TULSA - The Tulsa Drillers played host to the Frisco RoughRiders Tuesday night to open up the second half of the season, and it began with a win. DJ Peters put the Drillers in front with a two-run homer in the third inning before a four-run fourth and late homers
TULSA - The Tulsa Drillers played host to the Frisco RoughRiders Tuesday night to open up the second half of the season, and it began with a win. DJ Peters put the Drillers in front with a two-run homer in the third inning before a four-run fourth and late homers from Carlos Rincon and Zach McKinstry capped an 8-2 victory at ONEOK Field.
The win ensured a series victory for the Drillers who are now a perfect 5-0 against Frisco this season.
The RoughRiders jumped in front 1-0 with a run in the top of the third. Brendon Davis led the inning off with a double, and came around to score on an RBI single by Josh Altmann.
It did not take long for Tulsa to take the lead. After Cristian Santana singled in the bottom half of the third, Peters skied a blast deep to left field and into the Busch Terrace to give the Drillers a 2-1 lead.
The Drillers did not look back. With two outs and a runner at third in the fourth, Cody Thomas singled to knock in a run. After Keibert Ruiz walked, Santana skied a pop up, just past the edge of the infield behind second base. Frisco second baseman Charles Leblanc lost the ball in the dusk sky, and allowed the ball to drop in for a hit. As a result, both Thomas and Ruiz scored, while Santana ended up on second. Chris Parmelee capped the four-run inning with an RBI single to give Tulsa a 6-1 lead.
Prior to the top of the fourth, Tulsa starting pitcher Ben Holmes was removed from the game due to an apparent injury. The lefty had begun to throw his warmup pitches before the inning, but after being evaluated by athletic trainer Kalie Swan, Holmes left the game after three innings.
The Drillers bullpen took it the rest of the way. Ryan Moseley came in and tossed two scoreless frames. Nolan Long followed and allowed a solo home run to Christian Lopes, but struck out five over 2.2 innings.
Rincon and McKinstry each added a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, and Chris Nunn struck out two in the ninth to preserve the Drillers second half-opening victory.
WHAT YOU MISSED
Rincon notched a single and scored a run in the bottom of the fourth, and extended his hitting streak to ten games. He joins Logan Landon, Cody Thomas and Gavin Lux to have reached that mark this season as the longest hitting streak of the season for the Drillers.
The top of the fifth ended on a strikeout double play. Mosely got Josh Altmann swinging and Ruiz got LeDarious Clark at second base, the 11th time this season that the Tulsa catcher has thrown out an attempted base stealer.
The victory was the Drillers 11th straight win against Frisco dating back to last season.
ONEOK Field experienced some technical difficulties in the fourth inning. The infield lights at the ballpark shut off during the inning break, causing a 19-minute delay.
UP NEXT: Frisco at Tulsa, Wednesday, June 19 at 11:05 AM at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, OK. RHP Ronald Herrera (0-1, 7.00 ERA) vs. RHP Justin De Fratus (3-2, 4.93 ERA).
