Drillers Sink Hooks for Seventh Straight Win
Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers continued their hot streak on Thursday night, but the club had to overcome adversity for the first time during the stretch. Three errors and five stolen bases helped the Corpus Christi Hooks gain a 5-3 advantage through seven innings. Tulsa kept battling and rallied
Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers continued their hot streak on Thursday night, but the club had to overcome adversity for the first time during the stretch. Three errors and five stolen bases helped the Corpus Christi Hooks gain a 5-3 advantage through seven innings. Tulsa kept battling and rallied in the eighth with Brendon Davis and Jose Ramos suppling the tying and winning runs as the Drillers earned the 6-5 win at ONEOK Field.
The victory gave the Drillers their seventh consecutive win, and their 25th comeback win this season. The loss increased the Hooks losing streak to nine games.
The Drillers scored in the first inning in the first two games this week, but on Thursday their first runs didn’t come until the third. The top of Tulsa’s lineup was responsible for driving in the runs as consecutive RBI doubles from Alex Freeland and Taylor Young gave the Drillers a 2-0 lead.
The Hooks cut the lead in half in the fifth with a lead-off home run from Miguel Palma. One batter later, Jeremy Arocho drew a walk and eventually stole second and third bases. Arocho scored when catcher Yeiner Fernandez attempted to throw out Jacob Melton at second base, but the throw got away from Freeland, allowing Arocho to score and tie the game at 2-2.
Tulsa used a sacrifice fly from Young in the fifth inning to regain the lead.
Corpus Christi responded with three runs in the sixth inning to take its first lead of the night. With a runner at first base, Palma and Arocho hit back-to-back triples to score two runs. A hit batter and catcher’s interference followed to load the bases before a wild pitch resulted in the Hooks taking a 5-3 lead.
Tulsa rallied to regain the lead in the eighth inning. The rally began with two singles and a walk that loaded the bases with no outs. On a 3-2 count, Davis tied the game with a clutch double down the left field line. Ramos followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Drillers a 6-5 advantage.
Lucas Wepf entered in the ninth and earned two quick outs on a flyout, aided by a sliding catch from Ramos, and a groundout. The Hooks put pressure on Wepf with back-to-back singles and a stolen base that put the potential tying and go-ahead runs at second and third. Wepf ended the threat by striking out Palma to end the game.
INSIDE THE GAME
*The scoreless ninth inning gave Wepf his second save with the Drillers.
*Tulsa starting pitcher Carlos Duran worked his longest outing of the season and his longest since missing the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery. The big right-hander completed 4.1 innings and was charged with six hits, one earned run and two walks with four strikeouts.
*Officially joining the Drillers roster from Oklahoma City on Thursday, Christian Romero was credited with the win. Romero allowed three runs on three hits in his first game with the Drillers since May 27.
*Young hit his 21st double in the third inning, which is the second most in the Texas League.
*Fernandez earned his seventh hit this week, and he is now batting .538 (7-13) in three games against the Hooks.
*Davis extended his on-base streak to 21 straight games. The streak is currently the longest active on-base streak in the Texas League.
*It was the first of four straight games in which Tulsa will play as the TulsaSound in tribute to the city's iconic music style.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers continue their extended home stand on Friday with game four of the six-game series against the Hooks. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
CC - RHP Joey Mancini (0-1, 2.20 ERA)
TUL - RHP Orlando Ortiz-Mayr (4-4, 5.54 ERA)