Drillers in Must Win Situation Following Loss
September 18, 2021 - Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Ryan Noda scored one of the Tulsa Drillers four runs in the Friday night loss
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Rich Crimi)
MIDLAND, TX - The Tulsa Drillers fell into an early, deep hole Friday night in Midland, Texas and were unable to recover. Midland scored seven runs through the first four innings and the Tulsa bats were unable to answer in a 10-4 loss at Momentum Bank Ballpark.
Even with the loss, the Drillers are not mathematically eliminated from the Double-A playoff picture as every team ahead of the Drillers in the standings (Frisco, Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas) all lost on Friday night as well.
The results simplify Tulsa's road to a postseason berth. The Drillers must win their two remaining games, while both Frisco and Arkansas must lose their two remaining games and Northwest Arkansas must lose one of its final two games.
In Friday's loss for the Drillers, Max Schuemann gave Midland its first run in the second inning with an RBI single.
The RockHounds put four more runs on the board in the third on an RBI single and a three-run homer from Jhonny Santos.
Markus Solbach, who was with the Drillers in 2019, entered the game in the third following Varland's start. Solbach surrendered a two-run homer to Chase Calabuig that gave the RockHounds a 7-0 lead.
The Drillers put one run on the board in the sixth. James Outman led off the inning with a walk and crossed the plate on Justin Yurchak's RBI double.
Midland added three runs in the eighth with a two-run double and an RBI single.
Trailing 10-1 Tulsa's bats came to life in the ninth, scoring three runs. Following a lead-off double from Ryan Noda, Hamlet Marte singled to bring Noda to the plate. Devin Mann then drove in two more runs with a single making the final score 10-4.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
*Solbach finished his outing by going 3.2 innings, giving up three hits and two runs while fanning three batters.
*Midland finished with ten hits in the game, and the Drillers finished with nine.
*Tulsa's pitching staff issued seven walks in the game.
*Outman, Yurchak and Marte each finished with two hits.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and RockHounds will play the fifth game of their six-game series at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 18 at Momentum Bank Ballpark. The Drillers will start RHP Landon Knack (2-1, 5.30 ERA) and Midland will start RHP Jack Cushing (0-4, 4.95 ERA).
Watch or listen live on MiLB.tv or AM 1430 The Buzz on the iHeartRadio app.
Images from this story
 Ryan Noda scored one of the Tulsa Drillers four runs in the Friday night loss (Rich Crimi) |
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