Sod Poodles Rally to Spoil Drillers Home Opener

TULSA, OK – Tulsa starting pitcher Bobby Miller dazzled the opening crowd Tuesday night at ONEOK Field, but the hard-throwing right-hander was limited to only four innings. Amarillo took advantage of his departure by scoring two runs in the fifth inning and two more in the eighth to claim a 4-3 victory.

The loss was the first of the season for the Drillers who had swept a three-game series in Wichita to open the year. The Sod Poodles evened their record at 2-2.

BOXSCORE

Miller, who is ranked as the top pitching prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system, registered over 100 m.p.h. several times on the stadium’s radar gun. After allowing a single on the game’s third pitch, Miller was dominant, retiring the next 12 batters he faced before being removed from the game.

The Drillers gave him a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the third inning, as James Outman doubled with one out and advanced to third on a base hit by Michael Busch. After Andy Pages struck out, Justin Yurchak delivered the big, two-out hit with an opposite-field single that scored Outman for the game’s first run.

Miller departed after the fourth inning, and Amarillo quickly plated two runs to go in front. Dominic Fletcher greeted reliever Nick Robertson with a leadoff single, and Ti’Quan Forbes drew a walk. Following a sacrifice bunt, Fletcher came home on a sacrifice fly by Drew Stankiewicz. A two-out base hit from Jancarlos Cintron scored Forbes to put the Sod Poodles in front 2-1.

Tulsa answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the seventh. Outman walked and Busch singled to right. Right fielder Fletcher tried to retire Outman advancing to third on the hit, but his throw was wide of the base, allowing the Drillers centerfielder to come home with the tying run.

The Drillers retook the lead in the sixth. Hunter Feduccia and Carson Taylor opened the inning with consecutive singles. After a fly out, Kody Hoese’s groundball skipped by Cintron at short, and Feduccia raced home on the error to give Tulsa a 3-2 lead.

The back-and-forth contest continued with the Sod Poodles striking the final blow in the top of the eighth. Corbin Carroll singled off reliever Austin Drury to open the key inning. Justin Hagenman came on from the bullpen and got a pop out before Dominic Canzone singled. After a ground ball to Hagenman advanced the runners to second and third, Fletcher delivered the biggest hit of the night with a two-run single that put Amarillo in front to stay.

The Drillers had only one more hit in the game, a one-out single in the ninth by Jacob Amaya. Sod Poodles reliever Junior Garcia got a strikeout and a pop out to leave Amaya stranded at first and end the game.

HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:

*The Drillers have now lost three straight home openers with their last win coming in the 2018 opener. Since moving to ONEOK Field, they are now 5-7 in home openers.

*Miller retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced in his four innings of work, with the last 12 going down in order. He allowed just the leadoff hit and zero walks while striking out six. The 2020 first-round pick threw 58 total pitches, 41 for strikes.

*Amarillo had nine hits in the game compared to eight for Tulsa.

*Busch and Taylor accounted for half of the Drillers hits, finishing with two each.

*Tulsa batters struck out 11 times with every hitter except Feduccia striking out at least once.

*Carroll led the Sod Poodles with three hits from the leadoff spot.

*The opening night crowd totaled 6,532.

*Hagenman was charged with the loss, evening his season record at 1-1. He allowed just one run on three hits in two innings of work.

*Overall, the Tulsa bullpen was charged with eight hits and four runs in five innings pitched.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers and Sod Poodles will continue their six-game series with game two Wednesday evening. Starting time at ONEOK Field is again scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The pitching matchup will be:

Amarillo – RHP Matt Tabor (First appearance)
Tulsa – RHP Michael Grove (First appearance)