Drillers Outlast Amarillo For Extra-Innings Win

TULSA - It took 11 innings and just under 4 hours, but the Tulsa Drillers claimed a second straight win over Amarillo Wednesday night at ONEOK Field. Omar Estevez's sacrifice fly scored Jordan Procyshen in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Drillers a 4-3 win that kept them in sole possession of first place in the Texas League's North Division. It was Tulsa's first lead of the game.
The Drillers bullpen was outstanding in the win, holding the Sod Poodles without a hit or a run over the final six innings. The last hit in the game from either side came on a one-out single from Tulsa's Donovan Casey in the bottom of the seventh.
The winning rally began with Procyshen being the placed runner at second base. Drew Avans executed just the ninth successful, sacrifice bunt of the season for the Drillers, moving Procyshen to third. Estevez worked a full count before lining a fly ball to deep left field for the game-winning sacrifice fly.
The run ended a frustrating night at the plate for the Drillers. Tulsa finished just 1-18 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners on base, matching a season high. Amarillo was only marginally better, going 3-16 while stranding 11.
It was an important win for the Drillers as their two biggest rivals in the division, Arkansas and Springfield, had both won on Wednesday. With the results, Tulsa maintained its one-game lead atop the standings with 12 games remaining in the regular season.
The two teams traded runs in the first half of the game with both getting on the scoreboard in the second inning. After retiring the Sod Poodles in order in the top of the first, Tulsa starting pitcher Leo Crawford surrendered a leadoff double to Owen Miller to open the second. After a strikeout and a ground out, Brad Zunica delivered a two-out hit that plated Miller with the game's first run.
In the home half of the second, the Drillers loaded the bases with no outs. Crawford tied the game when he picked up his first professional RBI with a fielder's choice ground out.
The score remained tied until Amarillo plated its second run in the top of the fourth. Hudson Potts led off with a triple and scored on a base hit by Kyle Overstreet.
One inning later, a two-out, run-scoring single from Potts upped the Sod Poodles lead to 3-1.
  
Connor Wong erased the lead with one swing of the bat.   After Cody Thomas opened the sixth with a leadoff single, Wong deposited a drive into the upper section of the Busch Terrace for a game-tying home run.
 
WHAT YOU MISSED
The home run from Wong was his fifth since joining the Drillers on July 16. For the season, it was Wong's 20th homer of the season between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa, establishing a career high.
Crawford threw 90 pitches in his five-inning stint. The lefthander allowed seven hits and three runs, the most he has surrendered in four starts for the Drillers. His Double-A ERA now stands at 2.05.
Yordy Cabrera was credited with the win, improving his record to 3-1.
The game was the longest of the season for the Drillers, taking 3:51 to complete.
UP NEXT:  Amarillo at Tulsa, Thursday, August 22, 7:05 PM at ONEOK Field. RHP Lake Bachar (7-4, 3.68 ERA) versus RHP Markus Solbach (3-0, 1.03 ERA).