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Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Rally for Dramatic 6-5 Win over Midland

July 6, 2018 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


Errol Robinson of the Midland RockHounds vs. the Tulsa Drillers
Errol Robinson of the Midland RockHounds vs. the Tulsa Drillers
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Rich Crimi)

For the second time in as many days, the Tulsa Drillers and Midland RockHounds needed extra innings on Friday to determine a winner at ONEOK Field. For the second straight day, the Drillers produced a dramatic win. In the bottom of the eleventh inning, a two-out base hit by Drew Jackson scored Zach Reks with the winning run in a 6-5 walk-off victory for the Drillers.

The win, combined with a loss by Arkansas, moved Tulsa into sole possession of first place in the Texas League's North Division standings, one game in front of the Travelers.

The early portion of Saturday's game was dominated by pitching as starters Mitchell White and Logan Shore quickly cruised through the first three innings before the RockHounds broke through in the top of the fourth.

Eli White led off with a base hit, and J.P. Sportman doubled on White's next pitch to put runners at second and third. Tyler Ramirez made it three straight hits when he doubled, scoring both runners to put Midland on top. After a walk and a double play grounder, Richie Martin doubled home a third run. Skye Bolt capped the big inning with a run-scoring triple that put the swelled the RockHounds lead to 4-0.

Shore held the Drillers without a hit until Luke Raley singled with one out in the fourth.

Shore's shutout bid ended in the sixth. With one out, Raley walked and scored when Yusniel Diaz followed with a double into the left field corner. Will Smith singled home Diaz to pull the Drillers to within 4-2.

Jacob Scavuzzo pulled Tulsa even closer in the seventh, delivering his 10th home run of the season to make it 4-3. The impressive, solo blast cleared the fence just to the right of straightaway centerfield.

In the ninth, the Drillers finally tied the game courtesy of Keibert Ruiz. With one out and the bases empty, the Tulsa catcher hit his first home run since May 21 to level the score at 4-4 and send the contest to extra innings.

In the top of the tenth, with a runner being placed at second base under Minor League Baseball's new rule, the RockHounds used a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly to generate a run.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Drillers used a different strategy as Raley led off with a base hit that put runners at the corners. After pop out, Errol Robinson came home on a fielder's choice ground out to again tie the game.

In the eleventh, Tulsa reliever Michael Boyle kept the RockHounds from scoring, setting up the win for the Drillers.

With Reks at second base, the Driller opened the eleventh with a strikeout and a flyout. Needing just one more out to send the game to the 12th, the RockHounds intentionally walked Ruiz, setting the stage for Jackson. On the first pitch, the Tulsa shortstop lined a base hit into centerfield to bring Reks home with the winning run.

White turned in his longest outing of the season, working 6.1 innings. He walked just one batter while striking out five.

WHAT YOU MISSED

*Prior to Thursday, the Drillers were 0-33 this season when trailing entering the final inning of regulation. They produced their first win in such a situation in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader, and then repeated the feat in Friday's come-from-behind win over the RockHounds.

*Scavuzzo's fifth-inning single extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games, one game short of the season high for a Drillers hitter.

*Friday's game marked the final regular season meeting between the Drillers and RockHounds. Friday's win gave Tulsa the series win with 7 victories in the 12 total meetings.

*At 11 innings, Friday's game matched the second longest of the year for Tulsa. The Drillers and Arkansas needed 13 innings to determine a winner on May 20 in the longest game of the season.

*Friday's game drew the second sellout in the past three nights at ONEOK Field. Paid attendance was 7,938.

UP NEXT

The Drillers continue their homestand Saturday night when they open a three-game series with the Frisco RoughRiders. Tulsa has won six of the previous nine meetings between the two teams this season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with the pitching matchup featuring:

FRI Jonathan Hernandez (1-3, 6.53 ERA)

TUL Andrew Sopko (3-0, 3.13 ERA)

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics




Images from this story

Errol Robinson of the Midland RockHounds vs. the Tulsa Drillers
Errol Robinson of the Midland RockHounds vs. the Tulsa Drillers
(Rich Crimi)		   

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