Santana and Ruiz Star in Drillers Victory
April 16, 2018 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Dennis Santana and Keibert Ruiz are two of the top ten prospects in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system, and both shined bright on Monday afternoon at ONEOK Field. Santana dominated in his start and Ruiz popped his first two homers of the season as the Tulsa Drillers defeated the Midland RockHounds 6-4 in the middle game of a three-game set.
Santana made his third start on the mound for the Drillers this season, and he was missing Midland bats all afternoon. Due to early-season pitch limits, he was pulled after 4.1 shutout innings, while only giving up one hit.
The righty set a Tulsa professional baseball record when he struck out eight batters in a row from the second inning to the first two hitters in the fourth. Dave Righetti and David Perez held the all-time Tulsa record at seven straight Ks before Monday afternoon. Pro baseball was first played in Tulsa in 1905.
The Drillers continued to display their early-season power as Ruiz smashed his first two home runs of the season, both two-run shots, and D.J. Peters crushed his fourth of year.
Brian Moran replaced Santana in the fifth and continued to miss Midland bats. In two innings of relief, he struck out five batters and gave up only a solo home run.
At one time, the Drillers owned a six-run lead and carried a 6-1 margin into the ninth inning, but the RockHounds would not go down without a fight. Emmanuel De Leon came in and allowed a pair of singles, a double and a walk without recording an out, bringing the tying run to the plate.
With the bases loaded, manager Scott Hennessey called on his closer, Josh Sborz. Sborz got a fly-ball out, gave up a walk and then recorded a strikeout. The Midland rally continued when Tulsa shortstop Mike Ahmed misplayed a potential game-ending ground ball that made the score 6-4 and kept Midland's comeback hopes alive.
With the bases still loaded, Sborz came up big by striking out Tyler Ramirez to end the game and earn his third save of the season.
WHAT YOU MISSED
Santana's eight consecutive strikeouts came within two of the Texas League record of ten which dates back to 1910. He is ranked as the tenth-best prospect in the Dodgers system.
The 19-year-old Ruiz is ranked as the Dodgers third-best prospect behind former Drillers Walker Buehler and Alex Verdugo.
Will Smith had a solid day at the plate, reaching all five times. He finished a perfect three for three with a double, improving his average to .364. He is ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the Dodgers organization.
The Drillers notched 13 hits for the third time this season, matching a season high.
Michael Johnson contributed 1.2 scoreless innings of work out of the pen.
The Dodgers made a roster move on Monday morning that sent Angelo Mora to Triple-A Oklahoma City and De Leon re-joining the active roster from the Ogden roster.
Earlier on Monday, Tulsa starting pitcher Justin De Fratus was named the first Texas League Pitcher of the Week for the 2018 season.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will take on the RockHounds in the final game of the homestand on Tuesday evening at 7:05 p.m. Tulsa will go for the series win in the rubber game that will feature probable starters:
MIDLAND RHP Corey Walter (1-1, 9.82 ERA)
TULSA LHP Caleb Ferguson (0-0, 1.69 ERA)
Texas League Stories from April 16, 2018
- Santana and Ruiz Star in Drillers Victory - Tulsa Drillers
- Seferina's 4 RBIs Lead Cardinals Past RoughRiders, 6-1 - Springfield Cardinals
- Missions Even Series with 9-1 Win over Naturals - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Missions Put It All Together in Rout of Naturals - San Antonio Missions
- Pena's Strong Start Spoiled by Cardinals in 6-1 Loss - Frisco RoughRiders
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