Drillers Rally for Wild Victory
Published on May 13, 2012 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Zach Simons made his Drillers debut Saturday night with three scoreless innings in relief of Jorge De La Rosa. (Rich Crimi)
The Tulsa Drillers benefited Saturday night from one of the most improbable and bizarre comebacks in the history of ONEOK Field. After trailing the Arkansas Travelers for the entire evening, the Drillers scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning with the
help of two wild pitches and rallied for an unlikely 6-5 victory.
The Travs jumped to a quick lead by scoring four first inning runs against Colorado Rockies lefthander Jorge De La Rosa who was making his first injury rehabilitation start for Tulsa. The Drillers were still trailing 5-1 in the eighth inning when a
bases loaded walk cut the deficit to three runs.
Coty Woods worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to set the stage for the comeback. Lars Davis began the comeback by beating out a soft grounder to second for an infield hit. After Warren Schaeffer popped out, Josh Rutledge doubled to put runners at second and third.
Jimmy Cesario singled home Davis to pull the Drillers to within two runs, but Nolan Arenado flied out to get the Travs to within one out of a victory. That final out would prove to be difficult for them to obtain.
With runners at first and third, first baseman Ben Paulsen made a bid to win the game with a deep opposite field drive. The ball just missed clearing the left field fence, but the double was enough to score both runners and tie the game at 5-5.
The Travelers called on reliever Chris Scholl from the bullpen and the right-hander appeared to have ended the game by striking out Kent Matthes, but the pitch was in the dirt and caromed to the backstop, allowing the outfielder to reach base safely and Paulsen to advance to third.
The wild pitch brought Tim Torres to the plate. After throwing a ball, the second pitch from Scholl bounced in the dirt and off catcher Carlos Ramirez. It rolled up the first base line and allowed Paulsen to race home with the game-winning run.
The walk-off wild pitch victory improved Tulsa's record to 23-12, including a 14-3 mark at ONEOK Field.
The comeback overshadowed a tough outing for De La Rosa. He was expected to throw 85 pitches in his rehab appearance as he continues his recovery from elbow surgery, but he left after his 28 pitch first inning.
The night began ominously for the Drillers as the game's leadoff hitter, Juan Segura, hit a foul pop up that should have been the night's first out, but Paulsen and second baseman Angelys Nina allowed the ball to drop. Given new life, Segura doubled off De La Rosa.
Renny Osuna grounded out, but Roberto Lopez doubled home Segura to open the scoring. After Casey Haerther lined out, the Travs produced three straight hits. Adam Heether singled home Osuna and then scored himself on a triple from Carlos Ramirez. Darwin Perez made it 4-0 with a run-scoring single before Rian Kiniry struck out to end the inning.
It was the final pitch of the night for De La Rosa, as he did not return for the second inning after a visit with Tulsa trainer Austin O'Shea. The lefthander was said to be experiencing tightness in his forearm and was removed from his outing as a precaution.
Of De Le Rosa's 28 pitches, 24 were for strikes. His final line included five hits and four runs allowed. He did not walk a batter and had the one strikeout.
The four first inning runs looked as if it would be enough offense for Arkansas to post a victory as starting pitcher Orangel Arenas blanked the Drillers through the first six innings.
Tulsa finally ended his shutout bid in the bottom of the seventh when Torres doubled and scored on a base hit by Davis.
The run ended the night for Arenas, who enjoyed another strong outing against the Drillers. In three starts against Tulsa this year, he has allowed only 3 runs in 19.2 totals innings (0.92 ERA).
Woods picked up the victory to improve his record to 3-0. He still has not allowed a run this season and extended his scoreless streak to 17 straight innings.
The Drillers and Travelers will conclude their series at 2:05PM Sunday afternoon. The pitching matchup will feature Nick Schmidt (1-1, 4.36 ERA) for Tulsa against Eddie McKiernan (3-0, 0.45 ERA) of Arkansas.
Texas League Stories from May 13, 2012
- Missions Defeat Midland 7-4, Sweep Series - San Antonio Missions
- Schoop's Shot Gives Naturals Win - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Cardinals Fall to Naturals 6-5 - Springfield Cardinals
- Schmidt Stays Sharp vs. Travs - Tulsa Drillers
- Schmidt Shuts Down Travs as Tulsa Takes Series - Arkansas Travelers
- Seventh Inning Separation - Frisco RoughRiders
- Drillers Score Four in Ninth to Beat Travs - Arkansas Travelers
- 12's a Charm - Frisco RoughRiders
- Drillers Rally for Wild Victory - Tulsa Drillers
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