Drillers Turn Tables on Naturals in 9-3 Win

One night after watching Northwest Arkansas hit five home runs in a big 14-run victory for the Naturals, the Tulsa Drillers got a measure of revenge Friday evening at ONEOK Field. The Drillers matched a season high by hitting four home runs, including three in the fifth inning, and defeated the Naturals 9-3. With the win, Tulsa improved its second-half record to 3-1.
The Drillers jumped on Northwest Arkansas starter Foster Griffin early as the first three batters in the bottom of the first reached safely. Leadoff batter Errol Robinson singled on Griffin's first pitch, and Tyler Goeddel drew a walk. Yusniel Díaz brought home Robinson with the game's first run when he grounded a base hit into left field. After Griffin recorded his first out, Jacob Scavuzzo dropped a base hit into left field that scored Goeddel to give Tulsa a 2-0 lead.
Tulsa starting pitcher Mitchell White blanked the Naturals through the first three innings before third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez ended the shutout bid with one out in the fourth. Gutierrez, who came to the Kansas City Royals organization earlier this week in the trade that sent reliever Kelvin Herrera to the Washington Nationals, belted his first Texas League homer over the centerfield fence to cut the Drillers lead in half at 2-1.
It did not take the Drillers long to get the run back as D.J. Peters hit Griffin's first pitch in the bottom of the fourth over the fence in right-center field for a solo home run. It was the team-leading 13th homer of the season for Peters but just his third in the month of June.
Another power display from Tulsa in the fifth put the game away. First, Goeddel singled in front of Will Smith's tenth home run of the season. After a hustling double by Jacob Scavuzzo, Luke Raley deposited his 12th home run onto the berm in right field. Peters capped the big inning with his second solo blast of the night to up the Drillers lead to 8-1.
The Naturals added single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to trim the final margin to five runs, before the Drillers closed out the scoring in the bottom of the eighth.
On the mound, White turned in his longest outing of the season, pitching to two batters in the seventh inning. Officially, the right-hander worked six innings, allowing three runs on four hits. White picked up his first win of the season with the outing, improving his record to 1-3.
It was a big night for Peters, as the outfielder finished with three hits, including the two homers. It was his fourth three-hit game of the season, but his first since April 28.
WHAT YOU MISSED
The Drillers announced a couple of changes to their pitching staff prior to Friday's game. Hurlers Logan Bawcom and Andrew Sopko were both placed on the disabled list. To replace the injured pair, pitcher Justin De Fratus was returned to the roster from Oklahoma City, and Kyle Lobstein was added after signing a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lobstein has spent parts of three seasons in the majors, going 6-10 while with the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates from 2014-2016. He will make his Tulsa debut in Saturday's game.
Peters' second homer of the game in the fifth inning was the Drillers 100^th of the season. The pace continues to be ahead of last season's franchise record of 168 home runs.
Andrew Istler continued his strong work out of the Tulsa bullpen. Istler allowed just one hit in two shutout innings.
Michael Johnson completed the victory by striking out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth. The lefthander has surrendered a run in just one of his past six outings.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and Naturals will continue their series Saturday night at ONEOK Field with the third game of their four-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05PM, and the pitching matchup will feature:
NWA   Zach Lovvorn (4-3, 5.24 ERA)
TUL      Kyle Lobstein (0-0, 0.00 ERA)