Drillers Foil Late Rally in 3-2 Win
SPRINGDALE, AR– The Tulsa Drillers evened their series with Northwest Arkansas at two wins each on Friday night as they defeated the Naturals 3-2 at Arvest Ballpark. The Drillers took an early lead in the first inning and held it for the remainder of the game. A strong pitching performance
SPRINGDALE, AR– The Tulsa Drillers evened their series with Northwest Arkansas at two wins each on Friday night as they defeated the Naturals 3-2 at Arvest Ballpark.
The Drillers took an early lead in the first inning and held it for the remainder of the game. A strong pitching performance from starter John Rooney helped the Drillers to keep Northwest Arkansas scoreless through the first five innings.
Chris Betts and Jeren Kendall hit home runs to give the Drillers an offensive boost in the winning effort. The Naturals attempted to rally in the final two innings, but Gus Varland came on to earn his first professional save.
A sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning from Brandon Lewis brought Kendall home for the game's first run. The Drillers then got base hits from Ryan Ward and Justin Yurchak, but a third-out pop fly left the runners stranded to end the inning.
In his 13th appearance and 10th start of the season, Rooney turned in a strong showing from the mound with four strikeouts in his a five-inning shutout.
The Naturals earned their first hits in the bottom of the second inning with two singles to the outfield, but the Drillers defense finished the inning to keep their 1-0 lead.
Betts extended the Drillers lead in the top of the fifth inning with his second home run of the season. On the next two at-bats, Kendall and Ward reached base on fielding errors by the Naturals. However, Andy Pages grounded into a closely contested 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Jose Martinez took the mound for the 19th time this season. He started strong by retiring the Naturals in order, but an error and two walks loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh. Keegan Curtis replaced Martinez and immediately made an impact by striking out the next three batters to leave the bases loaded. In the eighth inning, the Naturals scored their first run of the contest when Maikel Garcia scored off an RBI ground out after he successfully stole both second and third bases.
Kendall added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning with his sixth home run of the season, making the score 3-1. In the next at-bat,
Varland came out from the bullpen to start the ninth inning for the Drillers for his 21st appearance this season.
The Naturals cut into the Drillers lead with a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly from Brhet Bewley that sent Seuly Matias home to make the score 3-2. Varland escaped the jam with a game-ending strikeout.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:
*Rooney picked up his fourth win of the season, improving his record 4- 2. He had four strikeouts and allowed only two hits in the shutout.
*Curtis struck out four batters in his two innings pitched.
*Varland picked up his first professional save in the first opportunity of his career.
*Ward had a good night from the plate with three hits in five plate appearances.
*Yurchak and Pages extended their hitting streaks to five games.
*The Drillers recorded nine hits in the game and plated three runs for the second night in a row. However, they were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, stranding ten runners on base.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will look for their third win in a row on Saturday night with the fifth game of their series with the Naturals at Arvest Ballpark. Starting time is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. and the pitching matchup is expected to be:
Tulsa –RHP Clayton Beeter (0-3, 4.36 ERA)
NWA –LHP Anthony Veneziano (4-5, 7.07 ERA)