Drillers End Home Stand with Big Win
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers enjoyed a rewarding victory Sunday afternoon at ONEOK Field in their series finale with Arkansas. The 16-3 win gave the Drillers their second straight series win as it gave them four victories in the six games with the Travelers. It also gave them six
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers enjoyed a rewarding victory Sunday afternoon at ONEOK Field in their series finale with Arkansas. The 16-3 win gave the Drillers their second straight series win as it gave them four victories in the six games with the Travelers. It also gave them six wins in their extended, nine-game home stand, matching their winningest home stand of the season.
The 16 runs matched a season high, the third time they have done it. Lastly, the win helped the Drillers avoid their first losing month of the season, giving them a 12-12 record for July.
Ryan January led a big day for Tulsa batters, finishing 3-4 with two home runs and four runs batted in.
The victory came with help from the shorthanded Travelers. Arkansas pitchers walked nine batters in the game, and seven of them eventually scored.
Levi Stoudt was scheduled to be the Travelers starting pitcher, but he was included in the Friday trade between Seattle and Cincinnati that brought pitcher Luis Castillo to the Mariners. Stoudt was replaced by Prelander Berroa, who had just arrived in Tulsa on Saturday after his promotion.
It was a mixed bag for Berroa who worked the first three innings. He allowed just one hit with six strikeouts, but he walked five batters.
Berroa retired six of the first seven batters he faced, five on strikes. He ran into trouble in the bottom of the third when he walked Tulsa’s first two batters of the inning to set up Ryan Ward’s sacrifice fly that plated the game’s first run.
The Drillers were handed a big inning in the fourth when Berroa exited after walking the first three batters to load the bases. Arkansas reliever Blake Weiman’s first pitch was lined into left field by Leonel Valera for a two-run single.
Following another walk, a passed ball gave Tulsa a 4-0 lead. A sacrifice fly from Jonny DeLuca and run-scoring single by Ward capped the five-run fourth inning and gave Tulsa a 6-0 lead.
On the mound for the Drillers, Jose Hernandez was used as an opener for Gavin Stone, and the arrangement was effective. Hernandez needed just nine pitches to work a 1-2-3 top of the first inning.
Stone came on in the second and cruised through his first three innings before an error helped the Travelers get on the scoreboard in the fifth. Patrick Frick led off the top of the fifth with a fly ball to the warning track in centerfield that deflected off the glove of Jeren Kendall for a two-base error. Stone retired the next two batters before three straight singles gave the Travs a pair of runs and cut the Tulsa lead to 6-2.
The Drillers put the game out of reach with four more runs in the bottom half of the fifth that upped their lead to 10-2. Devin Mann’s 11th home run of the season accounted for two of them, and two more scored on a January double and an error from the Travelers.
January struck again in the seventh, belting his first home run, a two-run shot. Three batters later, Andy Pages matched him with a two-run homer of his own that increased the Tulsa lead to 14-2.
The Drillers capped their big day with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, the last one coming on January’s second homer.
Since Hernandez worked only one inning as the starter, Stone picked up the win to improve his record to 6-3. He worked 5.1 innings and both runs against him were unearned, dropping his Double-A ERA to 1.40. The mark is the lowest in all of Minor League Baseball among qualified pitchers.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:
*January has now hit three home runs in just nine games with the Drillers.
*DeLuca delivered Tulsa’s first sacrifice bunt of the year in the third inning. Tulsa was the only Double-A or Triple-A team without a successful sacrifice bunt this season.
*Thanks to the nine walks, the Drillers had more runs than hits, scoring 16 times on 12 hits.
*Every Drillers player in the lineup had at least one hit.
*James Outman began this season as a starting outfielder for the Drillers. On Sunday afternoon, he made his major league debut, batting ninth for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Outman made it an eventful debut by becoming just the fourth LA Dodger to hit a home run in his first-ever MLB at-bat.
UP NEXT:The Drillers will have the standard off day on Monday before beginning a six-game series on Tuesday at Northwest Arkansas against the Naturals. Tulsa is just 5-7 against Northwest Arkansas this season. Starting time for Tuesday’s opener is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Arvest Ballpark with the two starting pitchers yet to be announced.
Tulsa – TBA
NW Arkansas - TBA