Drillers Complete Six-Game Sweep
TULSA, OK – The third time was the charm for the Tulsa Drillers. Sunday night marked the third time this season that the Drillers had a chance to complete a six-game sweep of a series. The previous two times, the Drillers lost in the final game, but they finally completed
TULSA, OK – The third time was the charm for the Tulsa Drillers. Sunday night marked the third time this season that the Drillers had a chance to complete a six-game sweep of a series. The previous two times, the Drillers lost in the final game, but they finally completed an historic sweep on Sunday.
Brandon Lewis and Diego Cartaya hit home runs, and Nick Frasso and Emmet Sheehan turned in dominant performances on the mound to lead the Drillers to a 4-1 win over Northwest Arkansas at ONEOK Field.
It marks the first time that the Drillers have swept a six-game series since Minor League Baseball adopted the six-game format prior to the 2021 season.
The Drillers had last accomplished the feat 25 years ago when they won all six games in El Paso from July 9-14, 1998. They outscored the Diablos 68-22 in that series.
Lewis, who hit two homers in Saturday’s win over the Naturals, got the Drillers off to a quick start. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Kody Hoese singled and Lewis followed with another homer, his fifth of the season, to stake Tulsa to a 2-0 lead.
Cartaya upped the margin to three runs with a long, solo homer in the fourth inning.
An unlikely source was responsible for the Drillers final run of the game when they were forced to play the final half of the game without a designated hitter. In the top of the fifth inning, catcher Carson Taylor was struck by a deflected pitch from Sheehan after it had struck the batter. Taylor finished the half inning but was removed afterwards, forcing the designated hitter Cartaya to enter the game as the new catcher.
In turn, that forced Sheehan to bat for himself in the bottom of the fifth. He struck out on three pitches, but he got another chance at the plate in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, he drew a five-pitch walk to collect his first professional RBI.
Frasso and Sheehan combined to blank the Naturals on only one hit through the first eight innings.
The Drillers lead Minor League Baseball with seven shutouts this season, and they just missed an eighth. Peyton Wilson spoiled the bid when he led off the ninth with a home run off Sheehan.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:
*The six-game winning streak matches Tulsa’s longest of the season.
*Frasso was making his first appearance since May 6. He started the game and showed no rust as he worked three hitless and scoreless innings. Frasso registered four strikeouts with the only batter reaching base doing so on an error. The right-hander lowered his season ERA to 0.91.
*Sheehan matched the longest outing of his career, working six complete innings for the second time and the first time since last season. He allowed two hits and two walks while striking out nine. After Wilson’s leadoff homer in the ninth, Sheehan struck out the next three batters to end the game.
*The Drillers won all six games in the series, but all but one of the games were close. The first four were all decided by one run. The only lopsided result was game five that Tulsa won 12-0.
*The Drillers record at ONEOK Field this season is now 22-5, an 81.5% winning percentage. It’s their best streak at home since posting the same record in a 27-game stretch in the 2017 season. Most of those victories came after Scott Hennessey became manager in the middle of the season and the club went on a 15-game home winning streak.
*The three games over the Memorial Day Weekend drew a total of 20,961 paid fans to ONEOK Field.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will not play on Memorial Day and will begin a six-game series in Wichita Tuesday night at Riverfront Stadium. Starting time for the opener against the Wind Surge is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are likely to be:
TUL – RHP Landon Knack (1-0, 1.32 ERA)
WCH – RHP Blayne Enlow (2-1, 3.02 ERA)