Willie Argo's grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning lifted the Arkansas Travelers to a 4-2 victory over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in the regular-season finale at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock on Monday.
With one out in the eighth, Yunior Marte replaced Tim Hill for the Naturals and walked Ryan Casteel. After Tyler Marlette struck out, Seth Mejias-Brean singled through the hole at shortstop to move Casteel to second. After a walk to Marcus Littlewood, Argo took a 2-2 pitch over the left-field wall to put the Travs ahead 4-2.
Ryan Kelley pitched a perfect ninth to get his sixth save of the season. Darrin Gillies (3-3) picked up the victory despite giving up one run on two hits in the eighth.
Northwest Arkansas scored one run in the third inning when Alfredo Escalera doubled in Humberto Arteaga. In the eighth inning, Escalera doubled to score Nicky Lopez.
With the victory, the Travelers finish the season at 65-75 overall and 33-37 in the second half. Northwest Arkansas 67-73, 28-42) will host Tulsa in the Texas League playoffs Wednesday night.
Sports on 09/05/2017