Tulsa, OK – Outfielder Kendall George made his return to ONEOK Field on Tuesday night, and what a return it was. George, who had not played in Tulsa since suffering a freak injury on May 29, went 4-4 in his first game back, including a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Drillers a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Springfield Cardinals.
It capped a triumphant return for George who accounted for four of Tulsa’s six hits, and he is now hitting .344 in 45 games with the Drillers. He also stole his 27th base of the season in victory.
The second half of the Texas League’s season is just two weeks old, but it was an important win for the Drillers. They opened the series one game behind the first-place Cardinals, but the victory left the two teams with identical 9-4 records in the second half.
They will meet five more times this week at ONEOK Field.
The Drillers trailed most of the night after Springfield wasted little time in taking an initial lead. On Tulsa starting pitcher Christian Zazueta’s first pitch of the night, Travis Honeyman belted a 456-foot home run that landed on the roof of the Scoreboard Bar well beyond the left-center field fence.
It stayed 1-0 until another solo home run doubled the margin. Former Oklahoma Sooner Dakota Harris led off the top of the third with a drive that cleared the right-center field fence to give the Cards a two-run lead.
George got the Drillers on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the third. With one out, George tripled to the base of the wall in deep center field for his second hit of the game. With Mike Sirota at the plate, George came home when Springfield starter Braden Davis was called for a balk.
The Redbirds got the run back in the sixth inning. Rainiel Rodriguez singled, stole second base and scored on Kyle Nevin’s two-out throwing error.
The Drillers pulled even with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. The rally was set up when Frank Rodriguez was hit by a pitch and Chris Newell drew a walk. They advanced to second and third on a ground out, and both scored when Jose Izarra dropped a single into shallow centerfield, tying the score at 3-3.
It was still tied entering the bottom of the ninth, and Rodriguez got the winning rally started with a leadoff single. After Kole Myers forced a walk, Izarra laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners to second and third.
With first base open, the Cardinals elected to pitch to George. After taking two balls, the Tulsa outfielder lined a single into centerfield to plate Rodriguez with the winning run.
The clutch hit from George gave the Drillers their ninth win in their past 11 games.
GAME NOTES
*It was the 31st come-from-behind win of the season for Tulsa.
*Sirota wasted little time in extending his on-base streak. He drew a walk in the bottom of the first inning to make it 69 straight games that he has reached base safely. It is the longest single-season, on-base streak in Minor League Baseball since Andrew Velasqez reached base in 74 straight games for Class-A South Bend in the 2014 season. Sirota has reached base in all 39 games he has played in since joining the Drillers on May 19. Before his promotion to Tulsa, the outfielder reached base in his final 30 games with High-A Great Lakes.
*Gelof made things a little more interesting but eventually extended his lengthy on-base streak by walking in the sixth inning. His streak has now reached 44 straight games, which is the longest on-base streak in the Texas League this year, when just counting league games.
*For George, it was his 19th multi-hit game of the year. It was his second four-hit game. His .344 season average would lead the Texas League if he had enough at-bats to qualify for the league leaders.
*Wyatt Crowell picked up his team-leading seventh win of the season thanks to George’s heroics. Crowell relieved Zazueta to open the sixth inning and gave up just one hit and one unearned run in four relief innings. He improved his record to 7-4. The seven wins are the second-most in the Texas League.
*Besides the homers, Zazueta allowed just two other hits in his five-inning stint. The two runs he gave up marked the most he has allowed in a game since May 29. Zazueta did not walk a batter while striking out eight.
*Izarra had just returned to Tulsa earlier on Tuesday from a stint with High-A Great Lakes. He filled the roster spot that was vacated when infielder Sean McLain was placed on the Injured List.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and Cardinals will continue their series with game two on Wednesday night at ONEOK Field. Starting time is again scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Springfield – RHP Brandt Thompson (2-2, 5.20 ERA)
Tulsa – LHP Adam Serwinowski (6-2, 5.33 ERA)