Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers season-high losing streak was extended to five straight games on Friday night with the toughest loss of the skid. The Drillers fell 7-4 to Springfield in 12 innings at ONEOK Field after failing to hold a late lead and then missing several chances to generate a potential walk-off win.
Tulsa led 4-3 in the eighth inning, but the Cards rallied to plate the tying run. Drillers’ relievers held the Redbirds scoreless in the ninth, tenth and eleventh innings, but Tulsa could not produce the game-winning run.
The missed chances finally proved costly when Springfield broke the tie on a wild pitch in the top of the twelfth inning, then iced the outcome on Rainiel Rodriguez’s two-run homer.
The defeat dropped the Drillers record to 20-17 after opening the season with a franchise best 14-4 record.
In the game-deciding twelfth inning, it appeared as if Tulsa might escape a jam and have another chance to walk-off with a win. With placed runner Zach Levenson at second, the inning’s leadoff batter, Grayson Tarlow, dropped a hit in front of diving right fielder Josue De Paula. Tarlow got a double on the play, but Levenson only advanced to third on the hit.
Another base running miscue gave the Drillers two outs. Noah Mendlinger grounded out to short, and Tarlow broke for third on the throw to first, leaving two base runners on the third-base bag to hand the Drillers a second out.
Now with a runner at third and just one out from escaping the jam, Cam Day threw a wild pitch that gave Springfield a one-run lead. Following a walk, Rodriguez lined a pitch from Day into the bullpen beyond the right field fence for a two-run homer that put the Cardinals in front 7-4.
The Drillers went down in order in the bottom half of the inning on three strikeouts to end the contest.
Tulsa was held without a hit over the final four innings and struck out eight times.
It was the sixth straight win for Springfield.
Tulsa actually led twice in the game with the first time coming in the fourth inning. With one out, Zyhir Hope lined an opposite-field single into left field, then advanced into scoring position with a steal of second base. Chris Newell brought Hope home with a two-out single that gave the Drillers a 1-0 lead.
Springfield quickly erased the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Tulsa starter Payton Martin had limited the Cardinals to just one hit through the first four frames, but he ran into trouble when he issued a one-out walk to Ryan Campos in the fifth.
After Campos swiped second, the key play of the inning occurred. Travis Honeyman hit a sharp grounder to Kyle Nevin at third. Nevin briefly bobbled the grounder before gathering and throwing to first. On the play, first base umpire Brandon Spevak ruled that first baseman Joe Vetrano failed to keep his foot on the base, giving the Cards runners at first and third.
Maybe slightly unnerved, Martin uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Campos to come home with the tying run. Another walk and a base hit by Levenson loaded the bases before Martin walked his third batter of the inning to force home a run.
A sacrifice fly from Mendlinger capped the three-run inning and gave the Redbirds a 3-1 lead.
Tulsa got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the fifth. With one out, back-to-back doubles from Kendall George and De Paula pulled Tulsa to within one run.
For much of the season, the Drillers have been hampered by walks allowed, but in the seventh inning, they benefited from free passes. Springfield reliever Domenic Picone loaded the bases with three walks, setting up a two-out, two-run single from Nevin that put Tulsa back in front 4-3.
Again, the Drillers held the lead only briefly. Jon Jon Gazdar greeted reliever Carson Hobbs with a leadoff single. Gazdar advanced to second on a balk and to third an infield hit when Nevin attempted throw out Chase Davis from foul territory. After Davis swiped second, Campos hit a chopper to the right side that Vetrano fielded in front of the bag, but his throw home was high, allowing Gazdar to slide home safely with the tying run.
GAME NOTES
*De Paula’s RBI in the fifth inning was his team-leading, 29th of the season.
*The outfielder also showed off his defensive prowess in the top of the tenth inning on a possible sacrifice fly. De Paula threw a strike to home plate to cut down Rodriguez who was attempting to give the Cards the lead. It was De Paula’s fourth outfield assist of the season.
*Nevin’s bases-loaded hit in the seventh continued a season-long trend for the Tulsa infielder. Entering the game, Nevin was hitting .304 with runners in scoring position. The clutch hit gave him 27 RBI, second on the team behind only De Paula.
*Martin was outstanding in his start until the top fifth inning. He blanked the Cards on only one hit through the first four innings. His final line was three runs allowed, but only one earned, on two hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
*Springfield starting pitcher Liam Doyle, who is rated as the third-best, left-handed pitching prospect in all of Minor League Baseball by MLB Pipeline, was charged with two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
*Griffin Lockwood-Powell singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to six straight games. The Tulsa catcher also walked three times.
*Tulsa batters struck out 20 times in the game.
*Time of game was 4 hours and 4 minutes, making it the longest game of the season in both innings and time.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will look to end their losing streak and snap the Cardinals winning streak with the fifth game of their six-game series on Saturday night at ONEOK Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
SPR – SHP Jurrangelo Cijntje (2-2, 6.03 ERA)
TUL – LHP Adam Serwinowski (1-2, 9.49 ERA)