Drillers Lose Early Lead as Win Streak Ends

TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers let an early three-run lead slip away Friday night and saw their five-game winning streak come to an end before another big crowd at ONEOK Field. Tulsa scored three times in the first two innings, but watched Frisco respond with eight straight runs in what was eventually an 8-6 loss for the Drillers.

With the defeat, Tulsa now holds a 3-1 lead after four games of the six-game series between the two teams.

BOXSCORE

Things began well for the Drillers as they took a first-inning lead for the third straight game. The leadoff batter in the bottom of the first, Jacob Amaya, got the inning started with a base hit, and Michael Busch followed with an opposite-field double that put runners at second and third. One out later, James Outman brought both home when he grounded a single into centerfield.

Amaya upped Tulsa’s lead to 3-0 with a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the second. It was the eighth homer of the season for the Tulsa shortstop.

Drillers starting pitcher Landon Knack, who was making just his second appearance of the season, did not allow a hit through the first two innings, but he ran into trouble in the third. Sandro Fabian led off with a base hit and advanced to third on a two-out single by Justin Foscue. Both runners raced home when Blaine Crim lined a double into the left-center field gap, trimming Tulsa’s lead to 3-2.

Frisco went in front with a three-run fourth inning. The first two batters in the fourth reached safely on a walk and a bunt single. John Rooney came on for Knack and got a ground out from Trey Hair, as the tying run came home. Fabian followed with his second hit of the night, a two-run homer that landed in the Budweiser Terrace in left field to give the Riders a 5-3 lead.

Frisco continued to score in the fifth as Crim led off with his third homer of the series and his seventh of the season.

Later in the fifth, Dustin Harris singled in front of J.P. Martinez’s fifth homer, giving the RoughRiders eight straight runs and an 8-3 lead.

Tulsa’s Andy Pages finally ended Frisco’s scoring streak when he hit his third homer, a solo blast in the bottom of the fifth that cut the lead to four runs.

Devin Mann made things interesting with Tulsa’s third homer of the game in the eighth. The two-run shot cut Frisco’s lead to 8-6.

But, the Drillers would never get the potential game-tying run to the plate as the Riders bullpen retired Tulsa’s final five hitters of the game to close it out.

HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:

*The Drillers have now scored first in 22 of their 30 games this season. They have a 14-8 record when opening the scoring.

*In the eighth inning, Rooney picked Hair off first base, giving the lefthander nine pickoffs in six appearances this season.

*Outman’s first-inning single extended his hitting streak to eight straight games, matching the longest streak this season for a Tulsa batter. Ryan Ward hit in eight straight from April 20-29.

*The home run by Pages was his first since April 24.

*Kody Hoese had two hits and now has a four-game hitting streak. In the streak, he is batting .438 (7-16).

*Reliever Melvin Jimenez came on in the ninth and retired all three batters he faced, two on strikeouts.

*Attendance for the game was 7,512 increasing the paid attendance for the series to 25,784, an average of 6,446 per game.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers and RoughRiders will play the fifth game of their six-game series on Saturday night at ONEOK Field. The contest will feature a pitching matchup of two of the top prospects in Minor League Baseball as Bobby Miller, the Los Angeles Dodgers top pitching prospect, will take the mound for the Drillers while Jack Leiter, the number two overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft by the Texas Rangers, will pitch for the RoughRiders.
Saturday’s game is scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m.

Frisco- RHP Jack Leiter (1-2, 1.93 ERA)

Tulsa- RHP Bobby Miller (0-1, 5.51 ERA)