Two Big Innings Lead to a 19-7 Loss for the Drillers
Tulsa, OK – Sunday’s series finale at ONEOK Field between Tulsa and Northwest Arkansas could not have begun much better for the Drillers. They scored six runs in the first two innings to take what seemed to be a safe, six-run lead, but it was anything but safe. The Naturals
Tulsa, OK – Sunday’s series finale at ONEOK Field between Tulsa and Northwest Arkansas could not have begun much better for the Drillers. They scored six runs in the first two innings to take what seemed to be a safe, six-run lead, but it was anything but safe. The Naturals put together consecutive eight-run innings in the third and fourth innings, rallying to send the Drillers to a 19-7 loss.
It was a second straight defeat for the Drillers after they had won the first four games of the six-game set with the Naturals. Their second-half record dropped to 19-14 and the fell 2 ½ games behind first-place Springfield in the standings, pending the outcome of the Cardinals meeting with Wichita on Sunday night.
After scoring four runs in the ninth inning of Saturday’s loss to the Naturals, the Drillers carried that momentum in Sunday afternoon’s game. In the bottom of the first inning, Jake Gelof doubled home Mike Sirota with the first run of the day. After a walk to Chris Newell, another double from Kole Myers scored Gelof before Newell came home on a ground out from Taylor Young. Nelson Quiroz capped the four-run first inning with a third run-scoring double that scored Myers.
Two more runs in the second upped the lead to 6-0. Sam Mongelli led off with a triple and Josue De Paula followed with his 20th home run of the season.
Poor execution in the field from the Drillers helped the Naturals to completely erase the big lead in the top of the third inning. The first three batters of the inning reached base safely on a hit, an error and a walk. With the bases loaded and no outs, a chopper back to the mound looked like a possible double play, but pitcher Aidan Foeller’s toss to the plate sailed well over the head of catcher Nelson Quiroz and to the backstop. One run scored on the throwing error, and when Foeller was slow to cover the plate, a second runner came home.
Carson Roccaforte followed that error with a high fly ball into shallow centerfield. It appeared to be the first out of the inning, but centerfielder Mike Sirota was slow to react to the fly, and it fell safely for a base hit that plated the third run of the inning.
After a strikeout, Jorge Alfaro grounded a single into center field that plated two more runs and trimmed Tulsa’s lead to 6-5, but the Naturals were not finished.
Myles Caba replaced Foeller and Colton Becker greeted him with a two-run homer that gave Northwest Arkansas the lead. Three straight singles produced the eighth run before a double play finally ended the marathon inning.
The Naturals matched that output in their next at-bat. Carson Roccaforte started the scoring in the fourth with a two-run homer. Connor Scott hit a three-run homer, and Justin Johnson added a solo shot. Runs seven and eight of the inning came from a two-run homer by Sam Kulasingam, giving the Naturals a 16-6 lead.
The two eight-run innings were the biggest allowed by Tulsa pitchers this season.
Becker capped his big day with his second homer of the day in the fifth inning, a three-run blast that gave the Naturals 19 runs. He finished 5-5 with the 2 homers and 5 runs batted in.
The game’s final run came on a solo homer from Tulsa’s Mongelli in the sixth inning.
GAME NOTES
*The Naturals set season highs for a Tulsa opponent in nearly every offensive category. In addition to the pair of eight-run innings being season highs, the 19 runs and 19 hits were the most allowed by Drillers pitchers this year.
*The two homers from the Drillers gave them a total of 21 in the six games against the Naturals.
*Tulsa had 11 hits in the loss with Young leading the way with a three-hit game. De Paula finished 1-5 to extend his hitting streak to seven consecutive games, and Myers had two hits for the third time in his past four games.
*Mongelli was 2-3 with a triple and his second home run at the Double-A level.
*Tulsa officially lost outfielder Zyhir Hope on Sunday morning. He was included in the blockbuster trade that the Los Angeles Dodgers made with the Detroit Tigers. Hope and two other minor leaguers were sent to Detroit with back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal coming to the Dodgers. Hope was on a pace that would have given him a chance to approach the Drillers franchise records for both home runs and RBI in a season.
*Pitcher Roque Gutierrez was activated from the Temporarily Inactive List to fill Hope’s spot on the Tulsa roster.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will make the long trip to Corpus Christi, Texas for a six-game series with the Hooks. Monday will be an off day before the series opener is played Tuesday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Whataburger Field. Pitching rotations for the series have not been announced.