The Tulsa Drillers closed out a long homestand Monday afternoon with one of the most entertaining games of the season against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The game featured a controversial call and an ejection in the first inning, and the potential game-tying run thrown out at the plate in the
The Tulsa Drillers closed out a long homestand Monday afternoon with one of the most entertaining games of the season against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The game featured a controversial call and an ejection in the first inning, and the potential game-tying run thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the ninth. The result was a 7-6 win for the Naturals, giving Tulsa six losses in seven meetings with Northwest Arkansas this season.
Despite the defeat in the finale, it was a successful homestand for the Drillers as they finished with a winning, 4-3 record in the weeklong stand.
The game got off to a bizarre start. On the day's second pitch from Scott Barlow, Naturals leadoff hitter Donnie Dewees hit a high drive down the left field line. Tulsa left fielder Jacob Scavuzzo made a leaping attempt to catch the drive just in front of the outfield fence, but he came up empty. After a brief delay, and after Dewees had circled the bases, third base umpire Sean Allen gave the home run call, producing protests from Scavuzzo and Drillers manger Ryan Garko. The pair argued that the ball had actually landed on top of the wall padding and had not cleared the outfield fence on the fly. Garko was quickly ejected by Allen, and the home run call stood.
On the very next pitch, Alfredo Escalera made it a 2-0 lead with his first home run of the season. Escalera's blast left no doubt on being a homer as it landed at the top of the Busch Scoreboard Terrace.
The lead increased in the top of the fourth. Samir Dueñez and Frank Schwindel opened the inning with consecutive singles. After Duenez stole third base, he scored on a ground out by Zane Evans to give the Naturals a 3-0 lead.
Naturals' starter Miguel Almonte cruised through the first four innings before Scavuzzo erased Tulsa's deficit in the fifth. With one out, Matt Beaty doubled and Johan Mieses drew a walk. Scavuzzo followed with this third homer of the season, a line drive that landed in the front row of the Terrace section, to tie the score at 3-3.
The Drillers briefly took the lead with a fourth run off Almonte in the sixth. Kyle Farmer reached safely on a drive that caromed out of the glove of centerfielder Dewees after a long run into the left-center field gap. Sunday's hero, Wynston Sawyer plated Farmer with a base hit to give Tulsa a 4-3 lead.
The Naturals wasted little time in going back in front in the top of the seventh. Ruben Sosa tied the game with an opposite-field homer off Ralston Cash. With two outs and the bases empty, speedster Terrance Gore singled and scored on a triple by Dewees. A run-scoring hit by Escalera capped the three-run inning and put the Naturals on top 6-4.
Still, the Drillers would not go away, providing another response in the bottom half of the seventh. Mieses led off against reliever Evan Beal and reached safely on an error. Scavuzzo followed with a double into the left field corner that plated Mieses to pull the Drillers to within 6-5. They made a bid to get more, loading the bases with two outs, but reliever Tim Hill enticed Jose Fernandez into an inning-ending grounder to third.
Another error allowed the Naturals to get the run back in their next at-bat. Evans reached safely when Sawyer dropped a throw at first. He eventually scored an unearned run when Ruben Sosa and Jack Lopez delivered consecutive two-out singles.
Trailing 7-5, Tulsa made a bid to tie or even win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Stetson Allie led off with a triple off the centerfield fence, and Locastro plated him when he followed with a lined single over the shortstop's head. Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson brought in closer Jake Newberry from the bullpen and he promptly balked Locastro to second before delivering a pitch. Holt then advanced the potential tying run 90 more feet with a fly ball to center. With the infield in, Farmer hit a slow roller just out of the reach of Newberry, but second baseman Sosa fielded the grounder and quickly threw home where catcher Evans tagged out a sliding Locastro. The threat and the game ended when Fernandez lined out to Sosa.
The Drillers gave Almonte his worst outing of the season. The right-hander, who has pitched in the majors with Kansas City and is considered one of the Royals top prospects, had allowed a total of two runs in his first four appearances this season. On Monday, the Drillers touched him for four runs, but the hard-throwing Almonte did total nine strikeouts in his six innings of work.
Barlow settled in after the hectic first inning to turn in a quality start. He allowed four hits and three runs while striking out seven in six innings. It was the longest outing of the season for a Drillers pitcher.
Tulsa will now take to the road for a quick four-day trip to Little Rock and a four-game series with the Arkansas Travelers. In Tuesday's series opener, Isaac Anderson (0-3, 7.47 ERA) will look for his first win of the season for the Drillers, while the Travelers will send Tyler Herb (0-1, 5.66 ERA) to the mound. Starting time at Dickey-Stephens Park is slated for 7:10 p.m.
