TL1 Tulsa Drillers

Justin Nelson Leads Tulsa Past Cards

Published on August 28, 2008 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


August 28, 2008 - Since the first of July, Justin Nelson has been one of Tulsa's top hitters. Thursday night in Springfield, Nelson continued his hot streak, going 3-5 with a homer and four runs batted in to lead the Drillers to an 11-4 victory over the Cardinals.

The loss was costly for the Redbirds, as Northwest Arkansas defeated the Arkansas Travelers in Little Rock. The two results reduced the Naturals magic number over the Cards to only two for winning the second-half division crown. There are only four games remaining in the regular season.

In Thursday's victory for the Drillers, they trailed 1-0 before Justin Nelson struck in the top of the third. With two outs and the bases empty, Chris Nelson and Jeff Kindel walked in front of a two-run triple off the center field wall by Nelson. He scored himself when Corey Wimberly followed with a single.

The lead increased to 4-1 in the fifth when Justin belted his 19th home run of the season.

The Cardinals cut the margin to 4-3 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Drillers put the game away with a five-run sixth.

The rally again started with two outs and the bases empty. After Chris Nelson and Kindel singled, Justin Nelson made it 5-3 with an RBI single. Wimberly walked to load the bases, and catcher Rick Guarno hit a grand slam homer to put Tulsa in front 9-3. It was Guarno's 5th homer since joining the Drillers in mid-July.

Allen Craig hit his 22nd home run of the year in the eighth for the Cards before the Drillers closed the scoring with two runs in the ninth. Kindel accounted for both runs with a two-run single.

Justin Nelson's big night improved his recent numbers. Since July 1, the outfielder has hit .297 to raise his season average 45 points from .196 to .241. In that span, he has hit 11 home runs and picked up 33 runs batted in.

Starting pitcher Keith Weiser took advantage of Tulsa's big night to gain his first win with the Drillers. He got more offensive help than he needed. The lefthander allowed three runs in seven innings to improve his Texas League record to 1-2.

The Drillers will play the final game of their four-game series in Springfield Friday night. Chaz Roe (5-4, 4.35 ERA) will pitch the finale for Tulsa against Brad Furnish (1-1, 0.56 ERA) of the Cardinals. First pitch will be at 7:10PM.

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics

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Texas League Stories from August 28, 2008


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