Tulsa, OK – On a hot Sunday afternoon at ONEOK Field, the Tulsa Drillers continued their hot play on the field. The Drillers completed a six-game, series sweep of Northwest Arkansas with a narrow 10-9 win.
The victory was the sixth straight for the Drillers, but it did not come easily as they held an eight-run lead at point in the game before hanging on for the one-run win.
The six-game winning streak matches their longest of the season. In addition, the sweep marked the first time in three years that the Drillers have swept a six-game series. In May of the 2023 season, they also swept the Naturals in Tulsa.
More importantly, the win allowed Tulsa to increase its slim first-place lead over Arkansas in the Texas League’s North Division to 1 ½ games.
Much of the big offensive production for Tulsa could be contributed to the first two spots in the batting order. Hitting in the leadoff spot, Josue De Paula finished 4-5 with two home runs, four runs scored and three runs batted in.
Number two hitter Mike Sirota also enjoyed the afternoon, going 3-4 with a homer and three runs driven in. Sirota finished just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
The runs and the hits started coming early as the Drillers seemed to carry over momentum from their seven-run eighth inning that won Saturday’s game as they scored in each of Sunday’s first three innings.
After the Naturals took a temporary lead with a run in the top of the first, Tulsa quickly erased it with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. De Paula singled on the second pitch of the inning to start the rally before two walks loaded the bases. Zyhir Hope brought all three home with a bases-clearing triple, then scored himself on a double from Jake Gelof.
Sirota upped the Tulsa lead to 7-1 in the second inning with his first Double-A home run, a three-run shot.
A two-run homer from De Paula made it 9-1 in the third. For De Paula, it was his seventh home run of the year.
After the Naturals added a pair of runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh to make it a 9-4 game, De Paula put the Drillers in double figures with his second home run of the game in the bottom of the seventh. The solo effort gave Tulsa a 10-4 cushion, but things got interesting from there.
The first three Naturals reached base safely in the top of the eighth with a pair of singles and a walk. Justin Johnson hit the second grand slam of the day to quickly trim Tulsa’s lead to just two runs. Three more singles later in the eighth pulled the Naturals to within 10-9.
With things more than just a little uncomfortable, interim Drillers manager Austin Chubb called on reliever Nick Robertson to work the ninth inning. Robertson, who is yet to allow a run this season, kept that streak. He did allowed a leadoff single but retired the next three batters to clinch the game and the series sweep.
GAME NOTES
*The high-scoring game feature a combined 29 hits with Northwest Arkansas accounting for 16 of them.
*It marks the third time this season that Tulsa has put together a six-game winning streak.
*The big offensive day allowed several Drillers to extend streaks, including two each for Gelof and De Paula. De Paula extended his hitting streak to nine games while also scoring a run in his 18th straight game. Gelof upped his hitting streak to ten straight games, one short of matching the season high for a Tulsa player, while also scoring a run in his 15th straight game. Elijah Hainline upped his run-scoring streak to 17 games.
*Sirota continued his perfect streak of reaching base in every game he has played with the Drillers, reaching safely in all 11. Overall, he has now reached base in 41 straight games, including his stretch with High-A Great Lakes before joining the Drillers.
*Starting pitcher Wyatt Crowell fell one inning short of qualifying for his fourth win of the year. Crowell worked four innings and gave up four hits while issuing three walks. He allowed just the one run that came across in the first inning.
*Robertson, who was credited with his second save, has yet to allow a run in 21 1/3 innings this season.
*Roque Gutierrez followed Crowell to the mound and was credited with the victory to become the first five-game winner this season for the Drillers. Gutierrez is now a perfect 5-0.
*A couple of innings into the game, actual temperature at the stadium was 93 degrees with the feels-like temperature reaching 103.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will now take to the road for a six-game series that will begin on Tuesday in Amarillo. The opening game of the set will begin at 7:05 p.m. at HODGETOWN and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Tulsa – LHP Adam Serwinowski (3-2, 6.86 ERA)
Amarillo - TBA