Drillers Rally Past Missions 6-4
Published on July 6, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
The start of Monday night's game between the Tulsa Drillers and San Antonio Missions was delayed 1:10 by rain in the San Antonio area. The rain seemed to also delay the Drillers' start as they abruptly fell behind 3-0. Tulsa was able to eventually recover, scoring five straight runs to rally for a 6-4 win.
The victory improved the Drillers record on their six-game road trip to 3-2. It improved their second-half record to 5-5 and kept them 2.5 games behind first-place Northwest Arkansas in the North Divisions standings.
After the skies cleared at Nelson Wolfe Stadium, the Missions took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Eric Sogard singled with one out and scored on double by Lance Zawadzki.
They added two more runs in the second when Brian Joynt reached on an error by shortstop Danny Sandoval, and Cedric Hunter followed with a two-run homer.
It remained 3-0 until the top of the fifth when the Drillers opened their scoring with some help from the Missions. Starting pitcher Cory Luebke retired the first two hitters of the inning and appeared to be on his way to the dugout when third baseman Logan Forsythe fielded a ground ball off the bat of Daniel Mayora. However, the inning continued when Forsythe threw wildly to first. The error seemed to unsettle Luebke as he walked Jeff Kindel and Ryan Harvey to load the bases. Mike McKenry then put the Drillers on the board with a two-run single, and Darin Holcomb tied the game at 3-3 with a run-scoring double.
Tulsa took the lead with another two-out rally in the sixth. With the bases empty, Anthony Jackson drew a walk to extend the inning, and Mayora followed with a single. Kindel plated both runners with a double to right that gave the Drillers a 5-3 lead.
San Antonio trimmed the margin to one run in the bottom of the sixth on Mitch Canham's third home run of the season, but Tulsa got the run back in the top of the eighth. Danny Sandoval led off with a base hit and advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Sandoval scored on a safety, squeeze bunt by Jackson that put the Drillers on top 6-4.
Starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin was credited with the victory to improve his record to 7-6. Chacin allowed four runs, three earned on six hits in 5.2 innings. He walked three hitters while striking out four.
The Drillers bullpen was outstanding. Adam Bright retired both hitters he faced, while Alberto Albuquerque set down all five he faced, three on strikeouts.
Edgmer Escalona worked a scoreless ninth inning to record his second save, but it was not without excitement. Escalona surrendered back-to-back singles to start the final inning, but caught a break when Luis Durango bunted foul trying to advance the runners with two strikes. The right-hander retired the next two hitters on fly balls to end the suspense and the game.
The Tulsa offense collected ten hits, with Holcomb accounting for nearly half of them. The third baseman finished with four hits in five at-bats.
The Drillers will conclude their six-game road trip Tuesday night in San Antonio. Chaz Roe (3-1, 2.23 ERA) will make the start against Cesar Carrillo (5-4, 5.09 ERA) of the Missions with first pitch scheduled for 7:05PM.
Texas League Stories from July 6, 2009
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- Wolff-Aided Victory - San Antonio Missions
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- Shutout Gives Drillers Third Straight Win - Tulsa Drillers
- Veteran INF Lucas named Texas League Player of the Week - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
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