TULSA - The first-ever visit to ONEOK Field for the Amarillo Sod Poodles produced a memorable finish. Tulsa's Gavin Lux broke a tie game with a two-out base hit in the bottom of the ninth inning that scored Cristian Santana to give the Drillers a 2-1 walk-off win. The victory
TULSA - The first-ever visit to ONEOK Field for the Amarillo Sod Poodles produced a memorable finish. Tulsa's Gavin Lux broke a tie game with a two-out base hit in the bottom of the ninth inning that scored Cristian Santana to give the Drillers a 2-1 walk-off win. The victory was the fourth straight for the Drillers and kept them undefeated in the second half of the season with a perfect 3-0 record.
The stage for the winning rally was set when Amarillo reliever Michael Baez hit Santana with a pitch leading off the ninth. A one-out single by Carlos Rincon put runners at first and second. After Baez struck out pinch hitter Drew Avans for the second out, reliever Evan Miller was summoned from the Sod Poodles bullpen. On a 2-2 pitch from Miller, Lux, who had struck out three times in the game, lined his hit into left-center field, easily scoring Santana with the winning run.
Lux's heroics made a winner out of Tulsa reliever Andre Scrubb, improving his season record to 5-0. It was an eventful day for the right-hander as he was named to the North Division Texas League All-Star team Thursday afternoon, replacing teammate Shea Spitzbarth who was promoted to Triple A.
The first run of the night scored in the third inning. With two outs and the bases empty, Zach McKinstry reached safely on an error by Amarillo first baseman Brad Zunica. Two pitches later, Cody Thomas lined a double into the left field corner, plating McKinstry.
The Drillers held the 1-0 lead until there were two outs in the eighth inning. Amarillo pinch hitter Peter Van Gansen drove a pitch from Scrubb just inside the right field foul pole for a solo homer that tied the score at 1-1.
Both starting pitchers were worthy of a win, but instead received no decisions. Tulsa's Edwin Uceta, who entered the game with a 17.18 ERA in three Double-A starts this season, allowed only three hits in seven shutout innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven.
Amarillo's Emmanuel Ramirez was also impressive. He surrendered just the unearned run while allowing only five hits in seven innings. He did walk one batter and struck out five.
WHAT YOU MISSED
An unusual play occurred in the bottom of the second inning. With DJ Peters at third and Santana at second, Chris Parmelee hit a soft liner that fell in front of Amarillo right fielder Edward Olivares for a base hit. Oliveras fielded the hit and fired a strike to home. Catcher Luis Torrens grabbed the throw and tagged out Peters, keeping the game scoreless.
Uceta needed only ten pitches to strike out the side in the top of the first inning. Both starting pitchers were efficient as they needed only 18 pitches to work through the first inning.
Scrubb and Uceta combined to limit the Sod Poodles to just four hits.
Rincon's ninth-inning single extended his hitting streak to 12 straight games, the longest this season for a Tulsa hitter.
Santana, Thomas and McKinstry each had doubles in the game. Oddly, it was the 11th double of the season for all three.
Pitchers dominating the night, and the game took only 2 hours and 26 minutes to complete, making it the second-fastest game of the season for the Drillers.
*The Drillers announced a pair of roster moves on Thursday. Free agent pitcher Edward Paredes was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers and assigned to the Tulsa roster to replace Spitzbarth. Also, Parker Curry was activated from the Injured List to replace Ben Holmes who replaced Curry on the IL.
UP NEXT: Amarillo at Tulsa, Friday, June 21, 7:05 PM at ONEOK Field. RHP Jesse Scholtens (3-2, 4.61 ERA) versus LHP Victor Gonzalez (2-1, 2.64 ERA).
