TL1 Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Do It Again!

Published on September 3, 2010 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


The comeback kids did it again Friday night! With their season hanging by a thread, the Tulsa Drillers pulled off their second dramatic comeback in as many nights to keep their post-season hopes alive. Trailing 2-1, the Drillers rallied with three runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Springfield 4-2 before an overflow crowd of 8,638 at ONEOK Field.

The comeback means that Tulsa now controls its own destiny in the race for the second-half North Division title. The Drillers will need to sweep the season ending, three-game series in Springdale with Northwest Arkansas to punch their playoff ticket. Bronson Sardinha scores to cap a dramatic 8th inning comeback as the Tulsa Drillers rallied to defeat Springfield 4-2 Friday night. The result kept Tulsa's hopes of a second-half North Division title alive. (Rich Crimi)

For most of Friday's game, it appeared that the Drillers final regular season home game would end on a disappointing note. Springfield's Andrew Brown had broken a scoreless tie with a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the third inning to give the Cards a 2-0 lead.

Charlie Blackmon got one of the runs back with his 11th home run of the year, a solo shot in the sixth that made it 2-1.

Knowing that a victory would clinch their playoff spot and eliminate the Drillers, the Cards still carried their one-run lead into the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Blackmon singled of Thomas Eager for his third hit of the night. Eager then hit Jordan Pacheco with a pitch to put the tying and winning runs on base.

Springfield manager Pop Warner called on Ryan Kulik from the Redbirds bullpen. Kulik was the starting pitcher in Tulsa's win in game one of the series Tuesday night. On the lefthander's first pitch, Bronson Sardinha hit a liner to straightaway centerfield. Daryl Jones was fooled on the hit, unsure of whether to move in or out. The ball sailed over Jones' head and rolled to the wall in center. Both Blackmon and Pacheco raced home with the tying and go-ahead runs, while Sardinha stopped at third with a triple.

Jeff Kindel followed with a sacrifice fly to add another run and give the Drillers a 4-2 lead.

Tulsa turned to Stu Pomeranz to work the ninth. The right-hander walked the first batter he faced, but with the sellout crowd on its feet giving support, Pomeranz retired the next three batters to complete the improbable win.

The Drillers now trail the Naturals by three games in the standings. A three-game sweep by Tulsa would leave both teams tied in the standings, but the Drillers would make the playoffs because they would hold the tiebreaker by virtue of having the most wins in head-to-head meetings during the second-half of the season.

The season-ending, three-game series will open at 12:05PM on Saturday at Springdale's Arvest Ballpark. In the opener, Cory Riordan (7-5, 4.13 ERA) will take the mound for Tulsa against highly touted Kansas City Royals prospect Mike Montgomery (5-3, 3.53 ERA). The series will continue with an evening game on Sunday before concluding with an afternoon meeting on Monday.

The sellout was the 12th this season for the Drillers at ONEOK Field. Total paid attendance for the inaugural season finished at 408,183, the highest in the history of professional baseball in the city of Tulsa, dating to 1905.

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics

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Texas League Stories from September 3, 2010


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