TL1 Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Lose Home Run Battle to Amarillo

Published on August 28, 2019 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


AMARILLO, TX - Baseballs were flying out of Hodgetown in Wednesday afternoon's contest between the Tulsa Drillers and Amarillo Sod Poodles. Between the two teams, nine total home runs were hit on the day. But the most important long-ball came in the bottom of the ninth, lifting Amarillo to a 9-8 walk-off win. The Drillers now sit 1.5 ahead of second-place Arkansas with five games left to play in the regular season, pending the Travelers game Wednesday night.

With the score tied at 8-8, the Drillers were unable to capitalize on having the bases loaded in the top of the ninth. Following the missed opportunity, it did not take long for the Sod Poodles to claim the win.

Marshall Kasowski came out of the Drillers bullpen to work the ninth, and on the second pitch of the inning, Amarillo outfielder Buddy Reed skied a ball that barely made it over the right field wall, giving Amarillo the walk-off victory.

It was a disappointing loss for the Drillers as they held a five-run lead at one point in the game. They opened the scoring in the top of the first on a run-scoring double from Chris Parmelee. Parmelee's tenth two-bagger of the season gave Tulsa a 1-0 lead.

Three home runs led to four more Drillers runs in the top of the third. Drew Avens singled to lead off the inning, and Jeter Downs followed with his third home run on the season, a blast over the left field wall. The next batter Parmelee made it back-to-back homers for the Drillers, hitting an opposite field blast in almost the same spot as Downs' homer.

After an out was recorded, Cody Thomas capped the big inning with a long home run. On a 0-1 pitch, Thomas launched a ball deep to right field, a no-doubter over the berm and out of the stadium to extend the Drillers lead to 5-0. Sod Poodles right fielder Edward Olivares did not react to the blast.

Drillers starting pitcher Parker Curry set down all six men he faced through the first two innings, but got into some trouble in the third. With a runner at second, Lake Bachar singled to knock in the first Amarillo run before two more singles loaded the bases. Olivares hit a sacrifice fly, and Curry uncorked a wild pitch to bring home another Sod Poodles run.

The inning continued with Owen Miller cutting the Amarillo deficit to one run with an RBI double. Kyle Overstreet capped the big inning by giving the Sod Poodles a 6-5 lead, their first of the day, with a two-run homer.

The Drillers came back to tied things up in the fifth, then regained the lead in the sixth. After Parmelee started the fifth with a single, Thomas brought him around to score on his sixth triple of the season.

An inning later, pitcher Curry got involved in the offense by belting his first career homer over the left field wall. A couple batters later, Downs unloaded on a ball and sent it over the centerfield wall, his second homer of the day, giving Tulsa an 8-6 lead.

In the home half of the sixth, back-to-back homers by Amarillo once again tied the game. Brad Zunica and Ruddy Giron each homered to right centerfield, evening the game at 8-8.

WHAT YOU MISSED

*Curry's sixth inning homer was his first professional hit in any level of the minor leagues. The pitcher is 1-9 in his career, including Wednesday's homer.

*Downs three-hit game gave him his fourth straight multi-hit game. He is hitting .571 during that stretch. All four of Downs home runs since joining the Drillers have come against Amarillo.

*Jordan Sheffield threw two scoreless innings out of the Drillers bullpen and struck out a pair.

*After going 0-5, Connor Wong's 11-game hitting streak came to an end. Prior to Wednesday, Wong had recorded three hits in four straight games.

*The Drillers magic number to clinch the Texas League North Division second-half title still sits at five.

UP NEXT: Tulsa at Amarillo, Thursday, August 29, 7:05 PM at Hodgetown in Amarillo, TX. Both starting pitchers are TBA.

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Texas League Stories from August 28, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central