Drillers Blanked by RockHounds
Tulsa, OK – After earning two walk-off victories to begin a six-game series, the Tulsa Drillers dropped game three on Thursday night. Two Midland RockHounds pitchers combined to blank the Drillers in a 3-0 shutout loss. The loss marked the 12th time this season that the Drillers have been shutout
Tulsa, OK – After earning two walk-off victories to begin a six-game series, the Tulsa Drillers dropped game three on Thursday night. Two Midland RockHounds pitchers combined to blank the Drillers in a 3-0 shutout loss. The loss marked the 12th time this season that the Drillers have been shutout and the sixth time at ONEOK Field.
The loss was also Tulsa's fourth shutout in August, as the offense has scored the fewest runs in Double A for the month of August with 31.
The loss also put Midland back in front of the season series with the Drillers 5-4.
Making his seventh start with Tulsa, Carlos Duran kept Midland scoreless through the first two innings. The RockHounds eventually broke through by beginning the third inning with consecutive singles. A wild pitch followed to put both runners in scoring position, and Henry Bolte dove in both with a double that gave Midland a 2-0 lead.
A solo home run from Jeremy Eierman accounted for Midland’s third and final run in the fourth inning.
The Drillers offense entered Thursday night with the fewest hits in Double A for August with 65. The offense continued to struggle against Midland starting pitcher Mason Barnett. The Auburn University product held Tulsa hitters to only five hits over seven innings with ten strikeouts.
Even though the offense struggled, Tulsa reliever Hyun-il Choi was impressive. The Korea native took the mound in the fourth inning and allowed only two hits over six innings with five strikeouts. The lone blemish on Choi's line was the fourth-inning home run by Eierman.
Ryan Cusick pitched the final two innings for Midland and picked up his third save by keeping the Drillers off the board.
INSIDE THE GAME
*The Drillers were not unfamiliar with Barnett. Tulsa faced him four times this season as a member of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. In those games, Barnett was 0-2 with a 7.63 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched.
*Duran was charged with his second loss after allowing the first two Midland runs in the third inning.
*In a rarity, both teams did not issue a walk, and the game took just 2 hours and 14 minutes to complete.
*Taylor Young collected two more stolen bases in the game to bring his Texas League leading total to 41.
*Tulsa hitters struck out 12 times, making it the 59th time the Drillers have struck out ten or more times in a game.
*Reliever Kelvin Bautista made his second appearance with the Drillers and needed just two pitches to record the final out of the third inning.
*Just before the start of the game, the Drillers made a roster move. Pitcher Jon Duplantier was transferred to Oklahoma City, and lefthanded pitcher Jorge Benitez, who was recently signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent, was added from the Dodgers Arizona complex.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will be back in action as the Raft Racers on Friday night with another meeting with the RockHounds. Starting time at ONEOK Field is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Midland – RHP Chen Zhuang (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Jerming Rosario (2-3, 4.65 ERA)