Errors Costly for Drillers in Shutout Loss

TULSA - Two Tulsa Drillers errors led to a pair of unearned runs in a 2-0 loss to the Midland RockHounds on Sunday night at ONEOK Field. Three Tulsa pitchers did not allow an earned run in the contest, but the Drillers offense was unable to support the strong pitching effort by going 0-7 with runners in scoring position. It was Midland's first win at ONEOK Field this season in six games.
Rob Zastryzny ran into a bit of bad luck in his second start on the mound with the Drillers. Despite being pegged with the loss, the former major leaguer pitched well in his outing. Zastryzny yielded only three hits while striking out four in his 5.2 innings.
Midland's first run came in the top of the second. After the inning began with two quick outs, Edwin Diaz hit a sharp ground ball just to the right of Drillers shortstop Zach McKinstry. McKinstry attempted to back-hand the ball, but did not come up with it, allowing Diaz to reach safely. Midland followed the error with two singles, giving the RockHounds a 1-0 lead.
A second Drillers error led to Midland taking a 2-0 in the sixth. After Taylor Motter doubled, Diaz hit a ground ball to Drillers third baseman Cristian Santana. Santana delivered a low throw to first that skipped past Jared Walker, allowing Motter to score.
The Drillers best chance at a comeback came in the bottom of the eighth. Logan Landon reached on an error and McKinstry walked to start the inning. Omar Estevez followed with a sharp ground ball into the hole to Midland shortstop Diaz. Diaz ran to his right to make the play, then threw to third for a force out. The inning came to an end after Cristian Santana grounded into a double play.

WHAT YOU MISSED
Prior to Sunday night's game, the Drillers announced that catcher Keibert Ruiz had been promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City. In 177 regular season games with the Drillers, Ruiz had a .994 fielding percentage while throwing out 32% of attempted base-stealers.
The Drillers defense has now committed at least one error in seven consecutive games.
Connor Wong doubled for the only Drillers extra-base hit of the night.
Ryan Moseley replaced Zastryzny and worked a nice 2.1 innings out of the Drillers bullpen. He allowed only two hits and struck out a batter.
UP NEXT: Midland at Tulsa, Monday, July 22, 7:05 PM at ONEOK Field. Midland starter TBA vs. RHP Justin De Fratus (5-5, 4.36 ERA).