TL1 Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Win Fifth Straight

May 24, 2019 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


TULSA, OK - The Tulsa Drillers looked to make it five straight victories entering Friday night's game against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The Drillers did just that when Keibert Ruiz broke a 2-2 tie with a clutch, go-ahead single in the sixth inning in what was eventually a 7-2 win over the Naturals at ONEOK Field.

The stage for the winning rally was set with a pair of singles and a walk that loaded the bases. Ruiz delivered the big hit when he bounced a ball over the first baseman's head for a two-run single. DJ Peters followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to three runs.

Tulsa added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Chris Parmelee knocked in his second run of the night with a sacrifice fly, and Ruiz followed with another run-scoring single, extending the Drillers lead to 7-2.

The victory is the Drillers fifth straight, tying the longest winning streak of the season. Tulsa is now 26-21, and remains 5.5 games behind the first place Arkansas Travelers.

Things were going well for Drillers starting pitcher Victor Gonzalez in the top of the fourth, as he recorded a pair of strikeouts to start the inning. But after a walk and a single, Angelo Castellano lined a double over the head of Carlos Rincon to put Northwest Arkansas on top 2-0.

The Drillers came back to tie things up over the next two innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Angelo Mora singled to lead the inning off, and Cristian Santana reached on an error, allowing Mora to advance to third. Cody Thomas followed with a deep drive to right field that looked to be a go-ahead homer. But, Naturals right fielder Nick Heath reached over the short wall in right and robbed Thomas of his tenth homer of the year, as Mora scored on the sacrifice fly.

An inning later, Parmelee evened things up at 2-2 with an opposite field home run into the Busch Terrace.

Ryan Moseley made his Drillers debut out of the bullpen, replacing Gonzalez in the sixth inning. He was very good in his first Double-A outing, allowing only one hit 2.1 scoreless innings.

Marshall Kasowski was called upon to finish the game, and the Naturals made things interesting for him. With runners at first and second and two outs in the ninth, Kasowski came up with a big, game-ending strikeout to preserve the Drillers victory.

WHAT YOU MISSED

Gonzalez pitched 5.1 very solid innings, allowing just two runs while recording seven strikeouts.

Moseley made his presence known, picking up the win in his Drillers. In 17 games with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga this season, he was a perfect 4-4 in save opportunities, and had a 2-2 record with a 0.69 ERA.

Mora recorded his third multi-hit game in a row in the win. Over his last three games, he is 7-13 with a homer and four RBI.

Gavin Lux went 0-4, ending his ten-game hitting streak.

UP NEXT: Northwest Arkansas at Tulsa, Saturday, May 25, 7:05 PM at ONEOK Field. RHP Arnaldo Hernandez (2-1, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Bowden (0-0, 10.38 ERA).

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics



Texas League Stories from May 24, 2019


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