, 4.62 ERA) will start for the Naturals. Right-handed pitcher Arnold Leon (4-4, 3.55 ERA) will throw the first pitch for Midland. Pounders was a second round draft pick by the Pirates in 2009 and was traded to the Royals organization after the 2011 season.
Today’s Promotion: Buck Night and Thirsty Thursday.
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