Control Issues Plague Drillers in Loss to Wichita

Wichita, KS – It was a frustrating night in Wichita for the Tulsa Drillers on Tuesday. It began poorly when their scheduled game with the Wind Surge started late because of rain at Riverfront Stadium. Once the game began, the strike zone proved elusive as Wichita took a 3-0 lead without needing a hit to produce any of the three runs. The end result was a 6-2 loss for the Drillers.

Wichita has now won the first two games of the series with the third and final game coming on Wednesday. The Wind Surge also increased their lead in this season’s Coors Light Propeller Series with 8 wins in 14 meetings between the two teams.

The loss dropped the Drillers out of a three-way tie for first place in the North Division standings of the Texas League. They now trail Arkansas by one game.

BOX SCORE

It was a tough night for Tulsa starting pitcher Jerming Rosario who allowed just one hit, but he issued six walks before departing with two outs in the bottom of the third.

Three of those walks accounted for the first three Wind Surge runs. A leadoff walk and a wild pitch set up the first run in the second inning.

In the third, four walks made it 2-0 and ended Rosario’s outing. Michael Hobbs came on, and a passed ball by catcher Yeiner Fernandez upped the margin to 3-0.

Jake Rucker and Jeferson Morales delivered run-scoring hits in the fourth inning to make it 5-0.

Another walked batter to lead off the bottom of the fifth, followed by an error, gave Wichita a six-run lead.

Despite all the struggles, the Drillers nearly got back in the game in the top of the eighth inning. Dalton Rushing doubled home Tulsa’s first run of the night before a one-out walk loaded the bases, and Jose Ramos brought home a second run with a sacrifice fly.

Griffin Lockwood-Powell extended the inning with a single that again loaded the bases and brought the potential game-tying run to the plate. Bubba Alleyne belted a drive to deep, right-center field, but Wichita centerfielder Luke Keaschall made an over-the-shoulder catch just as he reached the warning track, leaving Tulsa with a 6-2 deficit.

The Drillers put two runners on base in the ninth before a pair of pop ups ended the game.

Taylor Young singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to eight straight games. It is his second eight-game streak of the season and they are the longest hitting streaks of the year for a Tulsa player.

Young also stole his league-leading 28th base of the season.

INSIDE THE GAME

*The Drillers juggled their roster prior to the game. Pitcher Jake Meador was returned to the Great Lakes Loons, and pitcher Carlos Duran was added from Rancho Cucamonga.

*Alleyne was in the game because he replaced right fielder Austin Beck in the second inning. Beck was ejected after striking out and appearing to have words with Wichita pitcher Andrew Morris.

*Damon Keith went hitless, ending his seven-game hitting streak.

*Rosario walked six batters in the game, but three other Tulsa pitchers combined to walk just one other batter over 5.1 relief innings. The Drillers entered the night leading all 30 Double-A teams with the most walks issued this season.

*Ryan Sublette worked 2.1 scoreless relief innings with three strikeouts. Edgardo Henriquez worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, striking out two.

*The game started 14 minutes late after a thunderstorm moved into downtown Wichita just after 5:30 p.m.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers will conclude their quick, three-game series in Wichita on Wednesday night. The two teams will travel to Tulsa after the game to open another three-game series at ONEOK Field on Thursday evening, July 4. Wednesday’s finale at Riverfront Stadium will begin at 6:35 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

TUL – RHP Chris Campos (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
WCH – RHP Zebby Matthews (2-1, 1.75 ERA)