CORPUS CHRISTI (CCHooks.com) - Texas Tech product Bobby Doran won his Whataburger Field debut and Jose Martinez drove in five runs as Corpus Christi downed the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 13-7 Saturday before 5,617.
The Hooks, 9-1 at home this month, improved to 6-2 in the second half of Texas League action and are 43-35 overall. Corpus Christi has won nine of 12 and 18 games in June for the second time in franchise history (2006).
Northwest Arkansas is 3-5 and 40-38.
Doran (2-0), who allowed six hits, covered six frames in 84 pitches (52 strikes). He struck out four and did not walk a man.
On a night when Northwest Arkansas pitching issued four bases-loaded walks, Martinez' ninth homer - a two-out, three-run shot to left off Brendan Lafferty in the seventh - provided the exclamation point.
The Naturals had a 1-0 lead after two batters. Yem Prades drilled a triple to left-center on the game's third pitch and Rey Navarro followed with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Naturals starter Noel Arguelles' landscape turned to disaster in the second. He retired Drew Locke and Jon Singleton before yielding singles to Kody Hinze and Austin Wates. Arguelles then issued consecutive walks to No. 8 hitter Jay Fernandez, Drew Muren and Jonathan Villar. The worst was yet to come. Andy Simunic and Martinez cashed in with back-to-back two-run singles.
At one stretch, Arguelles (2-8) threw 11 balls in a row. Eleven men batted in the six-run surge. Arguelles' short stint ended thusly: 1 2/3 innings, four hits, five earned runs and three walks. The native Cuban has dropped five straight decisions.
Northwest Arkansas pushed back with two runs off Doran, cutting the lead to 6-3. The last two hitters in their lineup - Alex McClure and Julio Rodriguez - singled and ultimately scored on Brian Fletcher's sacrifice fly and an Eric Duncan single, respectively.
Wates extended the margin to four with a two-out RBI single in the fifth off Bryan Paukovits.
His woes continued the next inning with Northwest Arkansas' third bases-loaded walk of the game, this one to Locke. Lafferty entered and promptly issued another bases-loaded base-on-balls to Singleton. During the sequence, Paukovits and Lafferty combined for 12 straight balls.
The Naturals tagged Arcenio Leon for three runs in the eighth.
Duncan and Fletcher paced the Naturals with two RBIs each.
The Hooks and Naturals conclude their three-game series Sunday. Jarred Cosart (4-4) takes the mound at 6:05 vs. Sugar Ray Marimon (0-0). The first 2,500 fans receive a 2012 Hooks Team Card Set.
Courtesy CCHooks.com
