Amarillo, TX – The Tulsa Drillers turned a good road trip into a great road trip Sunday afternoon in Amarillo. The Drillers swept a pair of games from the Sod Poodles thanks to a dramatic home run from Mike Sirota and a stellar effort from the bullpen.
Sirota’s home run gave the Drillers a 6-5 victory in Sunday’s first game which was actually the resumption of Saturday’s game. In Sunday’s regularly scheduled game, four Tulsa relievers combined to limit the Sod Poodles to just one run and four hits as the Drillers completed a sweep of the two games with a 7-1 win.
The sweep gave the Drillers five wins in the six-game road series at Amarillo’s HODGETOWN. It also allowed them to maintain their first-place lead in the Texas League’s North Division 1 1/2 games in front of the Arkansas Travelers.
Arkansas has won 16 of its last 22 games (.727) , while Tulsa has won 18 of its last 22 (.818).
The Drillers held a 2-0 lead when Saturday’s game was resumed on Sunday afternoon. That lead came courtesy of a two-run homer from Jake Gelof on Saturday night before the game was delayed by rain.
Upon resumption, Amarillo cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the second before Zyhir Hope upped Tulsa’s lead to 4-1 with a two-run homer in the third inning.
The Sod Poodles took a 6-4 lead with five runs in their half of the fifth, and for most of the afternoon it appeared as if it would be enough to win the game.
Hope’s homer would be Tulsa’s final hit until the top of the ninth inning. With one out in the ninth, Kyle Nevin singled to get the tying run to the plate.
When Joe Vetrano struck out, the Drillers were down to their final out, and twice, they would be down to their final strike. Josue De Paula battled for nine pitches before eventually drawing a full-count walk.
With runners at first and second, Sirota quickly fell into a 0-2 hole with a called strike and a swinging strike. A foul and two balls evened the count at 2-2. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat from reliever Landon Sims, Sirota belted a drive over the right-center field fence to promptly put the Drillers back in front. It was his tenth home run of the year and his third since joining the Drillers.
The dependable Nick Robertson came on for the bottom of the ninth and allowed a two-out single before striking out Jansel Luis to close out the game. It was the third save for Robertson who is yet to give up a run this season over 17 games and 24 1/3 innings pitched.
No late heroics were needed to capture a victory in Sunday’s regularly scheduled game which was only seven innings in length.
The Sod Poodles plated a run in the bottom of the first inning against starter Roque Gutierrez. It would be their only run of the game.
It was still 1-0 in the third inning when Hope produced the first of his two big hits in the game. The outfielder’s two-run double put the Drillers in front, then he scored himself on Gelof’s sacrifice fly to give Tulsa a 3-1 lead.
De Paula’s tenth home run, a two-run shot in the top of the fourth increased the margin to 5-1.
Hope’s two-run homer in the fifth, his 13th of the season, increased the lead to 7-1.
It was plenty of support for Gutierrez and his normal bullpen mates. Gutierrez worked the first three innings, and Christian Suarez pitched a scoreless fourth.
Cam Day retired all six batters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings before Myles Caba closed it out with a scoreless seventh inning.
Tulsa now has a 37-20 record with just 12 games remaining in the first half of the season. The mark includes a 19-11 record on the road. Both records are the best in the Texas League
GAME NOTES
*Saturday night's game was stopped after 1 1/2 innings due to rain and was never able to be restarted. It was picked back up on Sunday afternoon before the day's regularly scheduled game.
*De Paula drew two walks in the opener, but he officially finished 0-3, ending his season high hitting streak at 13 games. He did reach base safely in both games, extending his on-base streak to 24 straight games.
*Elijah Hainline, Gelof and Sirota also extended their on-base streaks. Hainline has reached base in 23 straight games and Gelof in 21 straight, Sirota has reached base safely in all 17 games he has played with Tulsa and in 47 straight overall, counting the final 30 games he reached while with High-A Great Lakes..
*Sirota upped his hitting streak to seven straight games, and Gelof has now driven in a run in nine straight.
*Day was credited with the win in the second game, evening his record to 2-2. He has been scored against in just 2 of his last 15 games.
*Antonio Knowles got the game one win with two scoreless innings of work.
*The Drillers won the first game despite being out-hit 11-6. They were able to take advantage of eight walks.
*Tulsa announced a roster move prior to the start of Sunday’s games. Infielder Taylor Young was transferred to Triple A, and infielder Sean McLain was activated from the Injured List.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will have an off day on Monday before opening a six-game series with the Wichita Wind Surge on Tuesday night at ONEOK Field. Starting time for Tuesday’s opener is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Neither team has announced its pitching plans for the series.
