Tulsa, OK – One night after suffering a tough, extra-innings loss to Amarillo, the Tulsa Drillers bounced back on Thursday night with an 8-5 victory over the Sod Poodles at ONEOK Field. The Drillers used a five-run third inning to take the lead and never trailed in the win.
In their longest home stand of the season, the Drillers now have a 7-2 record with three games remaining on the stand.
The victory allowed Tulsa to stay just one game behind first-place Springfield in the second-half, North Division standings of the Texas League with just 21 games remaining in the regular season. The Drillers won the first-half title and have never won both halves in one season.
Thursday’s matchup between the Drillers and Sod Poodles appeared to be opening with two scoreless innings before Tulsa’s bats came to life in the bottom half of the second. With two outs and the bases empty, Logan Wagner was in a 0-2 hole and one striking from having the inning end, but he fouled off the next two pitches before taking four straight pitches out of the strike zone to draw a walk that extended the inning.
Kole Myers followed with grounder off the end of his bat that rolled directly over the third base bag for a double that put runners at second and third. Jose Izarra made it two straight doubles with a liner into the left field corner that scored both runners to put the Drillers in front.
After Taylor Young bunted for a base hit, Josue De Paula capped a five-run inning with a towering fly ball that easily cleared the outfield wall in deep, right-center field for his 24th home run of the season.
Tulsa starting pitcher Aidan Foeller opened with three scoreless innings before the Sod Poodles plated a run in the top of the fourth. Avery Owusu-Asiedu singled, stole second base and scored on another single by Ben McLaughlin.
The Drillers got the run back, plus one more, in the bottom of the fourth. Izarra and Young both singled to set up a run-scoring hit from De Paula. Griffin Lockwood-Powell brought home the second run with a double down the right field line that scored Young to put Tulsa up 7-1.
Myers made it 8-1 with a two-out home run in the fifth inning. It was the sixth homer of the season for Myers, and the drive landed at the base of the stadium’s perimeter fencing beyond the right field foul pole.
The Drillers helped Amarillo pull to within 8-2 when an error, two walks, a missed foul pop and a balk handed them a second run.
The Sod Poodles pulled even closer in the top of the eighth. Owusu-Asiedu opened the inning with a fly ball down the right field that right fielder Myers overran. Instead of an out, it turned into a triple for Owusu-Asiedu. He came home when Jansel Luis legged out an infield hit on a slow chopper up the third base line.
Druw Jones followed with the second triple of the inning to plate a second, then scored himself when Junior Franco bunted for a hit as the Sod Poodles cut Tulsa’s lead to just 8-5.
Cam Day came on to get the final two outs in that eighth inning before surviving a scary ninth. After a leadoff single, Day got a strikeout and fielder’s choice grounder before issuing a walk that brought the potential game-tying run to the plate.
On a 2-1 count, McLaughlin lofted a high fly to shallow left field. Three Tulsa defenders pursued the fly with shortstop Izarra making the catch while falling and sliding into left fielder De Paula. Fortunately, Izarra maintained the catch and neither player was injured on the near-disastrous, game-ending play.
GAME NOTES
*With the victory, the Drillers moved back to 33 games above .500 with a 75-42 record on the season. The all-time franchise record for wins by a Drillers team is 78, set by the 1998 and 2019 teams.
*Foeller was credited with the win, his first ever at the Double-A level. He allowed just one run on four hits and one walk while striking out six in 5.0 innings pitched.
*De Paula was 2-4 with 4 RBI, and he has now hit in 5 straight games and in 9 of his last 10. He also continued his move up the Tulsa record book, increasing both his RBI and runs scored totals to 95. In 49 seasons of Drillers Baseball, he currently has the fifth most RBI in a single season and the seventh most runs scored. Carlos Pena is the only Drillers player to ever finish a season with at least 100 RBI and 100 runs, doing it in 2000.
*Izarra had a single and a double to record his first two-hit game since joining the Drillers.
*The home run from Myers was his fourth in the month of August. The outfielder had previously never hit more than two homers in a single month in his two-year professional career.
*For Day, it was his team-leading seventh save of the season. He also extended his scoreless streak to six straight games and 10 1/3 innings pitched.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will continue their series with the Sod Poodles on Friday night at ONEOK Field. Starting time is slated for 7:00 p.m. with a Fireworks Show scheduled for after the game. The pitching matchup is expected to be:
Amarillo – RHP Junior Sanchez (4-2, 4.85 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Christian Zazueta (1-1, 2.91 ERA)