Drillers Fall in Home Stand Finale
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers once again beat the rain Sunday afternoon, but they could not beat the Springfield Cardinals. In the final game of a 12-game home stand, the Drillers never led and dropped a narrow 3-2 decision at ONEOK Field to the Cardinals. The final half of
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers once again beat the rain Sunday afternoon, but they could not beat the Springfield Cardinals. In the final game of a 12-game home stand, the Drillers never led and dropped a narrow 3-2 decision at ONEOK Field to the Cardinals. The final half of the game was played under threatening skies and occasional sprinkles in downtown Tulsa.
The Cardinals took their first lead of the day with two runs in the top of the third inning. The runs scored on consecutive doubles by Matt Koperniak and Pedro Pages.
Tulsa promptly answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the third to tie the score. Singles by Carson Taylor, Brandon Lewis and Jonny DeLuca produced the first run, with DeLuca picking up the RBI. Imanol Vargas drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to plate the second run.
Springfield went right back on top when L.J. Jones hit his fourth home run of the year with one-out in the fourth, putting the Cardinals up 3-2.
It would prove to be the final change to the scoreboard.
After their two third-inning runs, the Drillers were held to just one hit the rest of the way, a one-out single from Lewis in the seventh.
The closest Tulsa came to scoring again was on a couple of deep fly outs. With Lewis on first, a drive from Josh Stowers in the seventh was caught by left fielder Koperniak just in front of the outfield wall.
In the eighth, after a two-out walk to Vargas, Henry Ramos flew out to the warning track in deep left-center field.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:
*Despite Sunday’s loss, the Drillers still enjoyed a successful home stand. They won five of six games against both San Antonio and Springfield and finished with a 10-2 record on the two-week stand.
*Tulsa starting pitcher Nick Nastrini allowed two runs on two hits and two walks in three complete innings. It marked just the second time this season that he has given up more than one run in a start this season.
*The Drillers got an outstanding game from their bullpen. After Tanner Dodson surrendered the home run to Jones in the fourth, Ryan Sublette, John Rooney and Jordan Leasure combined to blank the Redbirds on just one hit over the final five innings.
*The game had just eight total hits, four by each team.
*The series with the Cardinals featured a threat of rain for each of the six days, but it only affected one game. Saturday’s win by the Drillers was made official with two outs in the top of the sixth inning when heavy rain stopped play.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will have a day off on Monday before beginning a six-game series in Corpus Christi with the Hooks on Tuesday. The six-game series will run for six consecutive days, through Sunday. Starting time for the opener is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Whataburger Field, and the starting pitchers have yet to be announced.