Naturals flawless in field in final win of series

SPRINGDALE — The Northwest Arkansas Naturals completed a series win with a clean, crisp performance on Sunday afternoon.

The Naturals were flawless in the field in a 4-3 win over Springfield, taking the final three games of the four-game series, before 4,327 at Arvest Ballpark.

“That’s the one that I’ve been waiting for for a while,” Northwest Arkansas Manager Darryl Kennedy said. “The defense came to play. It was very nice to see especially after making five errors (Saturday) night still winning the ball game. They came out and played very well. It was a good win.”

The game took just two hours, 13 minutes for the quickest home game of the season and second shortest overall of the year, just one second longer than at Midland in April.

The Naturals were also error-free after committing five on Saturday night in a 7-6 win, but D.J. Burt turned in the defensive play of the game in the eighth inning.

The Naturals were up, 4-2, with one out and Evan Mendoza on second after leading off the Springfield inning with a double. The speedy Burt tracked down a deep drive into the gap in left centerfield at the warning track for the second out, certainly saving a run and possibly the game.

“I stuck him out there to give my lefties a day off because of the lefty throwing,” Kennedy said. “I had him last year so I knew he could play out there. He didn’t play out there a lot, but he did play out there. He went and got that ball like he’s done it his whole life.”

It was only the second game for Burt, usually a second baseman, to play in left this season.

“I think if you’d ask him, he’d want to play out there a lot,” Kennedy said. “It’s good to have D.J. back. He’s been on the disabled list. We activated him Saturday. He creates things. The way the game turned out, it definitely saved the game. There was a runner on second when he tracked that ball down.”

All four of the Naturals’ runs were via home runs on Sunday.

Xavier Hernandez belted a three-run homer in the fourth inning after singles by Anderson Miller and Taylor Featherston, all with two outs, for a 3-1 lead. Gabriel Cancel launched a 420-foot solo shot to lead off the home half of the sixth inning that was clocked at 107 miles per hour coming off the bat.

Jace Vines earned the win with six solid innings, giving up a solo homer, and J.C. Cloney picked up a three-inning save helped by a ground-ball double play in the ninth after Springfield had scored a run.

SHORT HOPS

■ Northwest Arkansas’ defense also benefited when a batted ball that was for sure going to be a single to right struck the base runner leaving first base with another runner on second for the final out of the sixth inning.

■ The Naturals improved to 15-1 when they lead after seven innings this season and to 7-0 at home in one-run games against Springfield.

■ The home run by Xavier Fernandez in the fourth inning was the first three-run homer of the season by the Naturals.

On Deck: The Naturals begin a three-game series in North Little Rock against the Travelers and will start righty Arnaldo Hernandez (2-0, 0.00) on the mound. Hernandez will make his third start of the season for the Naturals after making his first six starts for Triple-A Omaha. Righthander Justin Dunn (3-2, 3.51) will start for Arkansas. Dunnn is 1-0 in two starts against Northwest Arkansas with two earned runs with 14 strikeouts in 91/3 innings. Monday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

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