TL1 Tulsa Drillers

RockHounds Defeat Drillers for 2nd Straight Night

Published on May 28, 2015 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


One night after seeing an early lead slip away, the storyline remained the same for Tulsa Wednesday night. The Drillers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the second inning but would not score again as they fell to the Midland Rockhounds 8-3 at Security Bank Ballpark.

Tulsa starter Jeremy Kehrt had put together 4 straight quality starts going into Wednesday's game, but saw his streak come to an end in Midland. On the other side of the field, Chris Jensen had a rough second inning to begin the game but settled down to toss 8 strong innings to pick up his fourth win of the year.

With two outs in the top half of the second inning, the Drillers strung together 4 hits around a Rockhounds error to take the early advantage. Jarek Cunningham got things going with a triple to right. Daniel Mayora got the scoring started with a double also dropped into right field. Adam Law followed with an RBI single and then moved into scoring position after a throwing error on a pickoff attempt moved him to second. Ali Solis cashed him in with a single to give Tulsa the 3-0 lead.

The Rockhounds scratched across a run in the third before pulling ahead in the bottom of the fifth. The Midland rally began with a leadoff triple from designated hitter Carson Blair. Blair led the Rockhounds night offensively as he finished 3-4 with two triples and a double.

After the next three straight hitters reached, the score was tied at three apiece. Kehrt then buckled down and struck out the next two hitters before Razor Shines called in Jorge De Leon to finish the fifth. But a passed ball by Solis allowed the Rockhounds to take the 4-3 lead before De Leon could end the inning.

Losing the lead for the second straight night led to some frustration for the Drillers in the sixth. De Leon recorded the first two outs of the inning before seeing the next two hitters reach. After Chad Oberacker knocked his single to center, Solis had words with home plate umpire Sean Allen which led to him being ejected. Manager Razor Shines ran out and joined in the conversation and was himself ejected by Allen.

The ejection for Shines marked the second straight night the Drillers manager had been tossed from the game. It was the third game Shines has been ejected from this season.

Sometimes the manager being ejected fires up his team, but this was not one of those nights. The Drillers only managed two more hits over the final three innings while Midland padded its lead.

Midland scored a run in the eventful sixth before adding three more in the seventh off reliever Ryan Dennick to bring the final margin to 8-3.

Dodgers prospect Jose De Leon (0-1, 4.50 ERA) will look to get the Drillers back on the winning track as he gets the starting nod Thursday night. Midland will send Nate Long (2-3, 3.25 ERA) to the hill as Midland looks to sweep the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00PM in Texas.

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Texas League Stories from May 28, 2015


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