Late Comeback Not Enough for Drillers
July 25, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Jeremy Kehrt prepares to deliver a pitch during his start against the Arkansas Travelers. (Photo by Rich Crimi)
Tulsa starting pitcher Jeremy Kehrt continued his strong second half with his fourth straight quality start Friday night, but it was not enough for the Drillers as they fell to the Arkansas Travelers 6-4 at ONEOK Field.
Kehrt turned in six solid innings, allowing three earned runs, but Arkansas starter Kyle McGowin was a little better as he gave up just two runs over the same span.
The loss for Tulsa was its fourth straight as the team moved 2.5 games behind the first-place Springfield Cardinals.
The first two innings passed quickly before the Drillers took advantage of some wildness from McGowin in the third.
Jeremy Rathjen was the first to reach base as he was hit by a pitch with one out. Ronald Torreyes followed with a base hit to left before McGowin walked Peter Lavin to load the bases. Yadir Drake then grounded a ball through the left side of the infield that was corralled in time to record a force out at second, but not before Rathjen crossed the plate from third to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead.
Things stayed quiet over the next several innings as both McGowin and Kehrt seemed to settle in. But Arkansas broke through in the sixth to take the lead back.
Arkansas catcher Anthony Bemboom led off the inning with a double to center and moved to third on a groundout. Ruben Sosa then lofted a high fly to left that Drillers outfielder Brian Burgamy, who had just come into the game to replace Rathjen, had a tough time reading. By the time Burgamy was able to track the ball down after it bounced on the warning track, Sosa was sliding into third with an RBI triple. The Travs would not let that scoring opportunity go to waste as Sherman Johnson brought Sosa home with a sacrifice fly to left to put Arkansas up 2-1.
The Travs extended their advantage in the seventh. Back-to-back doubles to begin the inning spelled the end of Kehrt's outing. Reliever Jacob Rhame came on, but the end result was not a good one. Following a walk and a throwing error on a sac bunt attempt, Rhame was handing the ball off for the next pitcher with the Travs leading 4-1.
Ryan Dennick came in with no outs and two men on and was able to end the inning without allowing another run, thanks in large part to a fly-out, throw-out double play that ended the inning.
Tulsa catcher Kyle Farmer and Brandon Trinkwon led off the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back base hits and that was all for McGowin. The Drillers benefited from some wildness from Arkansas reliever Austin Adams as they scored a run and loaded the bases with one out. But Adams recovered to strike out Lavin on a controversial call and induce a line out from Drake to keep the Travs up by two.
The call on Lavin seemed to take the air out of the Drillers and the Travs capitalized on that in the top of the eighth, scoring two seemingly insignificant runs for the third straight inning against Ralston Cash to go up 6-2.
Going into the bottom of the ninth, Arkansas brought in Nate Hyatt who would make things interesting. Hyatt began the inning by walking Adam Law on four pitches before Burgamy more than atoned for his fielding gaffe in the sixth by launching a curveball far into the night for a two-run home run. Burgamy's ninth bomb of the year brought Tulsa within two. After Lavin followed the blast with a sharp single, Drake stepped up to the plate representing the tying run. But Hyatt got Drake to ground into a game-ending double-play to seal the win.
The Drillers will look to put an end to their losing ways Saturday as they turn to Jharel Cotton (4-1, 2.39 ERA.) The Travs will counter with Nate Smith (7-4, 2.74 ERA.) First pitch is scheduled for 7:05PM.
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Texas League Stories from July 25, 2015
- Renfroe's Long Balls Lead Missions to Victory - San Antonio Missions
- Arkansas Sends Tulsa to 5th Straight Loss - Tulsa Drillers
- Smith Sizzles in Return from PanAm Games - Arkansas Travelers
- Six Late Runs Fuel Travs to Second Straight - Arkansas Travelers
- Hooks Sink RoughRiders in Extras, 7-6 - Frisco RoughRiders
- Cardinals Clobber Naturals, 12-4 - Springfield Cardinals
- Naturals Fall in Springfield, 12-4 - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Naturals Swipe Win from Cardinals with 9th-Inning Rally - Springfield Cardinals
- We Should Have Kept Our Big Mouths Shut - Midland RockHounds
- Late Comeback Not Enough for Drillers - Tulsa Drillers
- Naturals Score Six in the Ninth in 7-2 Win over Springfield - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Hooks Run Wild in Frisco - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Six Late Runs Fuel Travs - Arkansas Travelers
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