TL1 Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Win First Road Game of Year 4-1

April 17, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


Tulsa began its first road trip of the year in San Antonio Thursday night in a game where offense was again at a premium. But the Drillers got a strong performance from Julio Urias along with another big night from Corey Seager to secure a 4-1 victory.

The game featured the same marquee pitching matchup as last Friday night in Tulsa between Julio Urias and Colin Rea. Again, the two starting pitchers did not disappoint, combining for a total of seventeen strikeouts. Although Rea turned in another solid performance, it was Urias who was just a little bit better.

Urias continued to show why he's rated as the eighth overall prospect in all of baseball. The lefty picked up his first victory of the year tossing 5.2 shutout innings while throwing 89 pitches. He struck out ten Missions while only walking one, scattering 4 hits over his strong outing.

Rea went 6.2 innings giving up two runs on five hits while collecting seven strikeouts. He did not issue a walk.

Tulsa center fielder Travis Witherspoon gave the Drillers the early lead when he led off the third inning with a solo shot to left-center field off Rea. The home run was his first of the year.

Corey Seager was in the middle of the scoring yet again when he led off the fourth with a triple. He would come around to score on a Lars Anderson groundout giving the Drillers a 2-0 lead. But Seager's offensive night wasn't finished.

After Urias exited, San Antonio tried to mount a comeback in the seventh. The Missions managed to push across a run in the inning against a trio of Drillers relievers, but Jeremy Horst stopped the bleeding. With the tying run on third and the potential winning run on second with two outs, the left-handed Horst got top San Diego Padres prospect Trea Turner to ground out ending the threat.

Seager came through again in the ninth launching his second homer of the season, a two-run blast in the top half of the ninth to give the Drillers a 4-1 lead and some much-appreciated breathing room. As an indication of just how hot Seager is to start the year, the shortstop actually saw his batting average drop to .571 even after going 2-4 with a triple and the home run.

Chin-Hui Tsao closed out the ninth with some help from his defense. After striking out the leadoff hitter, Tsao gave up a single to Travis Jankowski. The speedy outfielder tried to spark his club, as he attempted to stretch his hit into a double. But Drillers left fielder Peter Lavin was up to the task, gunning him out at second to extinguish the rally. Tsao sealed the deal after that, getting Alberth Martinez to ground out to end the night, earning his first save of the year.

The Drillers and Missions continue their series Friday night with Deck McGuire (1-0, 1.50) getting the nod for the Drillers. He will be opposed by Bryan Rodriguez (0-1, 5.40.) The game can be heard on AM 1430 The Buzz with first pitch coming at 7:05PM.

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics



Texas League Stories from April 17, 2015


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