Rushing’s Big Homer Gives Drillers Late Win
Frisco, TX – For much of this season, the Tulsa Drillers have led all of Double-A baseball in home runs, but a recent slump has dropped them to fourth among all 30 AA teams. Friday night, Dalton Rushing picked an opportune time to help the Drillers try to end the
Frisco, TX – For much of this season, the Tulsa Drillers have led all of Double-A baseball in home runs, but a recent slump has dropped them to fourth among all 30 AA teams. Friday night, Dalton Rushing picked an opportune time to help the Drillers try to end the slump.
Through eight innings, Tulsa and Frisco were in a scoreless duel with the Drillers held to just three hits. With one out in the top of the ninth, Rushing broke the scoreless deadlock with his 12th home run of the season. The Drillers added another run later in the ninth and defeated the RoughRiders 2-0 at Riders Field. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Drillers.
Entering the game, the Drillers had hit just one home run in their last four games, and Rushing had provided that blast in a loss to the Riders on Wednesday night.
Tulsa starting pitcher Chris Campos helped to set the tone for the game by holding the Riders without a run through the first 4 1/3 innings while striking out six.
Ronan Kopp kept the shutout intact with 1.2 scoreless relief innings, and Michael Hobbs kept the Riders off the scoreboard in the seventh inning.
Lucas Wepf set up Rushing’s go-ahead homer with a scoreless bottom of the eighth, but it wasn’t easy. Wepf walked the first hitter before hitting the next one. With runners at first and second and no outs, Max Acosta attempted to advance them with a sacrifice bunt, but it turned into a 3-5-4 double play. After the big defensive play, Wepf struck out the next batter to end the threat.
The Texas Rangers 2022 first-round pick Kumar Rocker held the Drillers without a run through the first three innings, allowing just one hit.
Three relievers combined to keep Tulsa without a run over the next five innings.
The dual shutout finally ended in the top of the ninth. Taylor Young grounded out to open the inning, bringing Rushing to the plate. He took a called strike before working the count to 2-1 off reliever Andy Rodriguez. On the next pitch, Rushing lined the offering from Rodriguez over the right field fence to produce the first run of the game and give the Drillers a 1-0 lead.
They added an insurance run when Damon Keith followed the homer with a double. Keith eventually scored the second run on a sacrifice fly from Jose Ramos.
Wepf made sure the 2-0 lead held as he struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth before getting a ground out to end the game.
The win improved the Drillers second-half record to 13-11 and moved their season record back over .500 at 47-46.
INSIDE THE GAME
*The Drillers entered the ninth with just three hits in the game, and they doubled that total with three in the inning.
*The win was nothing new for Wepf. He improved his Double-A record to 3-0 despite being with the Drillers just over a month.
*Rushing is now 5-11 in his last three games, with four of the hits going for extra bases.
*The Drillers have scored just 13 runs in 6 games of their current road trip. Despite the offensive struggles, the Drillers now have a 2-4 record on the trip.
*It was a rare home loss for the RoughRiders who own the best record in the Texas League. The defeat dropped their record at Riders Field to 34-14.
*The Drillers announced before the game that relief pitcher Ryan Sublette had been placed on the Injured List, retroactive to July 25.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will continue their series in Frisco on Saturday night with the fifth game of their six-game series with the RoughRiders. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the pitching matchup is expected to be:
Tulsa – RHP Carlos Duran (0-0, 1.64 ERA)
Frisco – RHP Nick Krauth (7-3, 5.26 ERA)