Tulsa’s Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in Loss to Naturals
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers three-game winning streak came to an end Sunday afternoon when a ninth-inning rally came up one run short in a 4-3 loss to Northwest Arkansas at ONEOK Field. Despite the defeat, the Drillers recorded a series victory against the Naturals, winning three of the
TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers three-game winning streak came to an end Sunday afternoon when a ninth-inning rally came up one run short in a 4-3 loss to Northwest Arkansas at ONEOK Field. Despite the defeat, the Drillers recorded a series victory against the Naturals, winning three of the five games in the set.
The Drillers struggled to get much going offensively against Northwest Arkansas starting pitcher Luinder Avila. The only blemish against Avila was an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The game was scoreless through the first three frames before the Naturals broke through with three runs in the fourth. The big hit of the inning was a two-run double from Diego Hernandez.
Tulsa was unlucky to not get on the scoreboard in its half of the fourth. With two outs and Brendon Davis at first, Taylor Young hit a drive to deep left-center field. The hit would have easily scored Davis, but the ball bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double. With runners at second and third, Avila escaped the trouble when Diego Cartaya’s sharp liner was snagged by third baseman Cayden Wallace.
The Drillers only run against Avila came in the bottom of the fifth, and it was unearned when an error helped to set up a run-scoring hit from Austin Gauthier.
Trailing 4-1, Tulsa made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Two walks and a pair of passed balls gave the Drillers a run before Yeiner Fernandez singled home another. The third walk of the inning put runners at first and second with two outs, but Naturals’ reliever Keylan Kilgore came on and struck out Gauthier to end the game.
INSIDE THE GAME
*The Drillers actually played the game as the Malmo Oat Milkers in a promotion that is featured throughout Minor League Baseball in which every one of the 120 MiLB teams will play a game as the Oat Milkers this season.
*Yon Castro made his Double-A debut as the starting pitcher for the Drillers. In his first appearance this season at any level, Castro worked three shutout innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out three. The right-hander began his pro career in the New York Yankees minor league system and was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft.
*The three runs in the fourth for the Naturals were charged to reliever Michael Hobbs. They were the first earned runs charged to Hobbs this season as he entered the contest with a 0.00 ERA through 6 games and 8.1 innings.
*Gauthier, who had a 17-game on-base streak snapped on Friday night, went 2-5 in the loss. He has now reached base safely in 18 of the 19 games he has played in this season.
*The Drillers are now just 1-5 in games decided by one run.
*The three-game winning streak for Tulsa had equaled a season high.
*The Drillers are now 6-2 against the Naturals this season.
UP NEXT:
Tulsa will have an off day on Monday before opening a six-game series with Springfield on Tuesday night. The Cardinals have occupied first place in the Texas League’s North Division every day this season. The series opener will have an early start time of 6:00 pm. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
SPR – TBA
TUL – LHP Justin Wrobleski (1-0, 3.86 ERA)