De Paula Fuels Comeback Win Over Wichita
Wichita, KS – Entering Tuesday’s series opener in Wichita, the Tulsa Drillers had come from behind in 9 of their 22 victories this season. That number is now up to an even ten. In the first meeting this year between the two teams, the Drillers were trailing by three runs
Wichita, KS – Entering Tuesday’s series opener in Wichita, the Tulsa Drillers had come from behind in 9 of their 22 victories this season. That number is now up to an even ten.
In the first meeting this year between the two teams, the Drillers were trailing by three runs after two innings, but they rallied twice to go in front and eventually posted a 7-5 victory at Equity Bank Park.
Josue De Paula was the key contributor in the comeback. The outfield doubled, homered and drove in four of the seven runs. The big night extended his current hitting streak to seven straight games.
It took the Wind Surge exactly one pitch into their first at-bat to take a lead. In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff batter Kyle DeBarge hit the very first pitch from Tulsa starter Patrick Copen over the left field fence for his fifth homer of the season.
Nico Roberts followed DeBarge to the plate and drew a walk from Copen before scoring himself on Ricardo Olivar’s two-out double.
Wichita increased its lead to 3-0 in the second inning. Jose Salas led off with a base hit, stole both second and third bases and scored on Billy Amick’s fielder’s choice grounder.
Tulsa tied the game at 3-3 with three runs in the top of the third. Jake Gelof led off with a single and came all the way home when Sean McLain followed with a double.
McLain was thrown out trying to advance to third on Kendall George’s grounder. With George at first base, De Paula hooked a liner inside the right field foul pole for his sixth homer of the season that tied the score.
The Drillers went in front with two more runs in the fifth. George started the inning with a base hit. After stealing second base, the speedy outfielder scored when second baseman Salas misplayed De Paula’s grounder for an error.
De Paula’s steal of second moved him into scoring position, where he scored on Zyhir Hope’s double, giving the Drillers a 5-3 lead.
It was temporary as Wichita answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the fifth. Copen hit Amick with a full-count pitch to open the inning.
Christian Suarez came on for Copen and got a pop out before Oliver doubled for the second time in the game, giving the Wind Surge runners at second and third. Both runners scored to tie the game, as Amick came home on a sacrifice fly and Oliver scored on a two-out balk from Suarez.
The Drillers wasted no time in retaking the lead, scoring twice in the sixth inning. One-out singles by McLain and George set up a two-run double from De Paula that put Tulsa back in front 7-5.
The Tulsa bullpen made sure another comeback would not be necessary. Suarez worked a scoreless sixth inning, while Carson Hobbs allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings.
Cam Day worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to collect his fourth save of the year. The final out came on a strikeout with the final strike coming on a 99 m.p.h. fastball.
GAME NOTES
*Tulsa is without manager Eric Wedge on the trip. Wedge is temporarily away from the team, and Austin Chubb will serve as interim manager during his absence. Chubb, who is the minor league field coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has previously served as a manager at several levels in the Dodgers’ farm system.
*Tulsa announced a roster change just prior to the start of the game. Outfielder Mike Sirota was added to the roster after opening the season with Great Lakes. Sirota is rated as the 42nd-best prospect in all of Minor League Baseball by MLB Pipeline. To make room on the roster, outfielder Kole Myers was transferred to Great Lakes.
*Copen officially worked four inning and was charged with four runs on three hits and four walks. One of the hits was DeBarge’s leadoff homer. Copen entered this season having surrendered just five home runs in 52 career games, but has given up five homers this season, all coming in his last three games. After the tough start, he recovered to retire 9 of the final 11 Wichita hitters that he faced.
*George had two hits and scored three runs in the contest, extending his hitting streak to seven straight games. He has now scored a Texas League-leading 43 runs in just 37 games this season.
*Griffin Lockwood-Powell finished 0-4, ending his seven-game hitting streak.
*McLain’s two hits extended his hitting streak to three games. He has reached base safely in 16 of his last 16 games.
*The game marked the first meeting this season in the Coors Light Propeller Series. The Propeller Trophy is awarded to the winner of the season series between the two teams.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will continue their week in Wichita with the second game of their six-game set with the Wind Surge on Wednesday night. Starting time is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Equity Bank Park and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Tulsa – LHP Wyatt Crowell (2-4, 6.94 ERA)
Wichita – RHP Ty Langenberg (0-4, 4.71 ERA)