Opportunistic Drillers Take Series from Amarillo
Tulsa, OK – In the final game of a six-game series with Amarillo, the Tulsa Drillers were out-hit 12-4 Sunday afternoon, but the more important run column favored the Drillers. Tulsa scored three runs in the third inning without the benefit of a hit and overcame an early Amarillo lead
Tulsa, OK – In the final game of a six-game series with Amarillo, the Tulsa Drillers were out-hit 12-4 Sunday afternoon, but the more important run column favored the Drillers. Tulsa scored three runs in the third inning without the benefit of a hit and overcame an early Amarillo lead to post a 4-3 win at ONEOK Field.
The victory gave the Drillers a series win, with four victories in the six-game set that opened the second half of the season.
It was the 21st comeback win of the season for the Drillers.
Amarillo’s Ivan Melendez opened the afternoon’s scoring with a solo home run to lead off the second inning. It was the second homer of the series for Melendez and his sixth in his last 14 games.
The lead increased to 2-0 in the top of the third when Matt Beaty singled home Tim Tawa who had doubled.
It was a bittersweet afternoon for Amarillo starting pitcher Jamison Hill. Hill did not allow a hit nor a walk in two scoreless frames to open his outing, but he ran into difficulties in the third. Four straight walks to open the inning gave the Drillers their first run before a wild pitch tied the score. Austin Beck capped the three-run inning with a sacrifice fly that gave Tulsa the lead.
The first hit against Hill did not come until the first pitch of the fourth inning. Jose Ramos jumped on that initial pitch and lined it onto the grass berm in left-center field for his eleventh home run of the season, giving the Drillers a 4-2 lead.
Tulsa starting pitcher Kendall Williams held the two-run lead until the sixth inning when consecutive one-out doubles from A.J. Vukovich and Tim Graham made it 4-3.
Williams came within one out of matching the longest outing of the season for a Tulsa starter. The right-hander departed with two outs in the seventh.
Ben Harris got the final out of the seventh before the Drillers used an alert defensive play in the eighth to maintain the lead. With runners at first and second and no outs, Graham hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Taylor Young who was several feet off the foul line. Young was initially going to tag the runner going from second to third, but the runner stopped halfway to third. Young alertly threw to second for a force out, trapping the lead runner between second and third. After a rundown, pitcher Harris tagged the runner out to complete an unorthodox double play.
Harris got the final out in the eighth before turning things over to Lucas Wepf for the ninth inning. Wepf retired the Sod Poodles in order, including two via strikeouts, to close out the win and pick up his first save at the Double-A level.
It concluded a successful two-day stint for Wepf. He got his first Double-A win in Tulsa 10-6 win on Saturday night.
INSIDE THE GAME
*The blast from Ramos in the fourth inning tied him with Austin Beck for the team lead in homers.
*Williams picked up his second win in the month of June and improved his record to 4-7. In his last four starts, Williams has a 3.32 ERA.
*Tulsa hitting coach Dylan Nasiatka and left fielder Bubba Alleyne were both ejected from the game by home plate umpire Jon Forster in the sixth inning.
*The Drillers moved their season record above .500 to 38-37 with the win. Entering the game, Tulsa was 20-20 at home this season and 17-17 on the road.
*Tulsa now has a 10-13 record in one-run games with nine of the wins coming at ONEOK Field.
*The Drillers won the season series with Amarillo 7-5.
*The win also gave Tulsa its first winning month of the season. With the victory, the Drillers finished June with a 14-12 record.
UP NEXT:
An abnormal week to accommodate schedules for the July 4th holiday will result in a rare Monday game for the Drillers. Tulsa will travel to Wichita for a brief three-game series with the Wind Surge. The two teams will then travel to Tulsa for a three-game series at ONEOK Field that will run Thursday through Sunday.
Monday’s series opener at Wichita’s Riverfront Stadium is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
TUL – RHP Jerming Rosario (1-0, 2.45 ERA)
WCH – LHP Andrew Rozek (3-3, 1.89 ERA)