Leiter fans six, Strahm homers in final home series debut

FRISCO, Texas (September 6, 2022) – The Frisco RoughRiders dropped a Tuesday afternoon matchup against the Tulsa Drillers at Riders Field to begin the final homestand of the regular season, falling 11-7. RoughRiders starter Jack Leiter struck out six batters in his first September start, while center fielder Kellen Strahm slugged his 9th home run of the season to give Frisco the lead in the 3rd.

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Frisco first baseman Blaine Crim finished 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of runs driven in, as the Texas League’s reigning Player of the Month has jumped his batting average .019 points since August 26th.

Tulsa (25-33, 65-60) cracked Tuesday’s first runs in the top of the 1st inning on Leiter behind a two-run home run from Justin Yurchak to take an early 2-0 lead.

The Riders (32-25, 68-58) answered promptly with a pair of doubles from Jonathan Ornelas and Crim in the home half of the 1st, cutting into Tulsa’s lead to make the score 2-1.

After the Drillers drove a pair of unanswered runs across in the top of the 3rd and 4th innings to stretch their lead to 4-1, Frisco produced a big inning of four runs, beginning with a leadoff single from Ornelas. Justin Foscue plated Ornelas with a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning before the next four Frisco hitters reached safely, including Strahm’s three-run home run.

In Tuesday’s back-and-forth slugfest, the Drillers responded with three runs in the top of the 5th to retake the lead. Tulsa drew four walks in the inning and drew the lone hit on a two-run double from second baseman Abiatal Avelino to take a 7-5 lead.

Frisco and Tulsa traded runs in the 7th and 8th innings. Catcher Scott Kapers scored on a sacrifice fly from Crim in the bottom of the 7th, cutting Tulsa’s lead to 7-6. After leading off the bottom of the 8th with a walk, Strahm stole his 7th and 8th bases of the year and came in to score on a throwing error from Drillers first baseman Brandon Lewis, drawing the deficit back to a run, 8-7.

Tulsa banged three runs across in the top of the 9th to force Tuesday’s game out of reach, punctuated by an RBI double from Lewis.

The RoughRiders continue their final home stand of the regular season with game two against the Drillers Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. Frisco RHP Tim Brennan (6-3, 2.94 ERA) makes his 13th start of the year, while Tulsa LHP John Rooney (4-6, 5.67) gets the go for the Drillers.

Wednesday night concludes the RoughRiders’ season-long series of Texas Baseball Legends, as “Mr. Ranger” Tom Grieve makes an appearance at Riders Field. For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.

About the RoughRiders

The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The team was founded in 2003 and has finished first among all Double-A franchises in attendance for 15 consecutive seasons (2005-2019). In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, InTouch Grille, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 170 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected].