Loss leaves Drillers tied
Published on June 13, 2006 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
The Tulsa Drillers opened the 2006 season by sweeping a 4-game series from the Wichita Wranglers. Now, in the next-to-last series of the first half, Wichita is getting its revenge. Tuesday night at Drillers Stadium, the Wranglers made it three straight wins over the Drillers with a 5-4 victory.
The loss, combined with Springfield's 2-0 win over Arkansas, erased Tulsa's lead in the North Division standings. The two teams are now virtually tied atop the standings with only five games remaining in the first half.
The Drillers will finish the half with a 4-game series in Missouri against the Cardinals. Depending upon the outcome of Wednesday's games, Tulsa will have to win either two or three games in the series to claim the first-half title.
In Tuesday's loss, the Drillers fell behind when Wichita broke a scoreless tie with a 3-run fourth inning against Marc Kaiser. The Wranglers had only two hits in the inning but took advantage of two walks, a hit batter and an error to plate the three runs.
Tulsa scored its first run against Kyle Middleton in the bottom of the third when Chris Iannetta hit his 10th home run of the year to make it 3-1.
It remained that way until the seventh inning when the Wranglers struck again off reliever Judd Songster. The first two hitters of the inning reached on a hit batter and a walk. After Billy Butler struck out, the runners advanced to second and third on a passed ball. Darren Brown then hit a liner off the leg of Songster that turned into a run-scoring infield single that gave the Wranglers a 4-1 lead. Another hit batsmen loaded the bases and ended Songster's night. Josh Newman came on and got a groundball off the bat of Matt Tupman, and the fielder's choice grounder produced another run. Newman finally ended the inning by getting Brett Groves on an infield pop out.
The Drillers rallied in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Devon Lowery. Doug Bernier walked and Troy Tulowitzki was hit by a pitch to start the inning. After Jordan Czarniecki struck out, Joe Gaetti loaded the bases with an infield single. Ian Stewart followed with a base hit to right that brought Bernier and Tulowitzki home. A fly ball off the bat of Iannetta plated Gaetti and pulled the Drillers to within 5-4. An infield single by Joe Koshansky off Nate Hoelscher prolonged the inning, but Ryan Braun came on and got Alvin Colina on a ground out to end the Drillers threat.
Tulsa came close to tying or even taking the lead in the eighth inning. Christian Colonel led off with a single off Braun. Bernier then laid down a bunt,and when Braun's throw to second was late, runners were at first and second. Tulowitzki's attempted bunt resulted in a foul out to the catcher for the first out in the inning. Czarniecki then made a bid for an extra base hit that would of at least tied the game, but his bouncer down the left field line was ruled just foul. After the near-miss extra-base hit, Czarniecki struck out and Gaetti grounded out to keep the Wichita one-run lead intact.
Braun set the Drillers down in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.
Middleton, celebrating his 26th birthday, improved his record to 4-3 with the win, while Kaiser fell to 5-5 with the loss. For Braun, it was his ninth save of the year.
The Drillers and Wranglers will complete their series Wednesday afternoon. A Tulsa win and a Springfield loss on Wednesday would leave the Drillers needing only to win two of their final four games to win the first-half title. If the Cards win on Wednesday, the Drillers will have to win three games in Springfield to win the title regardless if they win or lose to the Wranglers.
Ubaldo Jimenez (7-2, 2.89 ERA) will pitch for Tulsa against Seung Jun Song (4-5, 3.94 ERA) of Wichita in Wednesday's homestand finale. Game time at Drillers Stadium will be 12:05PM.
Texas League Stories from June 13, 2006
- Loss leaves Drillers tied - Tulsa Drillers
- Hooks fall 8-1 to San Antonio - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Cards back in first with 2-0 win - Springfield Cardinals
- Travs manage two hits In 2-0 loss - Arkansas Travelers
- Ray Winder Field readies for 2006 Texas League All-Star Game - Arkansas Travelers
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.
