San Antonio Powers Past Drillers
Tulsa, OK – The long ball was the demise of the Tulsa Drillers on Thursday night. After the top of the fifth inning, Tulsa was behind 4-1 on two home runs from the San Antonio Missions. Tulsa rallied to tie the game with a double and a home run in
Tulsa, OK – The long ball was the demise of the Tulsa Drillers on Thursday night. After the top of the fifth inning, Tulsa was behind 4-1 on two home runs from the San Antonio Missions. Tulsa rallied to tie the game with a double and a home run in the bottom half, but Ripken Reyes delivered the final blow for the Missions with their third home run of the game in the seventh inning, sending the Drillers to a 5-4 loss at ONEOK Field.
The Missions have now won two of the first three games in the six-game series between the two teams.
San Antonio’s early damage came against Tulsa starting pitcher Jared Karros, who made his second start since his return from the Injured List on August 30. In the second inning, a walk and a single set up a three-run homer from Joshua Mears.
In the bottom half of the second, Taylor Young drew a one-out walk for the Drillers and moved into scoring position after an error on a pickoff attempt. The error allowed Brendon Davis to drive in Young with a single and make the score 3-1.
Karros’ night ended after two innings. He was tagged for the three runs on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Following a perfect inning from Antonio Knowles, Chris Campos took over on the mound. Campos surrendered a home run to Marcos Castanon in the fifth inning, which increased the Missions lead to 4-1.
Tulsa benefitted from a lead-off walk to begin in the fifth, setting up an RBI double from Bubba Alleyne. Damon Keith followed and added two more runs when he slugged his team-leading 15th home run of the season to tie the game.
The Missions broke the tie in the seventh with the solo home run from Reyes. It was San Antonio’s third blast of the night and their second against Campos.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Five Tulsa pitchers combined to strike out 17 San Antonio hitters, which matched a season-high that was set on April 12 in a 4-0 loss to Arkansas.
*The Missions have not been a home run hitting team this season. After the three home runs on Thursday, they now have 85 for the season, the fewest in the Texas League.
*Michael Hobbs and Christian Suarez combined to hold San Antonio scoreless over the final three innings
*Young had a pair of unconventional caught stealings in the game, leaving him 43 for 53 in stolen base attempts this season.
*The Missions were charged with another error on Thursday and now have seven in the first three games of the series.
*Tulsa hitters struck out 12 more times in the loss, making it the 70th game this season the Drillers have struck out ten or more times.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers and Missions will play the fourth game of their six-game series on Friday evening at ONEOK Field. Starting time is set for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
San Antonio – RHP Henry Baez (3-1, 3.58 ERA)
Tulsa – LHP Jackson Ferris (0-2, 2.95 ERA)