Casey’s Hit Gives Drillers Another Walk-Off Win

Yeiner Fernandez had two hits in Saturday's walk-off win over San Antonio that took place before a sellout crowd on Harry Potter cap giveaway night at ONEOK Field. (Tim Campbell)

September 8, 2024

Tulsa, OK – On Saturday’s Harry Potter Night at ONEOK Field, the Tulsa Drillers entertained a sellout crowd with some extra-innings wizardry of their own. After giving up a pair of first-inning runs to San Antonio, the Drillers trailed for most of the night until rallying to take a temporary lead before eventually going into extra innings. The game remained deadlocked until the bottom of the eleventh inning when Donovan Casey’s clutch double scored placed runner Noah Miller with the winning run in a 5-4 victory over the Missions.

It was the 12th walk-off win of the season for the Drillers and their fifth in the past 11 game at ONEOK Field.

BOX SCORE

Tulsa played from behind for a majority of the game after starting pitcher Carlos Duran labored through a long first inning in which the Missions scored twice. Duran needed 36 pitches to get through the inning that included three hits and two walks.

The Drillers got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third when Brendon Davis drew a leadoff walk and later scored when Damon Keith grounded a two-out base hit into centerfield.

San Antonio increased its lead to 3-1 with a run in the fifth off reliever Kelvin Bautista.

The Drillers again pulled to within one run in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and the bases empty, Jose Ramos drew a walk. He came around to score when Taylor Young and Davis followed with consecutive singles, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Third baseman Taylor Young fields a grounder in the Drillers 5-4 win over San Antonio on Harry Potter Night at ONEOK Field.Rich Crimi

Tulsa finally overturned its deficit and took a temporary lead the following inning. The rally began when Chris Newell drew a one-out walk, and Griffin Lockwood-Powell drew another with two outs. With runners on first and second, the Missions brought on reliever Jose Geraldo, and Fernandez lined his second pitch into left-center field for a double that plated both Newell and Lockwood-Powell to give the Drillers a 4-3 lead.

It was still a one-run lead entering the top of the ninth when a Tulsa error gave the Missions a leadoff runner. Ronan Kopp got a ground out and strikeout and was then replaced by Antonio Knowles. Knowles got a 1-2 count on Robbie Tenerowicz before the Missions’ first baseman slapped an outside breaking pitch through a big hole on the right side of the infield. It was the fourth hit of the game for Tenerowicz and tied the score at 4-4.

In extra innings, both teams missed first and third scoring opportunities in the tenth inning, and the Missions did the same in the top of the eleventh to set up Casey’s heroics in the bottom of the inning.

With Miller placed at second, Jose Izarra advanced him 90 feet on the first pitch of the eleventh with a fly out to right field. That brought Casey to the plate. After taking a first pitch ball, Casey lined the next offering over the head of the Missions’ third baseman Marcos Castanon and into the left field corner to score Miller and give the Drillers the win.

INSIDE THE GAME

*The next-to-last home game of the season for the Drillers drew a sellout crowd of 8,032 to downtown Tulsa, making it the second largest crowd of the season.

*It was a tough night for Duran as he needed 72 pitches to get through three innings. He was charged with two runs on five hits and four walks.

*The Drillers used a total of six pitchers in the win and they totaled 15 strikeouts.

*The bullpen combined for eight innings and was charged with just one earned run.

*Tulsa pitchers have a total of 43 strikeouts over the last three games.

*Christian Suarez worked two scoreless frames to pick up the victory and even his Double-A record at 4-4.

*It was not all good news for the Drillers as Casey did not start the game and only entered when Keith appeared to injure himself during a plate appearance in the bottom of the fifth.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers will conclude their series with the Missions on Sunday night in what will be their final home game of the 2024 season on Sunday night. Starting time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at ONEOK Field, and a huge Fireworks Show is planned for after the game. The starting pitchers for the finale are expected to be:

San Antonio – LHP Miguel Cienfuegos (3-2, 5.21 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Jerming Rosario (3-4, 4.40 ERA)