O'Dowd plates three runs to tie TL Finals

A speedy catcher with a growing reputation behind the dish, Chris O'Dowd might not be the most likely candidate to get a team back into a playoff series with his bat. But that's exactly what Tulsa's No. 9 hitter did Wednesday to pick up a club that was down in the series and then saw its ace exit early.

O'Dowd collected a pair of run-scoring hits and plated three runs as the Double-A Drillers beat the visiting Midland RockHounds, 5-2, at ONEOK Field in Game 2 of the Texas League Championship Series.

Selected by the Padres in the 23rd round of the 2012 Draft, the son of Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd drove in two with a bases-loaded single to right field in the second inning and he added a one-out RBI single to right in the fourth.

"Big game. The kids fought hard," Tulsa manager Kevin Riggs said. "I thought the offense really executed situationally and that is always good. We had a couple sacrifice bunts and three stolen bases and the defense was solid outside of one error. The pitching was solid and with our horse [Tyler Anderson] exiting early, the bullpen did a tremendous job closing it out."

The victory tied the best-of-5 Championship Series at 1-1 and ensured the Drillers will go on the road with a split ahead of what now will essentially be a best-of-3 series in Midland for the crown.

O'Dowd, a 23-year-old Ohio native, batted .271 with 48 RBIs in 113 regular-season games between two levels this year and he was 3-for-12 without an RBI in his first five playoff games. But the backstop, whom Riggs calls "intriguing" and "a second table-setter" came up big in a pair of early RBI opportunities.

"He has been very good since he came here, particularly from the left side where he took his at-bats tonight," Riggs said of the Dartmouth product. "This time of the year, you have to get contributions from everybody. You don't know who is going to step up, but he did with his three RBIs and that was huge."

Tulsa starter Tyler Anderson, the Texas League Pitcher of the Year, allowed two runs on a pair of solo homers over three innings of work and four relievers worked around three combined hits over the final six innings to seal the victory.

"He felt something that was a little bit odd," Riggs said of Colorado's No. 12 prospect, who was taken out for precautionary reasons and will be evaluated Thursday. "When a pitcher phrases it that way, you err on the side of caution. Just something didn't feel right with the ball coming out."

The RockHounds threatened in the ninth when Dusty Coleman hit a two-out double and D'Arby Myers followed with an infield single to bring the potential tying run to the plate, but Matt Chapman struck out swinging to end the game.

Midland's Chris Jensen surrendered five runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out two batters over four innings.

Game 3 will take place in Midland on Friday. Game 4 will be on Saturday, and if necessary, Game 5, if would follow on Sunday.