Drillers Beaten By Tulsa's Keuc
April 16, 2011 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
During the season opening series at ONEOK Field last week, Tulsa Bishop Kelley product Dallas Keuchel missed a chance to pitch in his hometown because his turn in the Corpus Christi rotation was not scheduled. Saturday night, Keuchel did get the chance to perform against Tulsa, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. The lefthander worked seven shutout innings to lead the Corpus Christi Hooks to an 8-1 victory over the Drillers at Whataburger Field.
Keuchel, who attended the University of Arkansas, was dominant from the start. Through the first seven innings, he allowed only two base runners, a two-out single to Wilin Rosario in the first and a leadoff single to Hector Gomez in the fourth.
Overall, Keuchel surrendered only a single run in eight innings of work. He did not walk a batter and struck out five.
Tulsa starting pitcher Rob Scahill was hurt by five bases on balls. Scahill walked the first three batters he faced in the bottom of the first, then allowed consecutive singles. Despite all the base runners, the Hooks scored only one run because of a caught stealing and a double play grounder that ended the inning.
Scahill ran into more trouble when he walked the first two batters in the third inning. J.D. Martinez followed with a three-run homer that cleared the fence in centerfield and gave Corpus Christi a 4-0 lead.
The Hooks upped the margin to 5-0 with a run off reliever Chris Malone in the seventh, before the Drillers finally got a run off Keuchel in the top of the eighth. Consecutive singles from Scott Beerer and Bronson Sardinha to start the inning put runners at first and third, but a strange play kept Tulsa from possibly getting back in the game. Thomas Field hit a sinking liner into right field that right fielder Jon Gaston ran in and caught before dropping the ball. Umpires ruled the play a catch, but Sardinha raced for second with the drop and was doubled off first. Beerer did tag and score on the play to end Keuchel's shutout bid, but Tulsa's hopes of a big inning were gone.
Any hopes of a comeback were also gone when the Hooks tacked on three more runs against Casey Weathers in the bottom of the eighth.
Overall, four Tulsa pitchers combined to issue 10 walks in the game. The loss was charged to Scahill, his first decision of the season, while the win for Keuchel improved his record to 2-0. In two starts this year, he has now compiled a 1.29 ERA.
The Drillers now move to San Antonio to continue their road trip. Tulsa will face the Missions at 4:05PM Sunday afternoon in the first game of a three-game series. The pitching matchup will feature Josh Sullivan (0-1, 22.09 ERA) for the Drillers against Matt Buschmann (1-0, 11.12 ERA) of the Missions. It is the same pitching matchup that resulted in a 23-10 win for the Missions last week at ONEOK Field.
Texas League Stories from April 16, 2011
- Missions Continue To Play Long Ball As They Win Their Fifth Straight - San Antonio Missions
- Naturals suffer sweep by Missions - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Travs Win 10-2 to Take Midland Series - Arkansas Travelers
- Travs Win 10-2 To Take Midland Series - Arkansas Travelers
- Drillers Beaten By Tulsa's Keuc - Tulsa Drillers
- Cardinals Split Doubleheader with Frisco - Springfield Cardinals
- Mendonca Powers Split with Springfield - Frisco RoughRiders
- Game Notes, April 16 - Tulsa at Corpus Christi - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Missions Office Continues To Roll In 26-5 Win - San Antonio Missions
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