O’Grady shuts down Naturals

Travelers move within one win of Texas League North division title

TEXAS LEAGUE TRAVELERS 3, NATURALS 1

SPRINGDALE — Arkansas pitcher Chris O’Grady continued his mastery of Northwest Arkansas and moved the Travelers within a victory of the Texas League North Division title on Saturday evening at Arvest Ballpark.

The left-hander allowed a run on six hits over seven innings to lead Arkansas to a 3-1 win over the Naturals.

The win gives Arkansas (35-33, 67-71) a one-game lead over Northwest Arkansas (3434, 63-75) in the division with two games left.

O’Grady (7-1) improved to 7-0 over his last 11 appearances with a sparkling 1.53 ERA. During that span, he’s also gone 2-0 in three games against Northwest Arkansas, allowing just one run over 19 innings.

Arkansas manager Mark Parent said the 26-year-old O’Grady made big pitches when he needed them.

Northwest Arkansas scored its lone run in the bottom of the sixth on Alfredo Escalera’s RBI-single to get within 3-1. Mauricio Ramos followed with a single to put runners at the corners, but O’Grady got cleanup hitter Ryan O’Hearn to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

“He likes to pitch in,” Parent said. “They were kinda looking in. Today, he went away. Then when he had to, he went in. He gave up a couple hits in that inning. They started leaning over (the plate) and he busted them in and he got them.”

The Travelers scored all three of their runs in the third inning aided by a pair of misplays in the outfield by the Naturals and a throwing error by Northwest Arkansas catcher Cam Gallagher.

David Fletcher doubled over O’Hearn’s head in left field to drive in one and Alex Yarbrough laced a run-scoring single up the middle with two outs. The other run scored when Gallagher tried to pick off a runner at third, but the throw sailed down the line.

Naturals manager Vance Wilson said his team’s mistakes led to the Arkansas runs, but also gave O’Grady plenty of credit.

“We had a third-inning letdown,” Wilson said. “All those runs should be unearned. We misplayed two balls. Bad decision to try to pick a guy. That’s a good pitcher. That’s two times in a row. He knows how to pitch.

“It’s tough to see here at twilight for both teams. When a guy’s got that kind of movement in and out and he’s spotting it up, it’s going to be a tough night.”

SHORT HOPS

Travelers reliever Austin Adams pitched two scoreless innings to notch his fourth save. The hard-throwing right-hander has allowed just one earned run over his last 10.2 innings, spanning his last nine appearances.

Northwest Arkansas right fielder Logan Moon made a spectacular diving catch, laying out on Alex Yarbrough’s drive near the right-field line to end the top of the eighth.

Naturals reliever Tim Hill threw three scoreless innings. The left-hander now has a string of 12 scoreless innings over his last five ap- pearances.

On Deck: The Naturals continue their series against Arkansas. Yender Caramo (5-7 2.54 ERA) will start on the mound for the Naturals, while RHP Alex Blackford (9-7 3.17 ERA) will start for the Travelers.

Today’s Promotion: The first 1,000 fans receive a 2017 magnetic Naturals schedule. … The will be post-game fire- works.

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