Drillers Drop Finale and Series to Travelers
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers and Arkansas Travelers met in the finale of an important six-game series Sunday afternoon at ONEOK Field. The Drillers were looking for their third straight win that would give them a series split and increase their first-place lead in the standings. The Travelers had
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers and Arkansas Travelers met in the finale of an important six-game series Sunday afternoon at ONEOK Field. The Drillers were looking for their third straight win that would give them a series split and increase their first-place lead in the standings.
The Travelers had other ideas, breaking a tie with a three-run sixth inning that eventually led to a 7-4 loss for the Drillers. The result gave the Travelers four wins in the six-game series and moved them to within one game of the first-place Drillers in the North Division standings of the Texas League.
The two teams each have 12 games remaining in the first half.
Tulsa scored first in the game with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Austin Gauthier drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a base hit by Jorbit Vivas.
After a strikeout, Imanol Vargas plated Gauthier when he dropped a single into centerfield.
The Travelers got their first run when ninth-place hitter Riley Unroe led off the third inning with his third home run of the year, tying the score at 1-1.
Tulsa’s hope of salvaging a series split disappeared with a tough sixth inning. It began with a solo homer from Robert Perez Jr. that gave the Travelers the lead.
The inning got worse from there for the Drillers. John Rooney took over for Ryan Sublette on the mound, and he walked Isiah Gilliam. Rooney had Gilliam picked off first, but first baseman Vargas hesitated before throwing to second, allowing Gilliam to slide in safely.
An error put runners at the corners, setting up consecutive RBI singles that increased the Arkansas lead to 4-1.
The Travelers added to their lead with three more runs in the seventh inning.
Eddys Leonard made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. After the inning began with consecutive singles from Yusniel Diaz and Diego Cartaya, Leonard belted his seventh home run of the season.
The Drillers would get no closer as reliever Isaiah Campbell recovered to retire the next three batters to end the game.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:
*Kyle Hurt got the start on the mound for Tulsa, and he delivered four effective innings. Hurt allowed just three hits and the one run on Unroe’s homer. He walked one batter and struck out eight.
*In a strange statistical oddity, the Travelers out-hit the Drillers in only one of the six games in the series, despite winning four of the six. Arkansas outscored Tulsa 52-34 in the series, but the Drillers out-hit the Travs 66-59.
*Gilliam stole three bases in the game. In the series, the Travelers were 14 for 15 in stolen base attempts.
*The RBI from Vargas in the first inning was his 40th of the season, tops on the Drillers. He finished the day with three hits, his second three-hit game of the season and both have come against the Travelers.
*The Drillers will close the first half with six games at Springfield, followed by six games at home against Northwest Arkansas. The Travelers will host Corpus Christi for six games, before finishing the half with six games in Wichita.
UP NEXT:
Monday will be the typical off day for all teams in the Texas League. On Tuesday, the Drillers will open their six-game series in Springfield against the Cardinals. First pitch for the opener at Hammons Field is slated for 6:35 p.m. and neither team has announced their starting pitcher.