Campos and Freeland Spark Second Straight Win
Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers got a strong debut from starting pitcher Chris Campos on Thursday night, but it was a two-out rally in the seventh inning that eventually fueled their second straight victory over Amarillo. With the game tied at 1-1, Brandon Lewis scored from first base when
Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers got a strong debut from starting pitcher Chris Campos on Thursday night, but it was a two-out rally in the seventh inning that eventually fueled their second straight victory over Amarillo. With the game tied at 1-1, Brandon Lewis scored from first base when Alex Freeland broke a 0-14 slump with a lined double into the right field corner to give the Drillers a 2-1 victory over the Sod Poodles.
The win improved Tulsa’s second-half record to 2-1.
Thursday’s game carried no resemblance to the Drillers 16-2 win the previous night that featured a combined 18 walks. On Thursday, Campos and Amarillo starting pitcher Dylan File both worked quickly and efficiently and combined for just one walk through six innings.
The only damage against either starter came from the Drillers when they got a run against File in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and the bases empty, Brendon Davis tripled and Jose Ramos followed with a lined single into centerfield that gave Tulsa a 1-0 lead.
For much of the night, it looked as if it might be the only offense of the evening as Campos was attempting to become the second straight Tulsa pitcher to collect his first-ever Double-A win. Jerming Rosario had picked up his first AA victory in the Drillers big victory the night before.
Campos, who was just promoted from High-A Great Lakes on Tuesday, was outstanding in his first-ever game at the Double-A level, blanking the Sod Poodles for six complete innings while allowing just four hits. Just as impressively, he did not issue a walk while collecting five strikeouts.
When Campos departed, the Sod Poodles tied the game with their only run of the night in the seventh inning. Tulsa reliever Michael Hobbs retired the first batter of the inning before issuing back-to-back walks. The free passes came back to haunt Hobbs as Wilderd Patino delivered a run-scoring single to tie the game at 1-1.
It set up the big hit from Freeland in the bottom half of the seventh. Lewis began the rally with a one-out single. After Bubba Alleyne flew out, Freeland lined a 1-0 pitch down the right field line. Running with contact, Lewis was able come around with what proved to be the winning run.
Logan Boyer made sure the one-run lead held as he blanked the Sod Poodles over the final two innings to pick up his team-leading fifth save of the season. Boyer allowed one hit and struck out three.
It was the quickest nine-inning game of the season for the Drillers, taking just 2 hours and 4 minutes to complete.
INSIDE THE GAME
*The victory evened Tulsa’s home record at 19-19.
*It was Tulsa’s ninth one-run win of the season and eight of them have occurred at ONEOK Field.
*Campos needed only 76 pitches to complete his six innings.
*Ramos was the only Tulsa player with more than one hit in the game, going 2-3 with the one run driven in.
*The seventh-inning hit continued a hot June for Lewis, upping his average for the month to .293. After striking out 26 times in May games, Lewis has only 10 strikeouts so far this month.
*Amarillo had six hits in the game and all were singles. Patino tried for a double with two outs in the ninth inning when he lined a hit into right field, but Austin Beck threw him out at second to end the game.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will continue their six-game series with Amarillo with game four on Friday night at ONEOK Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
AMA – RHP Billy Corcoran (3-2, 2.40 ERA)
TUL – RHP Jake Meador (0-1, 3.24 ERA)