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Offensive Struggles Continue for Drillers in Loss to Travelers

Damon Keith hit his 12th home run of the season in Tulsa's loss. (Rich Crimi)
August 8, 2024

North Little Rock, AR – In his most recent start, pitcher Jackson Ferris delivered eight no-hit innings for Great Lakes in the High-A Midwest League. The lefthander did not duplicate that performance in his Double-A debut on Thursday night, but he still turned in an impressive outing with the Tulsa

North Little Rock, AR – In his most recent start, pitcher Jackson Ferris delivered eight no-hit innings for Great Lakes in the High-A Midwest League. The lefthander did not duplicate that performance in his Double-A debut on Thursday night, but he still turned in an impressive outing with the Tulsa Drillers.

Ferris allowed just four hits and one run in 5.2 innings, but unfortunately for him and the Drillers, it was not enough to beat the Arkansas Travelers. The Travelers scored single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to post a 2-0 victory over the Drillers at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

The game was similar to the first three in the six-game series with the Travs. The Drillers have lost all three and have been shut out in two of them. They have scored a total of just one run in the three losses.

BOX SCORE

Ferris, who was promoted to Tulsa over the weekend, did his best to end the Drillers skid. The 20-year-old cruised through the first five innings, blanking the Travelers while allowing just two hits.

He appeared headed to an easy sixth inning after quickly retiring the first two batters, but Ferris issued his third walk before Brock Rodden kept the inning alive with soft liner that dropped for a hit in shallow left field. With runners at first and third and Tulsa infielders shading the middle of the field, Blake Rambusch bounced a grounder through the hole between first base and second for a run-scoring single.

The hit ended the night for Ferris, and Ben Harris limited the damage by retiring the next hitter on strikes.

The Travelers added the final run of the game when former OSU Cowboy Kaden Polcovich led off against Harris in the seventh inning with his second home run of the season.

The two runs were plenty for Arkansas starting pitcher Michael Morales. He gave up just three hits in six scoreless innings. Even more impressively, Morales did not walk a batter while striking out 12.

Three Travelers relievers each delivered a shutout inning in relief of Morales to complete the shutout.

It is the 11th time this season that the Drillers have been blanked, marking the most since the 2016 season when Tulsa was held scoreless 12 times.

INSIDE THE GAME

*The Drillers had just five hits in the game. In the three losses to the Travs, the Drillers have a total of only 12 hits.

*Tulsa hitters struck out 15 times in the game, just one short of the season high. The Drillers have now struck out ten or more times in 54 of 104 games this season.

*Ferris is ranked as the sixth-best prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system by MLB Pipeline. Ferris was acquired in January from the Chicago Cubs as part of a trade that sent former Drillers infielder Michael Busch to the Cubs.

*The three losses have overshadowed good work on the mound from Tulsa pitchers. In the three games at Arkansas, Drillers hurlers have given up a total of only 6 runs and 18 hits.

*The Drillers added former major league pitcher Jon DuPlantier to their roster on Thursday after he signed as a minor league free agent with the Dodgers. DuPlantier spent time with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2019 and 2021 seasons. He began this year with the New York Mets Triple-A team in Syracuse, going 3-1 with a 5.31 ERA before being released on June 13. DuPlantier joined Lake Country of the independent American Association and did not allow an earned run over 4 games and 18 innings.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers will continue their series with the Travelers on Friday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. Starting time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

Tulsa – RHP Carlos Duran (0-1, 1.62 ERA)
Arkansas – RHP Logan Evans (8-4, 2.69 ERA)