Drillers Drop 5th Straight to Hooks

The Tulsa Drillers suffered their fifth straight loss to Corpus Christi Wednesday with a 6-2 loss at ONEOK Field to the Hooks. The Hooks scored five times in the first four innings and the Drillers could not catch up in their fifth loss in their past seven games.
The Hooks quick start began in the top of the second inning against Tulsa starting pitcher Ben Holmes. Lorenzo Quintana followed a pair of singles with a two-run triple that opened the scoring. An inning later, Carmen Benedetti hit a solo home run to up the lead to three runs.
In the top of the fourth, Ryne Birk homered, and Quintana followed with a double. He was brought home on an Anibal Sierra RBI single that gave the Hooks a 5-0 advantage.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the seventh when the Drillers finally broke through for a couple runs. Hooks starter Brock Dykxhoorn had allowed only two singles prior to the seventh, but after giving up a walk, a single and another walk, his night would be over. With two outs, Mike Ahmed delivered a two-run single that cut the deficit to 5-2.
Shea Spitzbarth pitched two scoreless innings in relief, and went back out for the eighth. After striking out the first batter in the inning, Chas McCormick homered to left center to extend the Hooks lead to 6-2.  
The Drillers were able to get only one runner on base over the final two innings, as the Hooks closed out the victory.
WHAT YOU MISSED
With a leadoff single in the first, Gavin Lux has now hit safely in 10 of the 11 games he has played with the Drillers since being called up from Rancho Cucamonga.
Keibert Ruiz extended his hitting-streak to five games which is currently the longest on the team. He is hitting .523 over those five games.
Marshall Kasowski has pitched in six games with Tulsa since being called up from Rancho Cucamonga. He has yet to allow a run in seven innings of work.
The bottom of the ninth featured the Drillers sending four men to the plate and all of them striking out. Ruiz reached on a dropped third strike and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
*The Arkansas Travelers defeated the Frisco RoughRiders 6-1 on Thursday, allowing the Travs to gain a game in the standings on the first-place Drillers. Arkansas now sits 1.5 games behind Tulsa for the second-half title.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will look to salvage a game in the three-game series against the Hooks on Thursday night in what will be the last meeting between the two teams in the regular season. First pitch at ONEOK Field is scheduled for 7:05 PM, and the probable starting pitchers will be:
CC        Brandon Bielak (2-3, 2.18 ERA)
TUL      Mitchell White (4-5, 4.92 ERA)