Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers concluded their longest home stand of the season on Sunday afternoon at ONEOK Field. The result was unfavorable for the Drillers as Tulsa fell behind but attempted another comeback by scoring four runs in the final three innings. Still, it was too little too late, as the Amarillo Sod Poodles shut down Tulsa’s rally and defeated the Drillers 7-4.
It was Tulsa’s fourth series loss this season and the first series loss at ONEOK Field since mid-May.
With the defeat, the Drillers fell to four games behind first-place Springfield in the second-half division race. The Cardinals swept Arkansas in a doubleheader on Sunday.
For the fifth time in the six-game series, Amarillo produced the opening runs against the Drillers. In the third inning, Avery Owusu-Asiedu hit his third home run of the week and drove in his sixth and seventh runs to put Amarillo ahead 2-0.
The Sod Poodles scored again in the sixth inning when a single and a walk set up Angel Ortiz and Cristofer Torin, who each hit RBI singles to increase the lead to 4-0.
The Drillers began their rally attempt in the seventh inning when Kole Myers broke the Drillers scoreless stretch in the seventh inning by hitting a 456-foot home run to right field.
The Sod Poodles scored their final three runs in the eighth inning when they sent seven to the plate. Owusu-Asiedu’s two-run double and Jansel Luis’ RBI single accounted for the three runs that upped the lead to 7-1.
Tulsa continued its rally in the eighth when Josue De Paula hit his 25th home run in the eighth inning for the Drillers second run of the afternoon.
Chris Newell produced Tulsa’s final two runs in the bottom of the ninth with his two-run homer.
The Drillers were unable to score any more runs as Amarillo pitcher Alfred Morillo retired Tulsa’s final three hitters to end the game and the threat.
GAME NOTES
*The last series loss for the Drillers was July 17-19 in a three-game series at Frisco. The last series loss at ONEOK Field came May 12-17 against Cardinals.
*Tulsa’s season win total remains at 75, three victories short of matching the franchise record of 78 wins.
*Roque Gutierrez made the series-finale start for the Drillers. He completed four innings, with his only blemish being the two-run homer from Owusu-Asiedu. Gutierrez was also charged with the loss, dropping his record to 7-2.
*Myers had three hits to record his fourth multi-hit game of the series and his fifth in his last eight games. He also extended his hitting streak to six games. In the streak, he is batting .478 with 11 hits, 8 runs scored, 3 home runs and 4 RBI.
*De Paula also finished with three hits to record his team-leading 38th multi-hit game this season. He also moved up in the Tulsa record book, increasing both his RBI and runs scored totals to 96. Carlos Pena is the only Drillers player to ever finish a season with at least 100 RBI and 100 runs, doing it in 2000. A Tulsa player has not recorded a 100-RBI season since 2006, when Joe Koshansky finished with 109. The last Drillers player to score 100 runs was Tim Wheeler in 2011 when he scored 105 times.
*Reliever Alex Walsh made his Double-A and professional debut after being signed in July out of Jacksonville University. The lefty pitched an inning and two-thirds, giving up just one run on three hits with one strikeout.
*Newell’s home run was his 21st of the season. The University of Virginia product has hit 20 home runs in each of his last four seasons, including the past two with the Drillers.
UP NEXT
Tulsa will now go on the road to face the Midland RockHounds in one of three remaining six-game series in the regular season. It is the only matchup between the two teams this year. Game one will begin on Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. at Momentum Bank Ballpark and the starting pitchers have not yet been announced.
