The Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, experienced the joy of participating in one of baseball’s truly rare moments, the no-hitter.  The Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals experienced the agony of being on the receiving end.

The following press releases were sent in to the i70 mailbox from the two teams.

Naturals No-Hit Cardinals
Holland, Dwyer, Lafferty, Volz combine to throw gem

SPRINGDALE, AR- The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (17-16) got the second no-hitter in franchise history topping the Springfield Cardinals 2-0 on Thursday night at Arvest Ballpark.  The no-hitter was the first in the history of Arvest Ballpark, and the second for the Naturals, the last coming on July 19, 2011 at North Little Rock.

Greg Holland was brilliant in his second major league rehab start.  He used just 14 pitches to strikeout the side in order.  The Naturals offense wasted not time getting to Cardinals (14-19) starter Trevor Rosenthal (2-4) getting three consecutive singles to start the game.  The last one was an RBI single from Wil Myers to give the Naturals a 1-0 lead.  Rosenthal was able to get Mario Lisson to ground into a force out and strike out Eric Duncan to strand runners on second and third.  The Naturals offense tacked on a second run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Julio Rodriguez smacked an RBI single to right field to score Duncan making it 2-0.

Chris Dwyer (2-4) came in the second inning and picked up right where Holland left off.  Dwyer worked six and two thirds inning without allowing a hit walking two and hitting one batter.  Brendan Lafferty came on and kept the no-hit bid alive getting Kolten Wong to fly out to Paulo Orlando just one step in front of the fence.

Kendal Volz got Jermaine Curtis to line out to Colon at short to get the first out of the ninth inning.  Cardinals top prospect Oscar Taveras grounded out to second base for the second out.  Kyle Conley stepped to the plate as the last chance for the Cardinals and he grounded out to shortstop to complete the no-hitter.

Naturals No-Hit Cardinals in 2-0 Loss
Springfield Suffers First No-Hitter in Franchise History

Springfield, MO – After a tremendous eight-game homestand which saw the Cardinals go 6-2, the Springfield squad embarked on yet another eight-game road trip beginning with four in NW Arkansas against the Naturals.

The last time away from Hammons Field the Cardinals went 0-8 and set a franchise record for most consecutive road losses in a row; they looked to snap that stretch Thursday night with Trevor Rosenthal on the mound. The Naturals countered with Major League Rehabber Greg Holland for an inning then lefty Chris Dwyer, coming off a start in which he allowed 10 runs to Springfield.

After a quick top of the first, Rosenthal battled through to bottom of the inning.  After allowing three straight singles, including an RBI single by Wil Myers, the Naturals had a 1-0 lead.  The righty settled down however to retire the next three batters to limit the damage to just the one run.

The Naturals added another run in the 4^th as former Springfield Cardinal Eric Duncan singled, stole second with two outs and scored on an RBI single by Julio Rodriguez to grab a 2-0 lead.  Rosenthal would leave after just 4.1 innings and gave way to Kevin Thomas with a runner at second and one out.  Thomas would strikeout the next two batters to keep the game 2-0 after five.

Springfield had their first real scoring chance in the 6^th with two outs after a hit by pitch and a walk brought Oscar Taveras to the plate, but the Cardinals’ centerfielder flied out to shallow center field to retire the side.

Chris Dwyer was dominant for the Naturals pitching 6.2 innings of no-hit ball while striking out five and walking just two.  After a two out walk in the 8^th, Dwyer gave way to Brendan Lafferty.  Kolten Wong was able to get good wood on the ball, but flied out to the wall in right field keeping the Cardinals out of the hit column.

In the 9^th, closer Kendal Volz retired the Cardinals in order to complete the second no-hitter in Naturals history.  It was the first time in Springfield’s history that they were no-hit.

The Redbirds will continue their four-game set against the NW Arkansas Naturals Friday night at 7:30pm.  Michael Blazek will start for Springfield against Jake Odorizzi of the Naturals. 

Playoff Preview: First-Round In-State Showdown
Naturals, Travs meet in postseason for first time since 2008

SPRINGDALE, AR – After more than five months and a rain-shortened 137-game schedule, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Arkansas Travelers prepare to open the Texas League Division Series on Wednesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. The teams will meet in the postseason for the second time – and first in three years – after a hotly-contested season series between the two teams.

For the first time in their four-year existence, the Naturals lost the season series to their in-state foe, as the Travelers emerged with a 15-14 record in the clubs’ matchups. But after winning just five of 13 first-half meetings, the Naturals went 9-7 against the Travelers in the second half, including a mid-July sweep in North Little Rock and a 3-1 mark in the crucial final home series at Arvest Ballpark. Having won five of their last six games to clinch their fourth consecutive second-half division title, the Naturals enter the postseason in much the same way that they did in 2008.

In that year, Naturals ripped off an eight-game winning streak in late August to hold off the Springfield Cardinals. That season, the Travelers had won the first-half title courtesy of a tiebreaker before falling off to the tune of a 26-44 record in the second half. This season, the Travelers edged the Naturals by a game in the first half and again finished the second half under .500. The Naturals hope that the parallels between the two seasons stop there, as in 2008, the Travelers blew Northwest Arkansas out of the playoffs with a clean sweep.

As is expected in minor league baseball, the two teams have nearly entirely different compositions from when they met three years ago. But one player who spans the two seasons happens to be one of the Naturals’ hottest bats. Mario Lisson ended the regular season on an eight-game hitting streak that included five doubles and a pair of home runs. That impressive finish allowed him to share the final Texas League Player of the Week award with teammate Tim Smith, who has provided pop since returning from the disabled list. Hitting the shelf with a back injury right around the All-Star Break, Smith is 15-37 (.405) with three doubles and a pair of homers since returning from the disabled list. Smith and Lisson have helped to anchor a lineup that is without a true weak spot, from Derrick Robinson’s league-leading 55 steals to Jamie Romak’s 23 home runs and Wil Myers’ solid finish (.267, eight doubles, five home runs after Aug. 1).

Meanwhile, the Travelers in the post-season will lack their offensive ignitor, Mike Trout, who was promoted to Anaheim. One of the consensus top prospects in baseball, Trout earlier today was named by Baseball America as the 2011 Minor League Player of the Year. They’ve also lost one of the top starters in the league in right-hander Garrett Richards, who is also now with the big club as well as their regular closer for the first three months of the season, Ryan Brasier, who left for Triple-A. Without those cornerstone players, the Travelers struggled offensively and sometimes even on the pitching side in the season’s second half.

The Naturals aren’t unscathed, either as they’ll be without their Pitcher of the Year. After leading the league with 161 1/3 innings pitched, Will Smith has reached his organization-prescribed limit. Still, each of the Naturals’ top three starters enter the postseason with individual momentum. Chris Dwyer pitched into the seventh inning against the Travelers on Sep. 1, allowing just a run on three hits. One day later, Jake Odorizzi held Arkansas hitless until the seventh, yielding a lone base hit in seven scoreless frames. Finally, Mario Santiago battled through six innings of one-run ball – with eight strikeouts – in the Naturals’ division-clinching game at Tulsa on Sep. 3. Supporting these starters is a bullpen led by Blaine Hardy, who has been nothing but dominant since returning to Double-A. In 19 appearances with the Naturals this season, Hardy has a 1.59 ERA and is holding opponents to a .194 batting average. In addition, the southpaw has worked multiple innings in 12 of those 19 games.

The rest of the Naturals’ pitching staff is somewhat in flux, as the club will call on a pair of left-handers who spent the entirety of the season with Advanced-A Wilmington. Justin Marks and Ryan Dennick joined the team in advance of Wednesday’s roster deadline and will provide a pair of fresh arms, replacing Elisaul Pimentel and Kevin Chapman, each of whom left their last outing due to injury. Marks spent most of the year in Wilmington’s rotation, and the 23-year-old is a candidate to start either Game 4 or Game 5. Dennick struck out 51 batters in 53 2/3 innings out of the Blue Rock bullpen.

To this point, the Naturals only announced a starting pitcher for the first three games of the series. Dwyer (8-10, 5.60) takes the mound in Wednesday’s series opener against Texas League Pitcher of the Year Matt Shoemaker (12-5, 2.48). Thursday’s second game features Odorizzi (5-3, 4.72) against Chris Scholl (4-3, 2.32).

The series moves to Arvest Ballpark on Friday, as Santiago (5-1, 2.23) will match up against Traveler right-hander Orangel Arenas (9-10, 4.48). Friday’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. Should they become necessary, Game 4 is slated for 1:00 p.m. Saturday with a decisive fifth game on tap for Sunday at 6:00 p.m.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

The following information is provided to us by the staff for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The I-70 rivalry meets at the Double-A level this week and the teams will host any current and former military members for free.

Series Preview: Naturals hope to stay dry against Cards

Through the first two weeks of divisional play, weather has played as big of a role as either the Naturals or their various opponents. Since the first 12 games of the season – all against South Division foes – the Naturals have endured six rainouts, only two of which have been made up to this point.

Such weather interruptions have resulted in a fragmented schedule, as rain forced the Naturals to miss three straight days of games between Apr. 23 through 25 and go another two days without playing entering this homestand, due to rain in North Little Rock. Such gaps are extremely rare in the regular schedule, as teams get one travel day between certain series and only during the All-Star break are there two scheduled days off in a row.

For their part, the Naturals battled through this inconsistent schedule to finish the road trip at 3-3, with two games left to be made up in June when the team next heads to North Little Rock. Each of the Naturals’ wins came courtesy of strong starting pitching, highlighted by Will Smith’s outing on Apr. 28 in which he allowed just one run over 7 1/3 innings – the longest appearance for any Naturals hurler this season. Mario Santiagofollowed with an impressive performance in a spot start, working six shutout innings in a win over the Travelers two days later. The Naturals’ offense played its part as well, as both Mario Lisson and Jamie Romak homered on back-to-back days during the trip.

While the Naturals’ week kept them near the .500 mark, Tulsa took the opportunity to move ahead in the standings at 13-9, one game ahead of Northwest Arkansas – though the Naturals have two games in hand thanks to the weather. The Travelers sit 2 1/2 games back at 9-0, with these visiting Cardinals a little off the pace at 9-14.

In terms of highly-rated talent, the Cardinals lag behind the rest of the teams in the Texas League’s North Division. Part of that is the result of St. Louis’ place at No. 24 in Baseball America’s organization rankings, but even within the system, most of the Cardinals’ talent is elsewhere in the minor leagues. In particular, the team’s top two prospects, right-hander Shelby Miller and third baseman Zack Cox, both currently play for Advanced-A Palm Beach and could reach Springfield before the end of the season. But for now, Springfield’s roster contains just two players among the organization’s top 30 prospects – catcher Steven Hill (No. 29, currently on the disabled list) and shortstop Ryan Jackson (No. 30).

Despite the team’s slow start, the Cardinals feature a pair of potent forces in the middle of their order. Outfielder Alex Castellanos leads his team with six home runs this season, while first baseman Matthew Adams sits just behind with five. Each player victimized Naturals pitching during the team’s recent series in Springfield.

The series opens up on Tuesday night as Chris Dwyer (1-2, 4.19) takes the mound for the first time since suffering a tough-luck loss against the Cardinals on Apr. 26, when two of the three runs he allowed were unearned. He’ll face Springfield’s Nick Additon (1-0, 2.60), who pitched eight innings of two-run ball against the Naturals on Apr. 27 and has recorded 25 strikeouts against only one walk this season.

After a quick turnaround, the teams will play the second game of the series at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Tasked with the early wake-up call will be John Lamb (0-1, 3.86) and Deryk Hooker (0-3, 9.16). Lamb turned in his best start of the year his last time out, allowing two runs (both unearned) over five innings against Springfield on Apr. 27. Hooker allowed four runs over six innings against the Naturals on Apr. 28 and has now lost each of his last three starts.

Thursday marks a return to the typical evening start time, as Smith (1-2, 6.48) pitches for the first time since that impressive outing on Apr. 28. Scheduled to start for Springfield is Michael Blazek (1-1, 5.55), who has given up at least three runs in each of his starts but struck out a season-high eight last time out.

The series wraps up on Friday night, when Heath Rollins (0-2, 6.35) looks to regain the form he showed in his first start of the season, when he allowed just one run on three hits in six solid innings. He matches up against Scott Schneider (1-2, 2.83), who has three quality starts this season but has gotten only enough run support to win one, when he beat Midland on Apr. 18. Schneider has racked up 23 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings this season.

Naturals offer Military free tickets

SPRINGDALE, AR – Inspired by the bravery of the Navy Seals in Sunday night’s mission in Pakistan, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals would like to recognize and thank all military members – active and retired – with free tickets to any of the next four home games at Arvest Ballpark, starting Tuesday evening.

Two free tickets in the best available seating will be offered with presentation of a military ID at the ticket window. This offer is valid for games through Friday evening only and is not valid with any other offer.

“The amazing work of our military is appreciated every day,” Naturals’ General Manager Eric Edelstein said. “In light of our military’s recent accomplishments abroad, we want to extend a special thank you to those who serve so we may enjoy our freedom.”

In addition, since Arvest Ballpark opened, the Naturals have offered a standing $1 ticket discount to active and retired Military at every home game. Like this special offer, that discount is accessible by presenting a military ID at the ticket office window.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. The Naturals have a toll-free ticket hotline (1-877-444-2637) for fans to purchase Naturals tickets. Our website, nwanaturals.com offers fans the opportunity to purchase tickets online and avoid lines at the ticket windows by printing their tickets at home or at the office.