Tulsa Beaten 5-2 in Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, TX – The month of August continued to be tough on the Tulsa Drillers Wednesday night at Corpus Christi’s Whataburger Field. They were limited to just four hits and fell 5-2 to the Corpus Christi Hooks. The loss was the fourth straight for the Drillers, and they are
Corpus Christi, TX – The month of August continued to be tough on the Tulsa Drillers Wednesday night at Corpus Christi’s Whataburger Field. They were limited to just four hits and fell 5-2 to the Corpus Christi Hooks.
The loss was the fourth straight for the Drillers, and they are just one defeat from matching their longest skid of the season. They are 0-4 in the month of August.
Despite the loss, the Drillers remained just four games behind first-place Springfield in the second-half, division standings. The Cardinals three-game winning streak came to an end with a 5-3 loss in San Antonio.
Tulsa and Corpus Christi were scoreless through the first three innings before the Drillers opened the scoring with a run in the top of the fourth. Josue De Paula extended his hitting streak to nine straight games when he doubled with one out. De Paula moved to third on a fielding error and scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly from Jake Gelof.
Tulsa starting pitcher Adam Serwinowski did not allow a hit through the first four innings, but he lost his no-hit bid and his shutout in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Alejandro Nunez doubled for the Hooks’ first hit. Yamal Encarnacion followed with a base hit that left runners at first and third. Nunez scored to tie the game on a throwing error by shortstop Elijah Hainline, and Encarnacion raced home on a passed ball by catcher Nelson Quiroz.
The Hooks added three more runs in the sixth. Tyler Whitaker doubled with one out and scored on a base hit from Chase Call.
The Drillers turned to the bullpen, bringing in Christian Suarez, and he was greeted with a lined single from Max Holy. Call scored on a balk by Suarez, while Holy came home on a wild pitch, giving the Hooks a 5-1 lead.
Logan Wagner, who was called up from High-A Great Lakes on Tuesday, started at third base for the Drillers. In his first game at the Double-A level, Wagner belted an opposite-field home run in the seventh inning that pulled Tulsa to within 5-2.
The Drillers picked up two more hits with Taylor Young singling with two outs in the seventh, and Hainline doing the same in the ninth. Both runners were left stranded as the Hooks’ bullpen was able to keep the three-run lead in place.
GAME NOTES
*It was a good and bad night for Serwinowski. He opened with the four hitless and scoreless innings, but he struggled with his command. The lefthander threw 99 pitches, but just 60 for strikes, in working 5 1/3 innings. Serwinowski gave up only four hits but issued three walks and hit a batter. He was charged with four runs, three earned, and was tagged with the loss to drop his record to 8-5.
*De Paula’s double extended his hitting streak, but his home run streak came to an end. He had homered in four straight games. He is now hitting .382 in his nine-game hitting streak.
*Wagner finished 1-4 in his debut. The third baseman is ranked as the 20th best prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system by MLB Pipeline. Wagner was hitting .275 with 16 home runs for Great Lakes at the time of his call up.
*Another newcomer also made his debut for the Drillers in the game. Reliever Jacob Kmatz followed Suarez to the mound and allowed one hit with one strikeout in a scoreless inning. Kmatz was acquired by the Dodgers in a trade with Tampa Bay on Monday and was a combined 5-2 with 8 saves and a 2.89 ERA in 33 games this season split between High A and Double A.
*Bixby High School product Nic Swanson was credited with the win for the Hooks. Swanson allowed just one hit and one run in 2 1/3 relief innings.
*The Drillers committed three errors in the game.
*For the second straight night, Mike Sirota was a late scratch from Tulsa’s starting lineup.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will look to snap their losing streak on Thursday night at Whataburger Field with the third game of their series with the Hooks. Starting time is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. and the pitching matchup is expected to be:
Tulsa – LHP Zach Root (0-0, 13.50 ERA)
Corpus Christi– RHP Brett Gillis (5-2, 3.59 ERA)