Kendall Stars in Drillers Win over Wichita
TULSA, OK – Tulsa outfielder Jeren Kendall was nearly a one-man show Tuesday night at ONEOK Field in the Drillers 8-3 win over Wichita. Kendall starred at the plate, hitting two homers, and in the field to lead the Drillers over the first-place Wind Surge. Kendall’s biggest play of the
TULSA, OK – Tulsa outfielder Jeren Kendall was nearly a one-man show Tuesday night at ONEOK Field in the Drillers 8-3 win over Wichita. Kendall starred at the plate, hitting two homers, and in the field to lead the Drillers over the first-place Wind Surge.
Kendall’s biggest play of the game came in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the Drillers trailing 3-2 and runners at the corners, Kendall drilled his second home run of the night into the right field bullpen to give Tulsa a lead it would maintain.
The former Vanderbilt outfielder had also accounted for Tulsa’s second run of the game with a homer in the third inning. Kendall now has five home runs on the season.
He also played a factor in the field, taking extra bases away from Caleb Hamilton with a sliding catch in deep, left-center field in the sixth inning.
Kendall used his arm to account for the final out in the third inning when his perfect throw retired Ernie De La Trinidad trying to advance from second to third on a fly out.
Early in the game, the two teams traded runs. Wichita jumped in front in the top of the first inning when Jermaine Palacios drew a two-out walk, advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a base hit by De La Trinidad.
In the bottom half of the inning, Donovan Casey put the Drillers on the scoreboard with this second homer of the season. Casey sliced a drive just inside the right field foul pole to tie the game at 1-1.
The Wind Surge continued the early scoring in the second when Hamilton led off with his third home run.
The lead increased to 3-1 in top of the third when Palacios again walked and scored on a double from De La Trinidad.
Kendall’s first homer, which cleared the fence just inside the right field foul pole, trimmed Tulsa’s deficit to just one run.
It remained that way until the seventh when Kendall struck again with his three-run shot.
The Drillers tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth when Devin Mann brought home a pair of runs with a double that landed just in front of centerfielder Aaron Whitefield, and Hunter Feduccia plated the game’s final run with an infield ground out.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
*With the victory, the Drillers moved into first place in the Double-Central, ½ game in front of the Wind Surge. It marks the first time this season that Tulsa has occupied sole possession of first place in the standings.
*Gerardo Carrillo made his sixth start on the mound for the Drillers and his seventh appearance overall. Carrillo lasted just 3.2 innings, surrendering three runs on three hits and three walks. He was also hurt by the two first-inning wild pitches.
*Kendall finished the night 2-5 with two runs scored and four runs batted in. He is now hitting .385 in six games during the month of June, raising his season average by 58 points. Defensively, he has five assists which leads all Double-A Central outfielders.
*Casey is riding a hot streak of his own, hitting safely in 10 of his last 12 games. During the stretch, he has raised his season average from .254 up to .311.
*Guillermo Zuniga picked up his team-leading fourth win by retiring all seven batters he faced after entering the game in the sixth inning. He needed just 24 pitches to record the 7 outs.
*Cyrillo Watson allowed just one hit in 2.0 scoreless innings, and Aaron Ochsenbein set the Wind Surge down in order in the top of the ninth.
UP NEXT
Wichita at Tulsa, Wednesday, June 9 at 12:05 PM at ONEOK Field. Wichita RHP Cole Sands (0-0, 3.42 ERA) versus Tulsa RHP Andre Jackson (2-1, 3.20 ERA).