Drillers' Rally Falls Short in Loss to Frisco
July 25, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
FRISCO, TX - On Wednesday night, a Tulsa Drillers ninth-inning rally came up just short in game two of a six-game series with the Frisco RoughRiders. After three home runs helped give Frisco a 5-2 lead, Tulsa used four consecutive base hits in the ninth to narrow the lead to one run. The Drillers rally fell short as a strikeout and a groundout with the bases loaded ended the threat and handed Tulsa a 5-4 loss at Riders Field.
The loss marked the third defeat in four games of the current road trip. Tulsa has been outscored 17-8 in those games.
The RoughRiders needed six pitches to take a lead in the game, earning three consecutive hits off Tulsa starting pitcher Orlando Ortiz-Mayr to open the bottom half of the first inning. Frisco earned one more hit in the inning, but Ortiz-Mayr limited the damage to just one run by recording a strikeout, flyout and a groundout to leave the bases loaded.
The Drillers offense was held without a hit through the first three innings by Frisco starting pitcher and University of Oklahoma product Dane Acker. Dalton Rushing broke the hitless stretch in the fourth inning with a game-tying solo home run into the lazy river in right field.
Ortiz-Mayr ran into home run trouble in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Scott Kapers broke the 1-1 tie with a two-run homer. Cody Freeman and Abimelec Ortiz added two more runs by each hitting solo homers in the fifth to give the RoughRiders a 5-1 lead.
With two outs in the fifth, Griffin Lockwood-Powell drove in Tulsa's second run of the night with a single to left, scoring Taylor Young.
Antonio Knowles, Ryan Sublette and Juan Morillo each worked a scoreless inning from the bullpen to set up the Drillers rally attempt in the ninth.
With one out in the ninth, Brendon Davis, Yeiner Fernandez, Bubba Alleyne and Alex Freeland recorded consecutive base hits to score two runs. An error followed to load the bases for Rushing and Damon Keith, but the pair struck out and grounded out to leave the bases loaded and end the game.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Ortiz-Mayr's night finished after he completed five innings. He received his sixth loss after being charged with five runs. He entered the game with a 0.75 ERA in his two outings in July.
*The Drillers missed two scoring opportunities in the game by leaving the bases loaded twice and stranding nine runners total.
*Young scored his 57th run of the season, tying him with teammate Davis for the most in the Texas League.
*Davis and Lockwood-Powell led the Drillers offense by recording two hits each.
*Rushing's home run was his first in nearly a month with his last homer coming on June 26.
*Tulsa pitching has now surrendered six home runs in the first two games against Frisco.
*One bright spot of the road trip has been the Drillers bullpen. In the four games played, Tulsa's bullpen has allowed just three runs over 15.1 innings for a 1.79 combined ERA.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers and RoughRiders will play the third game of their six-game series at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday night. The pitching matchup at Riders Field is expected to be:
Tulsa - RHP Jerming Rosario (2-1, 3.46 ERA)
Frisco - RHP Ryan Garcia (7-4, 4.11 ERA)
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