Drillers Fall 2-1 to Travs
May 3, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Coming off a tough loss Monday afternoon against NW Arkansas, Tulsa starter Trevor Oaks headed to the hill Tuesday night looking to get the Drillers back in the win column. But the Drillers offense was unable to get rolling in the opening game of their four-game set against the Arkansas Travelers as the club fell 2-1 in Little Rock.
Oaks turned in a quality start as the young right-hander allowed just two runs over his six innings of work. It was Oaks' second Double-A outing of his career, and he did an admirable job of repeatedly working out of trouble. But he was not able to escape completely unscathed.
After the Drillers had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth on Alex Verdugo's third homer of the year, a leadoff walk would come back to hurt Oaks in the home half of the frame.
Three-hole hitter Andrew Daniel worked the free pass to start the inning and advanced safely to second on a groundout. Oaks struck out Jabari Henry for the second out of the inning before Baylor Bears alum Cal Towey struck an RBI double into center to plate Daniel and tie the ballgame at 1-1.
A leadoff base hit in the fifth inning would cause more problems for Oaks and the Drillers as the Travs scored the go-ahead run. It almost seemed like a carbon copy of the previous inning as Anthony Bemboom led off with a single, moved to second on a groundout and then came home to score on a Chad Hinshaw RBI single to put Arkansas on top 2-1.
The Travs threatened again in the sixth, putting runners on the corners with just one out. But they would be unable to pad their lead as Oaks wiggled out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout to wrap up his night.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Arkansas starter Blayne Weller was on top his game.
The 6'5" righty retired the Drillers in order for the first three innings before giving up the Verdugo home run in the fourth. But Weller shook off the blast and did not let another Driller even get to third, much less home plate, over his next three innings of work.
The Drillers looked as if they might be able to get something going in the seventh as Jacob Scavuzzo hit a leadoff double off the center field wall to start the inning. But Weller stymied the momentum by striking out Cody Bellinger before handing the ball off to reliever Tyler DeLoach.
DeLoach came on and delivered, leaving Scavuzzo stranded at second before going on to retire all seven Drillers batters he faced in dominant fashion.
After seeing his southpaw get the first two outs in the ninth, Arkansas manager Mark Parent decided to call in his closer, Austin Wood, for the final out of the game. Wood came on to face the dangerous Scavuzzo and did his job by inducing a groundout to end the ballgame.
Oaks took the hard-luck loss to drop his record to 1-1 while Weller earned his first win of the year to improve his record to 1-3. Wood picked up his third save of the year with his work in the ninth.
The Drillers and Travs will continue their series Wednesday morning. Getting the start for Tulsa will be RHP Scott Barlow (0-2, 3.32 ERA) while Arkansas will counter with RHP Victor Alcantara (1-2, 5.50 ERA.) Fans can listen to Dennis Higgins call the daytime action on AM 1300 The Buzz as first pitch is scheduled for 11:00 AM.
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