Minor League Baseball

Speedy Gore sets table in Naturals shutout

SPRINGDALE -- Terrance Gore was hitless in 12 at-bats with Northwest Arkansas before was he called up on Wednesday to join the Kansas City Royals.

His stay in the majors was short, but it was a little different when Gore donned the Naturals uniform again Saturday night. The speedster went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases and used his speed to set up another in a 5-0 victory over the Midland RockHounds in Arvest Ballpark.

Texas League Baseball

Northwest Arkansas 5, Midland 0

Midland^000^000^000^—^0^4^0

NW Arkansas^001^004^00X^—^5^5^0

Sanchez, Healy (6), Frankoff (8) and Maxwell. Finnegan, Ferguson (5) and De La Rosa. W-Ferguson, 1-0. L-Sanchez, 0-2. Sv-None. HR-None.

"Honestly, I was just trying to put the ball in play," Gore said. "Me and (Naturals manager) Vance (Wilson) have worked a lot on my bunting, changing my mechanics on how I bunt. I'm dropping my bat more like I did in college, so I feel more comfortable with that."

Gore's bunt single in the third inning was Northwest Arkansas' first hit and moved Dusty Coleman over to third after he had drawn a walk and went to second on Anderson De La Rosa's ground out. That set up Lane Adams, who drove in Coleman with a sacrifice fly and gave the Naturals (4-5) a 1-0 lead.

Gore then led off the sixth with a single and later scored the first of four runs in the inning, which was more than enough cushion for Northwest Arkansas' pitchers. Brandon Finnegan and Andy Ferguson combined for the Naturals' first shutout of the season, limiting the RockHounds (3-6) to just four hits.

"You have to tip the hat to our pitching," Wilson said. "They kept them obviously at bay. To only use two pitchers against an offense like that, I was really proud of them.

"I was proud of Brandon. It's not easy to go from the World Series back down to Double-A as a starter. He's handled it professionally, which is what we expected. Obviously, Ferguson is Ferguson, and we know what we are going to get from him."

Short Hops:

• Finnegan, in his second outing as he continues the transition from a reliever to a starter, was much more effective. The left-hander threw four scoreless innings and allowed one hit while striking out three and walking three in a 62-pitch outing.

• Ferguson (1-0), a Benton native, pitched the final five innings to pick up his first win of the season. The right-hander scattered three hits and three walks while striking out seven, and he has now pitched nine scoreless innings in two relief appearances.

• Midland starter Jake Sanchez (0-2) went 5.2 innings and had allowed only Gore's bunt single before the Naturals roughed him up in the sixth. The right-hander allowed five runs on only four hits and struck out eight while walking two.

Extra Bases: (3-4 one sentence notes) Naturals 1B Balbino Fuenmayor extended his streak to five straight games with an RBI when he drove in a run with a single in the sixth. ... Northwest Arkansas batted around in the sixth, marking the second straight game the Naturals have had all their batters hit in a inning. ... Adams extended his team-high hitting streak to seven games with a sixth-inning single.

On Deck: The Naturals begin a three-game homestand with the Frisco RoughRiders, with first pitch at 2:05 p.m. Right-hander J.C. Sulbaran (0-1, 1.80 ERA) will start on the mound for Northwest Arkansas, while Frisco counters with lefty Victor Payano (0-0, 000).

Today's Promotion: It's Kids Eat Free Family Sunday, sponsored by the Missouri Division of Tourism. Kids will also have the opportunity to run the bases after today's game.

On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1

On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com

Sports on 04/19/2015

Upcoming Events