TL1 Tulsa Drillers

Cards Sweep Drillers

Published on April 26, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


The Springfield Cardinals completed a four-game sweep of the Tulsa Drillers Sunday afternoon with a 9-3 victory at Hammons Field.

After suffering through consecutive ninth inning losses, the Drillers were never really in Sunday's game. Starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin suffered through his toughest Double A outing, surrendering 10 hits and 9 runs (7 ER) in 4 1/3 innings. The loss dropped Chacin's record to 1-3.

Things started poorly for the Drillers. In the bottom of the first inning, with the bases empty and two outs, Brett Wallace hit a ground ball to short. Instead of the final out of the inning, Wallace reached safely on Chris Nelson's throwing error. The error proved costly when Steven Hill followed with his fifth home run of the season to give the Redbirds a 2-0 lead.

Tulsa tied the game in the third thanks to four straight hits from Chacin, Cole Garner, Nelson and Jeff Kindel.

Springfield answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the third to take a 4-2 lead.

It was a lead the Cards would not relinquish. They added another run in the fourth, then ended Chacin's day with a four-run fifth. In the inning, Mark Hamilton and pitcher Trey Hearne produced run-scoring singles, and Antonio DeJesus added a two-run triple.

Tulsa catcher Mike McKenry completed the game's scoring with his third homer of the season, a solo shot in the sixth inning.

Chacin's tough day did not end with the conclusion of the game. Afterwards, a scoring change by the official scorer caused his ERA to climb.

A ground ball by Wallace to begin the fifth inning was originally ruled an error on Rex Rundgren. After the game, the ruling was changed to a base hit. The change meant that Chacin was charged with seven earned runs instead of three, moving his ERA from 3.10 to 4.87.

Both bullpens pitched effectively. Hearne relieved Cards' starter Kyle Mura in the fourth and went the rest of the way. He allowed only McKenry's homer and three other hits in six innings of relief work.

Springfield did not have a base runner after the fifth inning. Tommy Baumgardner retired all seven batters he faced, and Xavier Cedeno worked a 1-2-3 ninth.

Offensively, Nelson was the only Tulsa player with more than one hit, finishing 2-3 with a walk and a run batted in.

The Drillers now return home to begin an eight-game homestand Monday night at Drillers Stadium. The stand will feature four games against Arkansas and four more against Springfield.

In Monday's opener against the Travelers, Samuel Deduno (1-1, 5.27 ERA) will pitch for the Drillers against Tommy Mendoza of the Travs. First pitch will be at 7:05PM.

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics

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Texas League Stories from April 26, 2009


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