Drillers Offense Explodes for 14 Runs in Series Finale Win
Frisco, TX – Entering Sunday night, the Tulsa Drillers had scored just 15 runs in seven games of their extended road trip. In the first five games in the series with Frisco, the Drillers had scored only 11 runs. That trend ended Sunday night as Tulsa broke out of its
Frisco, TX – Entering Sunday night, the Tulsa Drillers had scored just 15 runs in seven games of their extended road trip. In the first five games in the series with Frisco, the Drillers had scored only 11 runs. That trend ended Sunday night as Tulsa broke out of its slump by scoring 14 runs on a season-high 20 hits in a 14-4 victory at Riders Field.
The series finale win gave the Drillers their third win of the road trip and their second against Frisco. It also put the Drillers season record back over the .500 mark at 48-47, and just 2.5 games back of first-place Springfield in the second-half standings. The Drillers and Cardinals will square off in a six-game series beginning Tuesday at ONEOK Field.
Damon Keith once again put Tulsa on the board first in the second inning of Sunday’s game with a solo home run, his second in as many days.
Abimelec Ortiz responded in the bottom half with his own solo homer to tie the game.
The Drillers finally found their first offensive spark of the road trip in the third inning. Tulsa batted around and scored six runs in the process to take a 7-1 lead. Griffin Lockwood-Powell drove in the first pair of runs with a single. Jose Ramos drove in the next two runs with a double to center field. The final three runs scored with two outs on Brandon Lewis' two-run homer and Alex Freeland's RBI single.
The Drillers increased their lead in the fourth inning when Keith stole home, and Lewis drove in Ramos with a single.
In his third rehab appearance against the Drillers, the Texas Rangers infielder Josh Jung produced two runs for the RoughRiders on a double to bring the score to 9-3.
Cody Freeman supplied a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to score Frisco's fourth run of the night.
Ramos added to the lead in the eighth inning with a two-run blast to center field.
The Drillers did not slow down in the ninth inning. They earned six more hits and scored three runs on an RBI single from Yeiner Fernandez and a two-run homer from Dalton Rushing.
A solid performance from the Drillers pitching staff matched the offensive performance. Kendall Williams made his 19th start of 2024 and allowed three runs on five hits and four walks. He did not qualify for the win, completing only four innings.
Christian Suarez received the win, working a perfect fifth inning after following Williams.
Antonio Knowles, Lucas Wepf, and Edgardo Henriquez were the final pitchers used, with Wepf and Henriquez pitching a scoreless inning.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Tulsa concludes the road trip with a 3-5 record.
*Keith recorded three more hits to finish 4-5. The home run marked his sixth in July, which is tied with Amarillo's Tim Tawa for the most in the month.
*Lewis finished 3-5 with three RBI on Sunday. The home run was his first hit in ten games and his first home run since June 20.
*Lockwood-Powell finished with five hits. It was the first five-hit game from a Tulsa hitter since Jacob Amaya on April 23, 2022, in a 16-8 win over Springfield.
*The Drillers four home runs matched a season high.
*Ramos finished with four runs driven in on two hits in six at-bats.
*The 14 runs brought Tulsa to 15-0 when scoring over ten runs this season.
*Eight of the nine Tulsa batters recorded a hit.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will return to ONEOK Field to begin a six-game series against the Springfield Cardinals on Tuesday, July 30. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.and the pitching matchup is expected to be:
Springfield- TBA
Tulsa – RHP Orlando Ortiz-Mayr (4-6, 5.53 ERA)