Pitching Shines as Drillers and Cards Split Doubleheader
Tulsa, OK – Pitching was the storyline in a doubleheader Friday night at ONEOK Field between the Tulsa Drillers and the Springfield Cardinals. The two teams were limited to a combined total of just 15 hits in the two quickly played contests. The Cards needed only three hits to take
Tulsa, OK – Pitching was the storyline in a doubleheader Friday night at ONEOK Field between the Tulsa Drillers and the Springfield Cardinals. The two teams were limited to a combined total of just 15 hits in the two quickly played contests. The Cards needed only three hits to take a 3-2 win in the opener, while the Drillers returned the favor in game two with only three hits in a 2-0 victory.
With the result, each team now has two wins through the first four games of their six-game series. The win in game two allowed the Drillers to retain sole possession of first place in the Texas League’s North Division standings, ½ game in front of Wichita.
The first game of the doubleheader featured a pitching matchup of highly touted prospects. Landon Knack, the #7 rated prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system, started for the Drillers against Springfield’s Gordon Graceffo, the #22 rated prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals who was making his Double-A debut. The matchup lived up to the billing.
For much of the quickly paced game, it appeared as if the Cardinals would claim a 1-0 win. Nick Dunn homered with two outs in the second inning to put the first run of the game on the scoreboard, and from there, the two pitchers combined to frustrate both lineups.
The Redbirds still held the one-run lead when the game headed to the seventh and final inning. Chandler Redmond extended the lead to 3-0 for the Cards when he hit a two-run homer off reliever Guillermo Zuniga with two outs in the top of the seventh.
The home run proved important as the Drillers made things interesting in the bottom half of the inning. Andy Pages and Devin Mann singled off Graceffo, and after a wild pitch, they were at second and third with two outs. Kody Hoese lined a single into left field to plate both runners and cut Tulsa’s deficit to just one run.
With Graceffo still in the game, pinch-runner Jeren Kendall stole second base to move into scoring position. Graceffo escaped the jam and recorded the complete game when he induced Justin Yurchak into a game-ending popup.
Tulsa lost despite out-hitting the Cards 6-3. Knack was the tough-luck loser, allowing one run on two hits in six innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out four.
Pitching was again the story in game two. Jose Martinez outdueled Domingo Robles with one of his best outings of the season to get the Drillers a split of the twin bill.
Tulsa’s offense staked Martinez to an early lead with runs in each of the first two innings. Jacob Amaya led off the bottom of the first with a base hit and moved to second on a balk. He moved to third on a fly out and scored on a ground out from Hoese.
The Drillers upped their lead to 2-0 in the second inning on Mann’s fifth homer of the season.
Martinez took it from there. He allowed base runners in all but one of the first five innings but kept the Cardinals scoreless. He departed after 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and surrendering four walks while striking out four.
Reliever Austin Drury walked two batters after entering with one out in the sixth, but the lefthander got two outs to end the inning and maintain Tulsa’s 2-0 lead.
Nick Robertson closed it out with a 1-2-3 seventh inning to complete the Drillers third shutout of the season. It was his second save of the year.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:
*Game one took just one hour and 35 minutes to complete making it the fastest Tulsa home game since the Drillers lost 1-0 to Arkansas on April 16, 1994 in the first game of a doubleheader. It was the fastest game ever at ONEOK Field. The record lasted all of a couple of hours because the second game took just one hour and 33 minutes to set another new mark.
*Pages had two hits in game one to extend his hitting streak to 12 straight games, the longest streak of the year for a Tulsa hitter. It came to an end in game two as he finished hitless in three at-bats.
*James Outman’s streak of reaching base in 18 straight games was halted with a 0-3 game in the opener.
*With the game two win, Martinez improved his season record to 3-1. He is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his last two starts.
*Mann was the offensive standout for the Drillers, going 3-5 in the two games.
*Springfield pitchers walked just one batter in 13 innings.
UP NEXT:
The series between the two teams will resume on Saturday night at ONEOK Field with the fifth game of a six-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Springfield – RHP Dalton Roach (2-2, 5.79 ERA)
Tulsa - RHP Bobby Miller (1-1, 4.97 ERA)