Drillers 3-Run First Inning Not Enough in 15-5 Loss

SPRINGFIELD, MO – Saturday night’s game in Springfield began positively for the Tulsa Drillers, as they took an early lead with three runs in the top of the first inning, but things quickly went downhill from there. The Springfield Cardinals responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the first. It was one of three, four-run innings for the Redbirds over the first four frames. The end result was a 15-5 loss for the Drillers at Hammons Field.

BOXSCORE

Tulsa’s three-run first inning featured a two-run single from Justin Yurchak and a run-scoring single from Devin Mann.

It was a tough night for Tulsa starting pitcher Landon Knack who was making his first appearance after coming off the injured list. Knack opened the game with a strikeout, but a base hit and two walks followed to loaded the bases. Chandler Redmond quickly unloaded them when he hit the first pitch he saw over the right-center field fence for a grand slam home run that gave the Cards a 4-3 lead and ended Knack’s night.

Springfield added four more runs in the second and four more in the fourth, while Mann’s run-scoring double in the top of the third gave Tulsa its fourth run.

Springfield finished with 14 hits in the game and took advantage of 9 walks from Drillers pitchers.

The Drillers fifth and final run of the night came in the top of the ninth inning on Ryan Ward’s 22nd home run of the season. Ward’s 22 homers lead all active players in the Texas League. As a team, Tulsa has now homered in eight straight games.

The 1/3 of an inning for Knack was the shortest outing of his career and marked just the second time in his professional career that he has failed to get out of the first inning.

The Drillers are now 4-7 on their 2-week, 12-game road trip. They are 1-4 in their 6-game series with the Cardinals ahead of the series finale on Sunday afternoon.

HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:

*With Knack’s early departure, four Tulsa relievers were asked to work 7.2 innings in the game. It marked the second time in the series that a Drillers starter has not made it through the first inning. The bullpen has now had to work a total 33.0 of the 41.0 innings in the first five games of the series in Springfield.

*Knack took the place of Bobby Miller as the Tulsa starter. Miller was the starting pitcher for the National League on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium in the 2022 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. The right-hander worked the first inning and gave up one hit, one walk and one run while striking out the side.

*The Cardinals stole four bases in the game, but the Drillers did retire an attempted base stealer, catching Chase Pinder in his attempt to take third base in the second inning. It was first caught stealing for the Tulsa defense in month of July. Opponents had been successful on 39 straight attempted steals to open the month. Overall, it was the first caught stealing since June 28 for Drillers catchers.

*Yurchak had two hits in the game and has now hit safely in 11 straight games. It is the second longest streak of the season for a Tulsa batter, just one game shy of Andy Pages’ 12-game hitting streak.

*Jordan Leasure was charged with two runs in the game, but both were unearned. Leasure has allowed just one earned in his last 17 appearances.

*With Ward’s homer, the Drillers have now hit 123 home runs on the season, tied for fifth-most in all of Minor League Baseball.

UP NEXT: The Drillers will wrap up their two-week road trip with the series finale against the Rebirds on Sunday night. Starting time at Hammons Field is set for 6:05 p.m. The Drillers will have four days off after Sunday’s game as all of professional baseball will be off for Tuesday’s Major League All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.
The starting pitchers for Sunday’s finale are slated to be:

Tulsa – RHP Kyle Hurt (0-1, 19.64 ERA)
Springfield – RHP Michael McGreevy (5-2, 3.67 ERA)