Drillers Work Overtime to Stay in First-Place Tie

Drillers Work Overtime to Stay in First-Place Tie

Springfield, MO – Extra innings have been good to the Tulsa Drillers this season. The Drillers entered Saturday’s game in Springfield with a 5-2 record in extra frames, scoring the placed runner at second base 80 percent of the time.

It took three tries, but extra inning again proved to be beneficial for the Drillers. They scored twice in the top of the twelfth inning, then held the Cardinals scoreless in the bottom of the inning to close out a 7-5 victory.

The win was one of the biggest of the season because it kept the Drillers in a first-place tie with Arkansas in the first-half division race. There are only seven games remaining in the first half.

BOX SCORE

It was all Cardinals early in the game thanks to clutch, two-out hits in each of the first three innings. In the bottom of the first, Tulsa starting pitcher Kyle Hurt retired the first two batters before a fly ball from Pedro Pages just cleared the left field fence for his seventh home run of the year and the first run of the game.

Hurt again retired the first two batters in the second inning before consecutive doubles from Irving Lopez and Arquimedes Gamboa increased the lead to two runs.

In the third, Nick Dunn drew a leadoff walk from Hurt and had advanced to third when Jacob Buchberger brought him home with a two-out single that made it 3-0.

Imanol Vargas got the Drillers on the scoreboard with his ninth home run of the year in the top of the fifth. The solo shot cut the deficit to 3-1.

Tulsa took the lead with its own two-out rally in the top of the seventh. After the first two batters of the seventh were retired, Kody Hoese kept the inning alive with a double. Josh Stowers was next and just missed a home run, settling for a run-scoring double that trimmed Springfield’s lead to one.

Jorbit Vivas topped both Hoese and Stowers when he followed with a drive that did clear the fence in right field for his seventh home run of the year, giving the Drillers the lead at 4-3.

The Texas League’s home run leader leveled the score for Springfield in the bottom of the eighth. Chandler Redmond led off the inning with his 18th homer of the season to tie the score at 4-4 and set up the extra innings.

Neither team could score in the tenth, but both plated runs in the eleventh inning. Brandon Lewis singled home Tulsa’s run before the Cardinals nearly won the game in the bottom of the inning. With runners at second and third with two outs, Dunn lined a single into left field that scored the tying run. Mike Antico, the runner at second, attempted to score and win the game, but left fielder Vargas made a strong throw home and catcher Diego Cartaya tagged him out to send the game to the 12th inning.

Hamlet Marte was the placed runner for the Drillers in the twelfth, and he advanced to third on a one-out wild pitch. He scored to put Tulsa back on top when Jorbit Vivas grounded a soft single into left field.

Vivas advanced to second on the throw home, and Springfield elected to intentionally walk Vargas. The strategy backfired when Yusniel Diaz lined a single into center, with Vivas scoring the second run of the inning without a slide on a close play at the plate.

Antonio Knowles became Tulsa’s eighth pitcher of the night when he came on to work the bottom of the twelfth. He walked the first batter of the inning, to promptly bring the potential game-winning run to the plate.

Knowles got a fly out and a strikeout before the strangest play of the night ended the game. With the runners still at first and second, Irving Lopez hit an infield popup between first base and the pitcher’s mound. First baseman Marte moved under the pop and caught the ball, but third baseman Lewis was running across the diamond in an attempt to also make the catch. Lewis knocked the ball out of Marte’s glove, but the first baseman gloved it again before it fell to the ground, ending one of the Drillers most-exciting wins of the season.

HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:

*Hurt departed after completing the third inning and was charged with three runs on five hits and one walk. Six of the nine outs he recorded came via strikeouts. The right-hander now has 69 strikeouts in just 39.1 innings pitch, an average of 15.79 strikeouts per nine innings.

*The performance from the Drillers’ bullpen was critical in the comeback from the early three-run deficit. Following Hurt, Tanner Dodson allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings. Trevor Bettencourt, who just rejoined the Drillers Saturday afternoon, worked a scoreless inning, as did newcomer Aldry Acosta.

*It was the first Double-A appearance for Acosta who joined the Drillers during the series in Springfield. He was 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA and two saves in 20 games with the Loons.

*The save for Knowles was his second since joining the Drillers in late May. Jake Pilarski picked up his first Double-A win.

*Tulsa used a total of eight pitchers in the game.

*The throw from left fielder Vargas that prolonged the game in the eleventh was also critical. Vargas was playing in just his tenth game in the outfield this season.

*At 12 innings, the game was the longest of the season for the Drillers.

*The Drillers announced a couple of roster moves before Saturday’s game. Pitcher Landon Knack was officially transferred to Oklahoma City, and catcher Carson Taylor was placed on the temporarily inactive list.
Added to the roster from Oklahoma City was pitcher Bettencourt and catcher Hamlet Marte. Bettencourt returned to the roster after going 1-0 with a 6.92 ERA in eight games with OKC.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers and Cardinals will conclude their series Sunday afternoon at Hammons Field. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. and the starting pitchers for game six are scheduled to be:

TUL- RHP Nick Nastrini (2-2, 4.07 ERA)

SPR- RHP Wilfredo Pereira (5-3, 2.93 ERA)