Late Rally from Missions Overcomes Gem from Ortiz-Mayr

Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers got 6 1/3 no-hit innings from starting pitcher Orlando Ortiz-Mayr Wednesday afternoon, but it was not enough to produce a victory. San Antonio scored seven of its eight runs over the final three innings and rallied for an 8-6 victory over the Drillers at ONEOK Field.

The two teams have now split the first two games of their six-game series.

BOX SCORE

Ortiz-Mayr, who had a streak of 12 straight starts of at least 5.0 innings end in his last outing, was outstanding against the Missions. He departed the game after allowing San Antonio its first hit of the game with one out in the seventh. The Drillers held a 4-1 cushion at the time.

The two teams had traded runs in the early innings. Tulsa opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Yeiner Fernandez and Noah Miller delivered back-to-back to singles. Fernandez came home when Brendon Davis grounded into a double play.

The only tough inning of the afternoon for Ortiz-Mayr came in the top of the third. Joshua Mears reached safely to open the inning when third baseman Taylor Young could not cleanly backhand his grounder. After the error, Ortiz-Mayr hit one batter and walked another to load the bases. He then hit Anthony Vilar with another pitch to force home a run.

The Drillers quickly answered in the bottom of the third to go back in front. With one out, Chris Newell doubled. Young followed with a base hit, and when centerfielder Joshua Mears misplayed the bouncer, Newell came home to put Tulsa back in front, 2-1.

The lead expanded to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jose Ramos opened the inning with a single, and Fernandez followed with a double. Another misplay in the outfield on the hit allowed Ramos to score from first. Noah Miller made it two straight doubles and plated Fernandez for Tulsa’s fourth run.

Ortiz-Mayr kept his no-hit bid alive when he retired the leadoff batter in the seventh, but he then walked Cole Cummings before Robert Perez Jr. lined a double into left field for the Missions first hit. It ended Ortiz-Mayr’s afternoon with runners at second and third.

Ronan Kopp relieved and got a ground out for the second out of the inning, but Cummings scored on the play. Connor Hollis grounded a two-out single into center field that plated Perez Jr. and trimmed Tulsa’s lead to 4-3.

A three-run eighth inning gave the Missions their first lead of the day. A hit and a hit batter from Kopp put runners at first and second and set up a three-run homer from Marcos Castanon that erased Tulsa’s lead and put the Missions in front 6-4.

Trailing for the first time, the Drillers responded with two runs in the bottom half of the game to tie the score. Miller opened the inning with a base hit, and Davis worked a walk. Bubba Alleyne pulled the Drillers within one run with an RBI single.

Jose Izarra dropped a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners to second and third with just one out. Newell tied the game with a sacrifice fly, and with the potential go-ahead run at second base, Young flied out to end the threat and send the game to the ninth tied at 6-6.

After being no-hit for six-plus innings, San Antonio’s bats continued to show life in the top of the ninth. After Tulsa reliever Juan Morillo walked Ray Patrick Didder with one out, Vilar doubled to put runners at second and third.

With the infield drawn in trying to keep the game tied, Romeo Sanabria chopped a grounder past the pitcher’s mound and right at Miller. The shortstop’s throw to the plate handcuffed catcher Fernandez and caromed off his glove and into the first base dugout. The throwing error allowed two runs to score and gave the Missions an 8-6 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ramos drew a one-out walk, but Fernandez grounded into a game-ending double play.

It marked the 33rd time this season that the Drillers have lost a game after holding a lead, but it was only the ninth time it has happened at ONEOK Field.

INSIDE THE GAME

* Ortiz-Mayr was charged with three runs, but only two were earned. In addition to the one hit he allowed, the right-hander walked three batters and hit two others.
Prior to the game, Ortiz-Mayr was activated from the Temporarily Inactive List, filling the spot on the active roster that was held by infielder Cristian Santana. Santana was placed on the 7-Day Injured List.

*It was a busy sixth inning for shortstop Miller. He retired all three San Antonio batters in the inning on 6-3 ground outs.

*For the second consecutive game, the Missions committed three errors.

*Tulsa had 16 at-bats in the game with runners in scoring position and had 4 hits.

*Izarra’s sacrifice in the eighth inning was just the fourth sacrifice bunt this season for the Drillers. Of the four full-season teams within the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system, only High-A Great Lakes has more sacrifices with 11. Oklahoma City has two sacrifice bunts, and Rancho Cucamonga has one.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers and Missions will play the third game of their six-game series on Thursday evening at ONEOK Field. Starting time is set for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

San Antonio – LHP Austin Krob (4-10, 4.46 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Jared Karros (2-1, 3.77 ERA)