Drillers Drop Second Straight to the Naturals
Tulsa, OK – Tough weather conditions were again present Saturday night at ONEOK Field for the second game of the regular season for the Tulsa Drillers. With game time temperature at 45 degrees and a strong north wind blowing out to centerfield, Northwest Arkansas produced a four-run inning and a
Tulsa, OK – Tough weather conditions were again present Saturday night at ONEOK Field for the second game of the regular season for the Tulsa Drillers. With game time temperature at 45 degrees and a strong north wind blowing out to centerfield, Northwest Arkansas produced a four-run inning and a three-run inning to hand Tulsa a 9-5 loss.
It was the second straight defeat for the Drillers in the second game of their three-game, season-opening series with the Naturals.
First baseman John Rhodes produced most of the highlights for Tulsa. Rhodes had three hits in the game, including two home runs, and scored three times.
His first homer came in the second inning and tied the score at 1-1.
It matched the home run hit by Jac Caglianone, the Kansas City Royals Number 1 draft choice from 2024.
Caglianone had opened the game’s scoring with his first Double-A home run in the top of the first inning. The blast from the first baseman exited the bat at 116 m.p.h. and traveled 464 feet before landing on Elgin Avenue, well beyond the right field fence.
A sacrifice fly from Caglianone in the third put the Naturals back in front before a two-out rally in the fourth produced four more runs and upped their lead to 6-1.
Those four runs marred what was going to be a good outing from Tulsa starting pitcher Jared Karros. Karros was effective before struggling to get the final out that would have ended the fourth inning. His final line was 3.2 innings pitched with six runs allowed on seven hits and two walks. The right-hander struck out two.
Rhodes continued to shine as he singled and scored on a balk in the bottom of the fifth. His second home run in the seventh pulled Tulsa to within 9-3.
The Drillers scored the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the ninth. Damon Keith singled and scored on a double from Jose Ramos, and Ramos eventually came home on a throwing error by Caglianone.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Four players accounted for all eight of Tulsa’s hits in the game. Rhodes had three, while Keith and Yeiner Fernandez had two each and Ramos had one.
*Reliever Brandon Neeck took over for Karros and did not allow a hit in 1.1 innings of work.
*Lefthander Christian Suarez also had a good outing out of the Tulsa bullpen. Suarez did not allow a run and just one hit over the final two innings while striking out two.
*It was just the second multi-homer game in professional baseball for Rhodes. In the 2023 season, while playing with Bowie against Akron, he had three homers in game the Baysox actually lost.
*The Drillers were 0-6 at the plate with runners in scoring position.
*By the conclusion of the game, the wind chill had dropped into the 30s in downtown Tulsa.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers and Naturals will close out their three-game series on Sunday afternoon at ONEOK Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are slated to be:
NW Arkansas – RHP Ben Kudrna (Season Debut)
Tulsa – RHP Jacob Meador (Season Debut)
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