Curry Pitches Gem as Drillers Edge Naturals
August 1, 2019 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
TULSA - Thursday was a career night for Tulsa Drillers starting pitcher Parker Curry. The right-hander tossed a gem of a game, striking out eight over eight scoreless frames in pitching the Drillers to a 1-0 victory against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The lone run of the game did not come until the eighth inning.
Prior to Thursday night's game, Curry had not gone over 6.1 innings in any outing of his professional career. He allowed no walks and no extra-base hits, and his eight strikeouts were the second most of his career. Curry picked up his fourth win of the season with the performance.
With the game scoreless entering the bottom of the eighth, the Drillers broke through with the only run of the game. Carlos Rincon started the inning by reaching on an error, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jared Walker. Errol Robinson following with a single to put runners at the corners.
Drew Avans jumped on the first pitch he saw, delivering an RBI single that plated Rincon to give Tulsa the 1-0 lead.
The Naturals did not go down without a fight. Jordan Sheffield replaced Curry out of the bullpen and struck out Dairon Blanco to start the bottom of the ninth, but Kevin Merrell and Gabriel Cancel each singled.
With the go-ahead run at second, Sheffield buried a breaking pitch in the dirt that got away from Drillers catcher Connor Wong. Both of the runners took off, but Wong was able to find the ball and make a perfect throw to third to get Merrell trying to advance.
Sheffield then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Cancel to reach third. But on a full count, Sheffield delivered a perfect changeup on the outer edge of the plate, getting Khalil Lee to swing through the pitch to end the game.
WHAT YOU MISSED
*Curry added to his good pitching performance with a nice play in the fourth. After Merrell singled, Curry made a quick pickoff throw to first, catching Merrell too far off the base to record the out.
*Curry matched J.D. Martin and Justin De Fratus as the only Drillers pitchers to pitch an eight-inning game. Martin picked up a no decision on June 30 against Arkansas, while De Fratus was charged with a loss on July 12 against Frisco.
*Thursday's offensive hero Avans, has hit safely in six of his last seven games, going 8-28 during that stretch.
*The game was a swift 2:04, the shortest of the season.
UP NEXT: Northwest Arkansas at Tulsa, Friday, August 2, 7:05 PM at ONEOK Field. RHP Ofreidy Gomez (7-7, 4.09 ERA) vs. RHP Markus Solbach (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
Texas League Stories from August 1, 2019
- Liberato Lifts Travs to Walk-Off Win - Arkansas Travelers
- Riders Can't Hold Early Lead in 7-4 Loss - Frisco RoughRiders
- Lloyd Fans Season-High Nine in Sod Poodles Series Opener Victory over RoughRiders - Amarillo Sod Poodles
- Curry Pitches Gem as Drillers Edge Naturals - Tulsa Drillers
- Drillers Edge-Out Naturals, 1-0 in Pitchers' Duel - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- RockHounds Rally for Walk-Off Win - Midland RockHounds
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