First-Place Drillers Top Frisco for Sixth Straight Win
July 9, 2018 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Luke Raley of the Tulsa Drillers swings
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Evan Brown)
The Tulsa Drillers continued their winning ways Monday night with a 8-1 victory over Frisco at ONEOK Field, capping the most successful homestand of the season. The victory extended the Drillers season high winning streak to six straight games and gave them a 6-1 record on the homestand. More importantly, the result allowed the first-place Drillers to increase their lead to 3.5 games over second-place Arkansas in the Texas League's North Division standings.
The Tulsa offense continued to impress and backed a strong outing by starting pitcher Kyle Lobstein.
Yusniel Diaz enjoyed another big night, finishing with three hits after getting four hits the previous night. Will Smith continued his power surge, homering in his third straight game. He has now homered in 8 of his past 13 games.
The Drillers opened the scoring in the bottom of the third. Wes Darvill, who was activated earlier in the day, started the inning with a base hit, and Luke Raley drew a two-out walk. With the runners at first and second, Diaz placed a hit down the right field line that scored Darvill. Diaz rounded first and was caught in a rundown but avoided getting tagged out, allowing Raley to come home with a second run.
Jacob Scavuzzo doubled the lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning. D.J. Peters led off with an infield single, and Scavuzzo followed with a drive deep into the Busch Terrace for his 11th home run of the season. The blast also extended Scavuzzo's hitting streak to 13 straight games, the longest streak for a Tulsa batter this season.
Destin Hood got the RoughRiders on the scoreboard when he led off the fifth inning with his third home run of the season, trimming Tulsa's lead to 4-1.
Frisco would get no closer as the Drillers tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Smith drew a leadoff walk, and Peters followed with his second hit of the night. Walks to Drew Jackson and Tyler Goeddel forced home one run, and Errol Robinson brought home two more with a sharp single to left that made it 7-1.
Smith put an exclamation point on the night with a solo home run in the seventh.
It was more than enough offensive support for Lobstein. The former Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates lefthander surrendered only 2 hits and 1 run in 6.2 innings. Lobstein walked just one batter and struck out four while improving his Tulsa record to a perfect 2-0.
Nolan Long relieved Lobstein and did not allow a hit in 1.1 innings, and Devin Smeltzer worked a perfect ninth to close out the win. The trio combined to hold the RoughRiders to a season low two hits.
WHAT YOU MISSED
*Robinson extended his hitting streak to nine straight games with his sixth-inning single.
*Monday's win was the final meeting of the season between the two teams. The Drillers won all six games played in Tulsa, marking only the second time that the Drillers have swept an opponent in a season series at ONEOK Field. The only other time that occurred was in 2016 when they also swept Frisco in all six home games.
*The Drillers stayed perfect while wearing the special Tulsa 918 Nights uniforms. They won all five games in which the limited jerseys were worn.
*Tulsa has now hit at least one home run in a season high 11 straight games.
*The Drillers made two more roster moves before the start of the game. Pitcher Justin De Fratus and infielder Mike Ahmed were both placed on the disabled list. Lobstein returned to Tulsa from Triple A, and Darvill was activated from the DL.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will open a four-game series in Northwest Arkansas Wednesday night against the Naturals. Starting time for the opener at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Arkansas is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The pitching matchup will be:
TUL Dean Kremer (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
NWA Arnaldo Hernandez (0-0, 3.18 ERA)
Images from this story
 Luke Raley of the Tulsa Drillers swings (Evan Brown) |
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