Strong Outing from Varland Leads to Victory for Drillers

Michael Busch rounds third after hitting his eighth home run of the year to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead in Wednesday's win over Corpus Christi. (Tim Campbell)

4:05 PM EDT

TULSA, OK – For the second straight game, pitching was the story in a matchup between the Tulsa Drillers and Corpus Christi Hooks Wednesday afternoon at ONEOK Field. Starting pitchers Gus Varland and Angel Macuare were both impressive, with Varland working five no-hit innings for Tulsa. The Drillers finally broke

TULSA, OK – For the second straight game, pitching was the story in a matchup between the Tulsa Drillers and Corpus Christi Hooks Wednesday afternoon at ONEOK Field. Starting pitchers Gus Varland and Angel Macuare were both impressive, with Varland working five no-hit innings for Tulsa. The Drillers finally broke up the scoreless game with a pair of solo home runs from Michael Busch and Jacob Amaya and went on to claim a 5-1 victory.

The result evened the six-game series between the two teams at one win each.

BOXSCORE

Varland delivered his best outing in two seasons on the Drillers’ staff. The right-hander worked five scoreless innings without allowing a hit. He walked four batters while striking out seven.

Hooks’ starter Macuare nearly matched Varland, surrendering just two singles through five shutout frames.

The Drillers finally solved Macuare in the bottom of the sixth when Busch produced his eighth home run of the season, giving Tulsa a 1-0 lead.

Amaya doubled the margin against reliever Chandler Casey when he led off the seventh with his fifth homer of the year. Later in the inning, a two-out hit from James Outman scored Hunter Feduccia to make it a three-run lead.

It was more than enough support for Varland and the Tulsa bullpen. Alec Gamboa replaced Varland to open the sixth and kept the no-hitter and shutout in place with a 1-2-3 inning.

The Hooks finally got their first hit when Bryan Arias led off the seventh with a double that just skipped by Brandon Lewis at third. Arias would be stranded at third as Gamboa retired the next three batters to keep the shutout intact.

Gamboa set the Hooks down in order again in the top of the eighth, and the Drillers added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Ward walked and scored on a sacrifice fly from Feduccia. A two-out hit from Kody Hoese plated Amaya, who had doubled, to give the Drillers a 5-0 lead.

Kody Hoese accounted for two of Tulsa's eight hits in the win.

Corpus Christi avoided the shutout with a run against reliever Tanner Dodson in the ninth.

The Hooks finished the game with just two hits.

HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:

*Despite his strong outing, Varland did not get the decision. Gamboa picked up the victory, improving his record to 2-0. The lefthander allowed just one hit in three scoreless innings while striking out five.

*Tulsa had eight hits in the win, led by Amaya and Hoese who had two each.

*The victory snapped a season high two-game losing streak for the Drillers.

*Tulsa has played five straight games without an error.

*The game was the fastest at ONEOK Field this season, taking only 2 hours and 21 minutes to complete, three minutes faster than Tuesday night’s contest.

*Busch was Tulsa’s starting left fielder, marking the first time in his professional career that he played in the outfield. In the second inning, Busch made a nice, running catch in front of the warning track in left-center field.

UP NEXT:

The two teams will continue their six-game set Thursday night, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. at ONEOK Field. The starting pitchers are scheduled to be:

CC – LHP Julio Robaina (0-2, 18.00 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Clayton Beeter (0-0, 5.87 ERA)