Drillers Open Season with Shutout Victory
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers 2023 season opening game on Thursday night was a rousing success thanks to two straight big at-bats and an impressive combination on the mound. In the bottom of the third inning of a scoreless game, outfielders Jonny DeLuca and Yusniel Diaz hit back-to-back home
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers 2023 season opening game on Thursday night was a rousing success thanks to two straight big at-bats and an impressive combination on the mound. In the bottom of the third inning of a scoreless game, outfielders Jonny DeLuca and Yusniel Diaz hit back-to-back home runs to stake the Drillers to a three-run lead.
The support was enough thanks to a dominant performance from a pair of Tulsa hurlers, as Landon Knack and Emmet Sheehan combined to blank San Antonio on just two hits. The result was a 7-0 Drillers victory over the Missions before nearly 7,000 fans at ONEOK Field.
The win marked the first time the Drillers have recorded a shutout victory in a season opener since they blanked the Shreveport Swamp Dragons 1-0 at Drillers Stadium in the opening game of the 2002 season.
Thursday’s opener began with two scoreless innings, but Diaz and DeLuca quickly changed the direction of the game. After Kody Hoese singled to lead off the bottom of the third, Diaz hit the next pitch over the left-center field wall for the first two runs of the season.
DeLuca followed and belted a 3-2 pitch into the Budweiser Terrace in the left field terrace to up the Tulsa lead to three runs.
The home run continued a hot streak at ONEOK Field for Diaz, even though the streak is separated by nearly five years. The outfielder was with the Drillers in 2018 before a trade sent him to the Baltimore Orioles in July of that season. In his last two games at ONEOK Field prior to the trade, Diaz was seven for nine with a double, a homer and four runs batted in, making him 9-13 with 2 homers in his last three games in Tulsa in a period spanning 4½ years.
Drillers starting pitcher Knack fell one inning short of qualifying for the victory, but he was outstanding in his 2023 debut. Knack, who is rated among the Los Angeles Dodgers Top 20 prospects, allowed just two hits in four shutout innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out one.
Emmet Sheehan followed Knack to the mound and did more than enough to get credit for the win. The right-hander, relying primarily on his overpowering fastball, did not allow a hit or a run in five scoreless frames. Eight of the 15 outs he recorded came on strikeouts. The only base runner he allowed came when he hit the leadoff batter in the ninth with a pitch.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:
*Diaz and DeLuca helped start a four-run seventh inning that accounted for the rest of the game’s scoring. Diaz led off with a base hit and DeLuca was hit by a pitch before Jorbit Vivas walked to load the bases. A pair of wild pitches and a sacrifice fly by Andy Pages plated three runs, and Brandon Lewis made it 7-0 with a run-scoring ground out.
*The game took just 2 hours and 19 minutes to complete.
*The Drillers totaled 10 hits in the contest with DeLuca, Hoese and Diaz getting two hits each.
*Los Angeles Dodgers legend Bill Russell threw out the season-opening, ceremonial first pitch. Russell, who played and managed the Dodgers, was a Broken Arrow resident for several years.
*A new flame from atop the oil derrick at ONEOK Field was unveiled at the opener. The flame will be used to celebrate home runs and wins this season.
*UP NEXT:
*The Drillers and Missions will play the second game of their three-game, season opening series on Friday night. Starting time is set for 7:05 p.m. at ONEOK Field. The pitching matchup is slated to be:
San Antonio LH Jackson Wolf (San Diego Padres #16 prospect)
Tulsa RH Nick Frasso (LA Dodgers #11 prospect)