Tulsa Wins in Return of the Noodlers
Tulsa, OK – The return of the Tulsa Noodlers was a rousing success Friday night at ONEOK Field. The Tulsa Drillers annual transformation into the Noodlers began with the first game of a three-game series with Northwest Arkansas, and it began with a victory. A combination of three home runs,
Tulsa, OK – The return of the Tulsa Noodlers was a rousing success Friday night at ONEOK Field. The Tulsa Drillers annual transformation into the Noodlers began with the first game of a three-game series with Northwest Arkansas, and it began with a victory.
A combination of three home runs, two from Kole Myers, combined with an impressive outing from starting pitcher Jackson Ferris produced a 7-2 victory for the Noodlers, aka Drillers. It was Tulsa’s third straight victory, one win away from matching its longest winning streak of the season.
The Drillers, big offensive night began in the second inning when Chris Newell led off with his team-leading 11th home run of the season. Later in the second, Damon Keith singled and scored on a double from newcomer Nelson Quiroz.
A leadoff homer in the third from Myers upped the lead to 3-0 before he doubled the margin one inning later.
Singles from Quiroz and Sean McLain in the bottom of the fourth set up a three-run homer from Myers that gave the Drillers a six-run lead.
Tulsa added its final run in the seventh inning, and again Myers was involved. He walked, stole second base and scored on a base hit from Newell.
It was more than enough support for Ferris. The lefthander turned in his best outing of the season, blanking the Naturals for seven innings while allowing just three hits. To put an exclamation point on the outing, Ferris walked just one batter and struck out seven.
The Naturals avoided the shutout with a pair of runs in the ninth inning before Jerming Rosario induced a double-play grounder with the bases loaded to end the game.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Quiroz was only added to the Tulsa roster on Friday morning after being transferred from Great Lakes. He was hitting .367 in 30 games with the Loons. Quiroz, who is primarily a catcher, was the DH and doubled and singled on the first two pitches he saw.
*In his last five starts, dating to June 21, Ferris has gone 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA over 27 2/3 innings pitched.
*It was a big night for Myers, who is in his first professional season. He finished a perfect 3-3 with 3 runs scored and 4 driven in. It marked the first two-homer game of his pro career.
*Kyle Nevin joined Myers with a three-hit game, raising his batting average to .419 in ten games since joining the Drillers. He has batted in only nine of those games and now has multiple hits in five of them.
*In addition to his second-inning homer, Newell also singled and finished 2-4 with a pair of RBI. He extended his hitting streak to five straight games.
*It was the return to action for both teams following a four-day break throughout professional baseball for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
*It was also the first of nine straight home games for the Drillers. Following the three games with the Naturals this weekend, they will host first-place Springfield in a six-game series next week.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and Naturals will play the second game of their quick, three-game series on Saturday night at ONEOK Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are slated to be:
NW Arkansas – LHP Ryan Ramsey (4-5, 5.69 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Peter Heubeck (2-5, 4.45 ERA)