Sports stats



TL Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Suffer Second Straight Loss in Amarillo

June 8, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


AMARILLO, TX - The Two swings of the bat determined the outcome of Tulsa's meeting with Amarillo Saturday night at HODGETOWN. A two-run homer in the first inning and a three-run shot in the seventh accounted for five runs and helped to propel the Sod Poodles to a 6-3 win over the Drillers.

It was the second straight loss for the Drillers, and Amarillo has now won three of the five games played in the six-game series between the two teams.

The Drillers jumped in front early in the game with a run in the top of the first inning. Leadoff batter Alex Freeland drew a walk and scored on a one-out double from Dalton Rushing.

The lead did not last long as Jancarlos Cintron led off the bottom of the first with a base hit, and Caleb Roberts followed with his fifth home run of the season to give Amarillo a 2-1 lead.

Tulsa tied the score in the fourth inning when Austin Beck doubled and scored on a base hit by Damon Keith.

Again Amarillo responded and again it was Roberts. His one-out double in the fifth scored Cintron to give the Sod Poodles a one-run lead.

Bubba Alleyne got the score tied again in the top of the seventh when he singled, moved to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch.

For the third time, Amarillo had a quick answer. Cintron led off the bottom of the seventh with a base hit before a hit from Roberts put runners at the corners. Sauryn Lao came in from the Tulsa bullpen to replace Ronan Kopp and his fourth pitch was deposited over the right-center field fence for a three-run homer by Tim Tawa that gave the Sod Poodles a 6-3 lead.

Facing the three-run deficit, the Drillers would not have a response this time as they were set down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to close out the game.

INSIDE THE GAME

*Tawa's eighth-inning homer ended an impressive scoreless streak by Lao. The Tulsa reliever had not allowed a run since April 12, a stretch of 14 games and 17.0 innings.

*Tulsa batters struck out 12 times in the game, marking the 27th time in 56 games this season that they have struck out ten or more times in a game.

*Drillers starting pitcher Hyun-il Choi was charged with three runs on six hits in 5.2 innings of work. He did not walk a batter and struck out three.

*Kopp was charged with the loss, dropping his record to 2-1. He recorded only one out while allowing two hits and one walk.

*The Drillers now trail first-place Springfield by six games with 13 games remaining in the first half.

*The RBI from Keith in the fourth inning was his first of the season.

*Tulsa has a total of just ten hits in the last two games, both losses.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers will close out their series in Amarillo with game six Sunday evening at HODGETOWN. The pitching matchup is a rematch of the series opener, a game the Sod Poodlels won 4-2. Starting time for the finale is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

TUL - RHP Jared Karros (1-1, 5.23 ERA)

AMA - RHP Cole Percival (3-4, 4.75 ERA)

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Texas League message board...

Texas League Stories from June 8, 2024


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