Tough Road Drip Ends with Tough Loss

Springdale, AR – A tough, nine-game road trip came to a frustrating end for the Tulsa Drillers Sunday afternoon at Northwest Arkansas. The Drillers issued eight walks and failed to hold a five-run lead and eventually suffered a 9-8 walk-off loss to the Naturals at Springdale’s Arvest Ballpark.

Tulsa finished the extended trip with only two victories.

BOX SCORE

Sunday’s finale began promisingly when the Drillers plated two runs in the top of the first inning. Austin Gauthier drew a leadoff walk and later scored the game’s first run on a ground out from Jose Ramos. Diego Cartaya’s two-out double later in the inning plated the second run.

The Naturals answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first against Tulsa starter Kyle Hurt.

Ismael Alcantara’s first Double-A home run in the second put the Drillers back in front, and a three-run blast from Ramos in the fourth upped the margin to 6-2.

After the two-run first, Hurt settled in and delivered a solid outing, blanking the Naturals through the next four frames.

Ramos upped Tulsa’s lead to five runs with a run-scoring single in the sixth that gave him his fifth RBI of the day.

The game began to unravel for the Drillers in the bottom of the sixth. Tanner Dodson relieved Hurt, and the first four batters he faced reached safely on a pair of walks and two hits.

With one run in and the bases loaded, Antonio Knowles replaced Dodson and was greeted with a two-run double by Dillan Shrum. Only a strong relay throw home from shortstop Eddys Leonard that retired the third runner kept it from being worse, as did a lined double play that ended the inning.

The bullpen’s struggles continued in the seventh inning as Knowles walked two batters and hit another to load the bases with no outs. Ricky Vanasco became the fourth Tulsa pitcher of the game and gave up a sacrifice fly that pulled the Naturals to within one run. Morgan McCullough followed with a two-run double that erased the Tulsa lead and put Northwest Arkansas in front 8-7.

The Drillers did not go down quietly as Gauthier doubled to lead off the top of the eighth and scored to tie the game when Jorbit Vivas singled on the next pitch.

Tulsa came close to retaking the lead in the ninth when Yusniel Diaz led off with a double and moved to third on a ground out. With a chance to drive in the go-ahead run, Kody Hoese hit a soft bouncer up the middle that second baseman McCullough fielded and threw home to easily retire Diaz attempting to score.

It set up the game winner for the Naturals in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Diego Hernandez tripled off Braydon Fisher. After an intentional walk, Luca Tresh lined a base hit to left off Fisher that brought Hernandez home with the winning run, handing the Drillers a difficult loss and bringing an end to a difficult trip.

HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPENINGS:

*Hurt allowed just two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out seven in his five innings of work.

*It marked the second time this year that Ramos has driven in five runs in a game. It is just one RBI short of the season high for the Drillers. Brandon Lewis drove home six against the Naturals earlier in the season.

*Leonard has now reached base in 23 straight games, matching Gauthier and Vivas for the longest on-base streak of the year for a Tulsa batter.

*The bullpen combined to give up seven runs on six hits and six walks in just 3.1 innings of work.

*The Drillers are now 17-16 in one-run games.

*After sweeping a six-game series with the Naturals in May, the Drillers have now lost 10 of the past 12 games between the two teams. Tulsa has an 8-10 record versus the Naturals.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers now return home for the first time in two weeks and will open a six-game series with the Springfield Cardinals on Tuesday night. First pitch for game one is set for 7:05 p.m. and neither team has announced a starting pitcher.