Drillers Drop Second-Half Opener in Amarillo
Amarillo, TX – The second half of the 2023 season began just as the first half ended with a loss for the Tulsa Drillers on Wednesday night. The Drillers fell 6-4 to the Amarillo Sod Poodles to begin a six-game set at HODGETOWN. Tulsa failed to hold two different leads
Amarillo, TX – The second half of the 2023 season began just as the first half ended with a loss for the Tulsa Drillers on Wednesday night. The Drillers fell 6-4 to the Amarillo Sod Poodles to begin a six-game set at HODGETOWN.
Tulsa failed to hold two different leads in a back-and-forth game, as the Drillers bullpen allowed five runs in the loss. Amarillo took the final lead in the eighth inning when a routine fly ball was lost in the lights and dropped safely in left field.
Amarillo took the first lead of the game in the second inning on Caleb Roberts’ solo home run.
In the next half inning, the Drillers went in front by scoring three runs on two hits. Kody Hoese started the inning with a leadoff triple, and Austin Gauthier followed with a walk. A sacrifice fly by Jorbit Vivas scored Hoese and Imanol Vargas followed with a two-run homer.
Coming off being named the Texas League’s Pitcher of the Week, the hard-throwing River Ryan allowed just one hit in his 14th outing of the season. The North Carolina native put himself in a position to earn the win by tossing five innings, allowing one run and three walks with three strikeouts.
The Sod Poodles ended Ryan’s opportunity for the win by tying the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning. A.J. Vukovich began the sixth by reaching third base on a double combined with an error by Drillers right fielder Yusniel Diaz. One batter later, Seth Beer tied the game on one swing with a two-run homer to right field.
Gauthier broke the tie by beginning the eighth inning with a solo home run on the first pitch he saw.
Amarillo took its second lead of the game by scoring three runs in the eighth. Following a leadoff double, Adrian Del Castillo hit a high fly ball that was lost in the lights by Tulsa’s left fielder Gauthier, which allowed Beer to touch the plate and score the tying run. An RBI double by Tim Tawa, followed by Neyfy Castillo’s RBI groundout, allowed Amarillo to score two more runs to take a 6-4 lead.
The Drillers failed to respond in the ninth inning as the side was retired on two ground outs and a strikeout.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:
*Tulsa now has a record of 7-6 when tied after the seven innings.
*Jordan Leasure and Braydon Fisher were the lone Tulsa pitchers to not allow a run. Leasure worked one inning with two strikeouts, and Fisher recorded the final two outs in the eighth inning.
*Hoese finished 2-4 and scored a run on Wednesday. It was his first two-hit game since June 17.
*Tulsa finished 0-6 with runners in scoring position.
*Due to the Fourth of July holiday, the Drillers six-game series with Amarillo began on Wednesday night and will conclude on Monday.
*Before the game, the Drillers announced that pitcher Alec Gamboa was transferred to Oklahoma City, and pitcher Ricky Vanasco was added from the Dodgers Arizona Complex. Vanasco is a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers 40-man roster.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will continue their series with the Sod Poodles on Thursday night at HODGETOWN with the second game of the six-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are slated to be:
TUL- RHP Nick Nick Frasso (1-2, 2.21 ERA)
AMA- Peter Solomon (0-0, 1.80 ERA)