Homers Back Smeltzer as Drillers Top Cards 7-1
Pitcher Devin Smeltzer did not need a lot of offensive support Tuesday morning in his start against Springfield, but the lefthander got plenty from his Tulsa Drillers teammates. The Drillers matched a season high with four home runs in back of Smeltzer who continued his recent strong form. The result
Pitcher
The only damage from the Cardinals against Smeltzer was an unearned run in the top of the first inning. The lefthander allowed just six hits and no walks while striking out four in his six-inning outing. It continued an impressive run for Smeltzer, who has not allowed an earned run in his last 17 innings and has not surrendered more than two earned runs in any of his last five starts. In that time, he has lowered his season ERA from 6.98 to 4.48.
The Cardinals scored an unearned against Smeltzer in the top of the first inning to take their only lead of the day. The second batter of the game,
The Drillers erased the deficit in the bottom of the second with the first of their four home runs.
A similar script plated two more runs in the fourth.
One inning later, Smith's solo homer upped the Drillers lead to 5-1. For Smith, it was his 8th home run of the season.
Jackson struck again in the bottom of the sixth. After
The Tulsa bullpen turned in three shutout innings to close out the game.
WHAT YOU MISSED
Drillers right fielder
Jackson finished the day 2-4 with 4 runs batted in.
Brockmeyer and Smith joined Jackson with two hits in the game.
With the four homers, the Drillers have now hit 95 home runs in 72 games this season, tops in the Texas League. It is a pace that would easily break last year's record of 168 home runs.
UP NEXT
The Drillers long homestand will continue Thursday night at ONEOK Field when they begin a four-game series with Northwest Arkansas. First pitch for the opener is scheduled for 7:05PM. The starting pitchers are scheduled to be:
NWA
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