Drillers Baseball Returns Before Crowd of Over 5,000

TULSA – The Tulsa Drillers opened the 2021 season Tuesday night with a 4-3 loss to Amarillo. But the real story was the return of professional baseball to downtown Tulsa. The game ended a stretch of 596 days with a pro game at ONEOK Field after the 2020 Minor League Baseball season was cancelled.

A festive, reduced-capacity sellout crowd of 5,004 watched the return.

Ironically, the opener featured the same two teams that met in the last game played in Tulsa. In Game 5 of the 2019 Texas League Championship Series, the Sod Poodles ruined the Drillers hopes of back-to-back league titles by staging a dramatic ninth-inning rally to snatch the crown.

Amarillo again played the role of spoiler in Tuesday’s opener.

Each team scored a run in the second inning to open the scoring. Amarillo jumped in front when Dominic Miroglio doubled and scored after a grounder off the bat of Jancarlos Cintron struck the third base bag and caromed into left field.

Tulsa leftfielder Ryan Noda quickly responded when he led off the bottom half of the second with the first home run of the season.

Amarillo used a long ball to retake the lead in the fourth. Ryan Jones chased Drillers starting pitcher Gerardo Carrillo when he led off the fourth with a base hit. Dominic Miroglio hit the third offering from reliever Aaron Ochsenbein over the left field wall to put the Sod Poodles back in front 3-1.

An outfield miscue gifted the Drillers a run in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and a runner a first, Jeren Kendall lofted a routine fly ball into right field that outfielder Dominic Fletcher never saw. The ball nearly hit Fletcher before landing safely on the ground. Devin Mann scored on the play and the hustling Kendall raced all the way to third with a triple.

A second home run pulled the Drillers even at 3-3 when Jacob Amaya deposited an offering high onto the left field berm.

Amarillo plated the game-winning run in the seventh, and miscue from the Drillers played a role. After Alek Thomas led off with a double, Geraldo Perdomo hit a soft grounder to short. Thomas appeared to be caught off the bag at second on the play, but second baseman Michael Busch was charged with an error when he failed to come up with the throw from shortstop Amaya. On the next pitch, Jake McCarthy dropped a soft liner into right field that scored Thomas to put the Sod Poodles in front for good.

The Drillers did not produce a base runner after the sixth inning as Amarillo pitchers combined to retire the final 11 hitters in order, with seven going down on strikes.

HOW IT HAPPENED The two teams combined for 31 strikeouts in the game. Five Tulsa pitchers totaled 17 Ks.

Tulsa starting pitcher Carillo totaled three innings, and departed after pitching to one batter in the fourth. He was charged with two runs on five hits. He set the tone of the night for Tulsa pitchers, getting strikeouts on four of the nine outs he recorded.

Reliever Guillermo Zuniga was charged with the loss but did not allow an earned run in 1.2 innings of work.

The Drillers were out-hit in the game 11-5.

UP NEXT: Amarillo at Tulsa, Wednesday, May 5, 7:05 PM at ONEOK Field. RHP Andre Jackson (0-0, 0.00 ERA) versus LHP Tommy Henry (0-0, 0.00 ERA).