Drillers Bats Break out for 7-1 Victory
July 19, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Second baseman Willie Calhoun had a big night at the plate Tuesday as he launched home runs in back-to-back innings to help lead the Drillers to a 7-1 victory at ONEOK Field. (Rich Crimi)
Tuesday night's game between the Tulsa Drillers and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals looked as if it would be a pitcher's duel early on as the Drillers held a 1-0 lead through the first five innings. But the Tulsa bats broke open the floodgates in the seventh, scoring five runs to break the game open and lead to a 7-1 victory at ONEOK Field.
With the win, the Drillers jumped past the Naturals into sole possession of first place by a half game in the Texas League North Division.
Coming into the game, it appeared that runs would be at a premium as the Naturals had their ace on the hill in Jake Junis. The right-hander entered the contest with 9-4 record, tied for the Texas League lead in wins and ranked second in ERA with a 2.76 mark, trailing only Tulsa starter Chase De Jong who pitched for Tulsa Sunday night.
But newcomer Tim Locastro led off the Drillers half of the first inning with a double to left to get things going. After moving to third on an Alex Verdugo groundout, Locastro came around to score on an RBI double in the right-center field gap by Kyle Garlick to put Tulsa on top 1-0.
The score would hold there over the next five innings as Jeremy Kehrt and Junis engaged in a pitcher's duel.
Kehrt turned in his best outing as a Driller this season as the veteran starter held the Naturals to just two hits and no runs over his six innings of work.
The Naturals threatened in the fourth inning as their first two batters reached base on a hit by pitch and a walk. But Kehrt induced a ground ball double play off the bat of Mauricio Ramos before retiring Cam Gallagher on a fly out to center to escape the jam.
Willie Calhoun began his big night in the sixth inning as he stepped up to the plate with one out and blasted a deep fly over the right field grass berm for his 18th homer of the season. Calhoun's solo shot extended the Drillers lead to 2-0.
That run would appear to be a key tally as Northwest Arkansas broke up the shutout bid in the seventh.
Facing reliever Chris Anderson, who came on for Kehrt to begin the inning, the Naturals put their first two runners on courtesy of a single and double. Gallagher plated the lead runner with an RBI groundout to first, but that would be all the visitors would get as Anderson buckled down to get the next two outs to protect the slim Tulsa advantage.
That slim advantage would grow quickly though as the Drillers responded in their half of the seventh by batting around and plating five runs.
After leading off the inning with a base hit, Tulsa's Shawn Zarraga sparked the offensive explosion when the lumbering catcher tagged up from first on a deep fly to right field to move into scoring position. The aggressive base running would pay off immediately as Maggi brought him home with an RBI single before Locastro kept the inning going with a base hit of his own.
That would spell the end of the night for Junis, but it would not slow down the Drillers offense.
Reliever Reid Selman came on for Junis, but the Tulsa lineup kept on hitting as Verdugo scored Maggi with a sacrifice fly and Garlick brought Locastro home with an RBI knock. Calhoun then put an exclamation point on the frame with his second homer in as many innings as he launched a two-run blast onto the berm in right field to push the Drillers lead to 7-1.
Three of the runs would be charged to Junis while the two runs scored on Calhoun's big fly would count against Selman.
Scott Griggs came on for Tulsa and delivered a scoreless eighth inning before Michael Johnson did likewise in the ninth to close out the Drillers win.
It was the third straight game the Tulsa offense tallied double digit hits as the Drillers outhit the Naturals 12-5 on the night. Zarraga led the charge with a 3-4 night while Calhoun, Garlick, Locastro and Maggi all tallied multi-hit performances.
Thanks to his two-homer night, Calhoun also put himself alone in second place in the Texas League with his 19 blasts as he only trails Matt Chapman of Midland who entered Tuesday with 22 total home runs.
The Drillers will look to claim the series Wednesday night as they take on the Naturals in the finale of their four-game set. RHP Tim Shibuya (1-5, 3.99 ERA) will head to the mound for Tulsa while Northwest Arkansas has not yet announced a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.
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