A walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth gave Tulsa a stunning, 6-5 comeback win over San Antonio in Game 2 of the Texas League Championship Series at ONEOK Field.Following a frustrating loss in last night's opener, the Missions got off to a strong start Wednesday against lefty
A walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth gave Tulsa a stunning, 6-5 comeback win over San Antonio in Game 2 of the Texas League Championship Series at ONEOK Field.
Following a frustrating loss in last night's opener, the Missions got off to a strong start Wednesday against lefty Ben Holmes. Two batters after leadoff man Matthew Batten drew a walk, Josh Naylor gave San Antonio a 1-0 lead when he ripped a double down the right-field line.
Tulsa answered in the home half against righty Emmanuel Ramirez, tying the game at one with Keibert Ruiz's two-out homer to right. An inning later, Cael Brockmeyer gave the Drillers a 2-1 lead when he lifted a sac fly to right, scoring Jacob Scavuzzo, who had led off the frame with a double to left center.
San Antonio took the lead back in the third with the help of a pair of Tulsa defensive miscues. The rally started with one out when Batten reached on a fielding error by shortstop Gavin Lux. With Batten running, Owen Miller put runners on the corners with a line drive single to center. That brought up Naylor, who drilled another double into right scoring Batten. On the play, second baseman Drew Jackson misplayed the return throw in from right, allowing Miller to score as well.
Batten and Miller factored prominently again in the fourth, each delivering RBI hits off Holmes to expand the San Antonio lead to 5-2.
In the fifth, the Drillers climbed back into it with D.J. Peters' two-RBI single that made the score 5-4 and ended the night for Ramirez in the process. Righty Lake Bachar navigated the Missions through the rest of the inning, preserving the lead. Bachar did the same in the sixth, stranding the bases loaded when he got Ruiz to bounce out to short. The seventh was much less taxing for Bachar, who retired the side in order.
After Eric Yardley worked a 1-2-3 eighth, Phillip Wellman called on closer Andres Munoz for the ninth. The hard-throwing 19-year-old ran into immediate trouble, walking Lux and then compounded problems with a balk. After walking Jackson, Munoz surrendered a game-tying RBI-single to Ruiz. With Jackson now the winning run on second, Munoz recorded his first out with a strikeout of Peters. Jackson would swipe third, but Munoz got his second out of the frame with a punchout of Scavuzzo. Unfortunately for the Missions, the young closer did not have his normal stuff in Game 2.
After walking Zach Reks to load the bases, Munoz (0-1) was lifted for fellow righty Dauris Valdez. Facing Brockmeyer, Valdez's first pitch was a ball away. His next pitch got past catcher Austin Allen, allowing Jackson to score and ending a game of three hours, twenty-two minutes.
San Antonio will bring back the Flying Chanclas magic for Game 3 of the TLCS as the club looks to keep the series alive. First pitch from Wolff Stadium is set for 7:05 PM. Jesse Scholtens (0-0, 17.18 ERA) will get the ball for the Chanclas, while the Drillers look for their first TL title since 1998 with fellow righty Dustin May (0-0, 1.80).
