On-Shore Drilling
Published on August 21, 2010 under Texas League (TL1)
Midland RockHounds News Release
Saturday night in the Texas League ... the Tulsa Drillers completed a sweep of their South Division opponent. So did the Arkansas Travelers. So did the Springfield Cardinals. So did the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Ooops. Correction. The Naturals didn't sweep the Frisco RoughRiders. They "only" took 2-of-3.
In the four (3-game) series' played Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, North Division clubs won 11-of-12 from the South. Only Frisco managed a win, defeating North Division leading NW Arkansas. End result? The Naturals' lead in the North went from three games to two. In the South, first half champ Frisco moves into a 2nd-place tie with San Antonio, three games in back of the RockHounds. San Antonio and Corpus Christi remainin exactly where they were three days ago, three and six games back, respectively.
Two swings of the bat changed the course of Friday's game at Tulsa, where the 'Hounds rallied from deficits of 2-0, 5-2 and6-5, tying the game each time.
The 'Hounds had come back to tie the game in the third inning on Jemile Weeks' 2-run single. With Jemile at first with one out, and running on the pitch, Shane Peterson lasered a line drive back up the middle. Tulsa pitcher Cory Riordan made a classic, "self defense" catch, turning the would-be base hit into an inning-ending double play.
In the Tulsa third, with two on and two out, Warren Schaeffer was jammed on a pitch from Matt Wright. Schaeffer sent a bloop about 30 feet from home plate, just out of the immediate reach of both Wright and catcher Petey Paramore, loading the bases. Radames Nazario then sent an 0-2 pitch down the left field line for a bases-clearing, 3-run double and a 5-2 Tulsa lead.
Josh Horton brought the 'Hounds back with a 2-run single in the fourth, extending his hit streak to eight games in the process. Paramore, who is now 10-for-his-last-24, then drove in the tying run, squaring the game at 5-5. In Horton's 8-gamer, the 'Hounds shortstop is now 17-for-27, with five walks, a .630 batting average and a .688 on-base percentage.
Tulsa took a 6-5 lead in the last of the fourth and, after an Alex Valdez single tied the game once more in the fifth, Tulsa came right back to score the game's last three runs in the home half of the inning, a rally capped by Jeff Kindel's 2-run single. The bullpens then settled in, with both clubs blanked from the sixth inning on.
The Drillers completed the 3-game sweep, leaving the 'Hounds midway through a 6-game road trip still in search of a win, and facing the challenge of a 3-game series at NW Arkansas. The Naturals own the league's best overall record at 74-49, and are a league-best 40-19 at home.
The pennant race & the wild card: The RockHounds now lead both San Antonio and Frisco by three games, with Corpus Christi six games back.
In the wild card race (which takes effect if Frisco wins the second half), the RockHounds lead San Antonio by three games and Corpus Chroisti by five.
Texas League Stories from August 21, 2010
- Welcome Back, Fellas - Midland RockHounds
- Wild One Goes to Missions 6-5 - Springfield Cardinals
- Creaky bullpen strikes again in loss - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Day of Reckling - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Day of Reckling - Arkansas Travelers
- On-Shore Drilling - Midland RockHounds
- Travs Finish Sweep Of Missions - Arkansas Travelers
- Drillers Win On Record Breaking Night - Tulsa Drillers
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