Amarillo, TX – The Tulsa Drillers nine-game winning streak came to an end Friday night in Amarillo, one win short of matching the franchise record for consecutive wins. The Drillers fell 10-7 to the Amarillo Sod Poodles, suffering their first loss since May 24.
The Drillers hit five home runs in the defeat, but they could not overcome a five-run fifth inning from the Sod Poodles. With the loss, their first-place lead in the Texas League’s North Division shrunk to just ½ game over Arkansas. The second-place Travelers upped their winning streak to four straight games on Friday with a 6-0 victory in Corpus Christi.
There are 14 games remaining in the first half of the season.
For the sixth straight game, the Drillers surrendered the first run on Friday. An RBI single in the bottom of the second inning from Jesus Valdez off Tulsa starting pitcher Peter Heubeck gave the Poodles a 1-0 lead.
The Drillers responded when Jake Gelof led off in the top of the third with a home run that tied the score at 1-1.
Two more homers left the game tied after four innings. Cristofer Torin’s solo shot in the bottom of the third put Amarillo back in front, but Mike Sirota’s solo shot in the fourth tied the game again at 2-2.
After Christian Suarez worked a scoreless fourth inning in relief of Heubeck, Maddux Bruns took the mound in the bottom of the fifth for Tulsa and the Sod Poodles greeted him with three straight singles to load the bases. The next batter, Torin, drew a walk that ended the night for Bruns.
Lucas Wepf came on and threw a wild pitch that gave Amarillo its second run of the inning. After another walk again loaded the bases, the third run of the inning scored on a fielder’s choice grounder.
Another ground out and a two-out single completed the five-run inning and gave the Sod Poodles a 7-2 lead.
Solo home runs from Griffin Lockwood-Powell, Gelof, his second of the game, and Chris Newell pulled the Drillers to within 7-5.
Again, Amarillo responded with a big inning, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh. The first two batters reached against reliever Evan Shaw on a single and a walk. Kelvin Ramirez came on for Shaw and got an out before Jesus Valdez hit a three-run homer that swelled the Amarillo lead to 10-5.
The Drillers did not give up. In the top of the eighth, Kyle Nevin led off with a base hit and came around to score when Gelof doubled, just missing his third homer. Later in the inning, Josue De Paula singled home Gelof to make it 10-7. Following a walk, the Drillers had the bases loaded with just one out, but the threat ended when Elijah Hainline popped out and Zyhir Hope struck out.
GAME NOTES
*Despite the loss, a number of Drillers kept their offensive streaks active. De Paula finished 2-4 and extended his hitting streak to 13 straight games and his on-base streak to 22 games. Both, are the longest such streaks for a Tulsa batter this season.
*In addition, Hainline reached base for the 21st straight game, and Gelof extended his on-base streak to 19 consecutive games.
*With his home run, Sirota has now reached base safely in all 15 games that he has played with the Drillers. Counting his 30-game streak with High-A Great Lakes, he has now reached base in 45 straight games.
*Gelof was 3-4 in the game with two homers, three RBI and three runs scored. He now has nine home runs on the season and has homered in two straight games. It was Gelof’s second two-homer game of the year.
*Tulsa lost despite out-hitting the Sod Poodles 12-9.
*All five of the Drillers home runs were solo shots. They were just 2-14 with runners in scoring position, stranding ten runners on base.
*Bruns was charged with the loss, dropping his record to 2-2.
*The game was delayed by 33 minutes in the fourth inning due to the threat of rain.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and Sod Poodles will continue their six-game series on Saturday night at HODGETOWN. Starting time is set for 7:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are scheduled to be:
Tulsa – RHP Patrick Copen (3-3, 5.65 ERA)
Amarillo – TBA
