Drillers Come up Short in 4-2 Loss
May 10, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Tulsa Drillers Pitcher Chase De Jong
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Rich Crimi)
The Drillers came into Tuesday's game looking to finish off their series against the Springfield Cardinals with their third victory in a row. But the Cardinals had other ideas as they defeated the Drillers 4-2 behind an impressive performance at the plate by Harrison Bader.
Bader began the night leading the Texas League in hitting with a .361 batting average, and he upped his lead thanks to a 4-5 effort at the plate by the time the game ended. The Springfield centerfielder came within a double of the cycle as he finished with two homers, a triple and a single to lead the Cardinals.
The fans barely had time to settle into their seats before Bader began his big night by launching the very first pitch of the game over the left field fence to give Springfield a quick 1-0 lead. The Cardinals doubled their advantage later in the inning thanks to a walk and an RBI double off the bat of Paul DeJong.
The two runs scored by Springfield ended an impressive streak from the Tulsa pitching staff that had seen the group toss a combined 23 consecutive scoreless innings over the first three games of the series, including back-to-back shutouts on Sunday and Monday.
Although it was not the start Drillers starting pitcher Chase De Jong was hoping for, he recovered from there to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard over the next three innings.
Meanwhile, De Jong's teammates responded in the bottom of the first inning, cutting the Cardinals lead in half on an RBI single by Kyle Farmer that scored Andrew Toles from second.
Toles did his best to spark the Drillers again in the third inning as he led off the frame with a single before swiping second base with one out. But Farmer and Alex Verdugo were unable to bring him home as Springfield maintained its 2-1 advantage.
Things got exciting in the fourth after the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs. But De Jong was able to escape the jam by striking out his counterpart Mike Mayers to keep the Drillers deficit at one.
The Cardinals threatened in the fifth inning against reliever Tim Shibuya, but were unable to extend their lead. But that would not be the case in the seventh as Springfield did not let any flowers grow in the Tulsa bullpen by going to work against southpaw Michael Johnson.
Bader was in the middle of the action again as he smacked his second homer of the night, this one to the opposite field, to put Springfield up 3-1. And just like in the first inning, Bader's teammates followed his lead and extended their advantage.
Back-to-back hits by Bruce Caldwell and Luke Voit, sandwiched around a wild pitch from Johnson, were enough to add another run and put the visitors firmly in front 4-1.
The Drillers attempted to rally in the seventh and eighth innings, putting runners in scoring position in each frame. But they would not be able to cash in despite entering the game with a .275 team batting average with runners in scoring position.
Paul Hoenecke did make things exciting in the ninth by curling a pinch-hit home run off Cardinals closer Ronnie Shaban just inside the right field foul pole to pull the Drillers to within 4-2. But the first pinch-hit of the season for Tulsa would not be enough to spark a comeback as Shaban was able to retire Toles on a fly out to center to close out the game.
Toles was the lone Drillers batter to finish the night with a multi-hit performance as he went 3-5 to raise his batting average to an even .400 through his first six games with Tulsa.
Mayers earned his third victory of the season for Springfield while De Jong took the loss for Tulsa. Shaban picked up his fifth save of the year by preserving the Cardinals lead in the ninth.
The Drillers will now begin a four-game series against the Arkansas Travelers. RHP Brock Stewart (1-1, 2.57 ERA) will head to the mound to get Tulsa back to its winning ways while Arkansas will send RHP Jordan Kipper (2-2, 4.72 ERA) out to oppose him. The opening game of the series will feature a special Happy Hour start time with first pitch at ONEOK Field scheduled for 4:05 PM.
Images from this story
 Tulsa Drillers Pitcher Chase De Jong (Rich Crimi) |
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