Drillers Fall Again in Extra Innings

TULSA, OK - For the second consecutive game, the Tulsa Drillers and Arkansas Travelers required extra innings Saturday night to determine a winner. And just like the previous night, the Travelers scored the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth, and the Drillers were blanked in their half of the tenth in a 2-1 loss at ONEOK Field. The defeat drops Tulsa to 4.5 games behind first-place Arkansas.
Offensive was tough to come by in the game. The Travelers took the lead in the second when Jake Fraley singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Logan Taylor.
Tulsa's only run came in the bottom of the fourth via Cody Thomas. On a 2-0 count, Thomas crushed a 110 MPH line drive into the bullpen in right field, his ninth homer of the year.
The score remained tied at 1-1 through regulation. In the top of the tenth, Evan White singled to bring home the placed runner to give Arkansas a 2-1 lead, and the Drillers went down in order in the bottom half of the inning to end the night.
Drillers starting pitcher J.D. Martin turned in a solid six-inning performance. The knuckleballer walked a pair of batters and gave up the run on three hits in the first two innings, but he settled in after that. Over his last four innings, Martin did not allow another run, gave up only three more hits and struck out five.
 
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Thomas' fourth-inning home run extended his hitting streak to ten games. It ties the longest hitting streak for a Driller this season, as Logan Landon hit in ten straight games from April 5-19. In his streak, Thomas is hitting .460 with 3 homers and 10 runs batted in.
Jordan Sheffield made his Double-A debut on Saturday night and set down all five Arkansas batters he faced. In 15 relief appearances with Rancho Cucamonga this season, Sheffield was 2-2 with a 2.60 ERA.
*The Drillers recorded only four hits on Saturday, matching a season-low.
UP NEXT: Arkansas at Tulsa, Sunday, May 19, 1:05 PM at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, OK. RHP Nabil Crismatt (1-2, 3.27 ERA) vs. TBA.