Thomas Backs Uceta as Drillers Top Cards

TULSA - The Tulsa Drillers hit four home runs, including two by Cody Thomas, to back a strong outing on the mound from Edwin Uceta and picked up their third straight win over the Springfield Cardinals Thursday night with a 7-1 victory at ONEOK Field. With the result, Tulsa claimed a series win over Springfield, despite dropping the opener of the four-game set. More importantly, the win moved the Drillers into a first-place tie with Arkansas atop the North Division standings of the Texas League with just 17 games remaining in the second half.
The Drillers opened up an early lead in their win thanks to a pair of solo home runs. Carlos Rincon hit his sixth homer of the season with two outs in the second inning, and Eric Peterson hit his second leading off the third.
Springfield used an entirely different approach to plate its only run in the top of the fourth. The Redbirds had runners at first and third following singles by Kramer Robertson and Yariel Gonzalez. With two outs, the Cards sent Gonzalez to second, and when he was caught in a rundown, Robertson raced home to trim Tulsa's lead to 2-1.
From there, it was all Drillers as they responded with two more runs in the bottom half of the fourth. Angelo Mora singled and scored on an errant throw from a base hit by Thomas, and Errol Robinson followed with a run-scoring double.
The later innings became the Cody Thomas show. The Tulsa outfielder led off the sixth inning with his first homer of the night. After Omar Estevez plated Tulsa's sixth run with a sacrifice fly later in the inning, Thomas struck again in the bottom of the seventh with an opposite-field drive into the Busch Terrace beyond the left field fence. It was the second homer of the night for the former University of Oklahoma quarterback and his 19th of the season.
It was plenty of offensive support for Uceta who picked up his sixth straight win with an efficient outing. The right-hander surrendered three hits and three walks in his five innings of work, allowing just the one run. He struck out six Cards batters.
  

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With three home runs in his past two games, Thomas is making a run at the Texas League Home Run title. His 19 homers this year leaves him second in the TL only behind Springfield's Dylan Carlson, who was promoted to Triple A on Thursday. Carlson had 21 home runs in the Texas League before his call up.
Uceta improved his Double-A record to 6-2 with the win. His last loss came on June 15 in just his third appearance for the Drillers. Overall, it was his tenth victory of the season, including his perfect 4-0 record for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga.
 
The Tulsa bullpen pitched well in back of Uceta. Ryan Moseley pitched around two hits in a scoreless sixth inning, and Shea Spitzbarth allowed just one hit in two scoreless frames. Jordan Sheffield completed the victory with a scoreless ninth after escaping a bases-loaded jam.
The Drillers finished the season with a 19-9 record against the Cardinals, including a 13-3 mark at ONEOK Field.  
*Tulsa will now travel to Northwest Arkansas for a three-game series with the Naturals that will begin Friday night. The Drillers will close the regular season with a six-game homestand against Amarillo and Corpus Christi, followed by an eight-game road trip versus the Sod Poodles and Hooks.
UP NEXT:  Tulsa at Northwest Arkansas, Friday, August 16, 7:15 PM at Arvest Ballpark, Springdale, AR. LHP Leo Crawford (1-0, 0.00 ERA) versus LHP J.C. Cloney (2-4, 3.84 ERA).