Frisco, TX – Tulsa Drillers starting pitcher Adam Serwinowski did something on Saturday night in Frisco that he has not done for three months. The lefthander lost a game.
Serwinowski surrendered four runs in five innings, and the Drillers offense was held in check for most of the night, as the RoughRiders handed Tulsa a 4-3 loss at Riders Field.
The defeat came despite a pair of home runs from Zyhir Hope. Unfortunately for Serwinowski and the Drillers, they both came with the bases empty.
The game was scoreless through the first two innings before the RoughRiders broke through against Serwinowski with the first run in the bottom of the third. Max Wagner doubled and scored on another double from Frainyer Chavez to give the Riders a 1-0 lead.
The margin swelled to 4-0 in the fourth inning. Dylan Dreiling opened the inning with a leadoff home run to account for the first of the three runs. A two-out, two-run homer from Yeison Morrobel produced the final two.
The Drillers got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. Taylor Young drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a base hit by Kole Myers. Young eventually scored on a throwing error by Frisco second baseman Wagner, pulling Tulsa to within 4-1.
Hope cut the deficit to two runs with his first solo homer in the sixth inning.
He struck again in the eighth, belting a towering blast into the swimming pool well beyond the right field fence to make it a one-run game. For Hope, it was his 21st home run of the year and his fourth two-homer game.
The Drillers continued to battle and gave themselves a chance at another comeback win in the ninth inning. With one out, Frank Rodriguez singled to bring the potential game-winning run to the plate.
Jose Izarra lined out to left fielder Morrobel for the second out of the inning. Josue De Paula was next and was looking to duplicate his game-winning homer in the ninth inning of Friday’s win. De Paula battled, fouling off three straight pitches before flying out to Morrobel to end the game.
GAME NOTES
*Despite the loss, Tulsa still has the second-best record among all 120 full-season teams in Minor League Baseball. Only Bowling Green, a Class-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, has a better record than the Drillers who are now 58-31 on the season. They have a 12-8 mark in the second half.
*The defeat ended Serwinowki’s seven-game winning streak and dropped his season record to 7-3. He was charged with four runs in five innings while giving up a season high nine hits. Serwinowski’s last loss occurred on April 16 in a 13-3 defeat to Arkansas.
*Hope finished with three hits, including his two homers, to continue his red-hot month of July. In 13 games this month, the outfielder is now hitting .431 with 8 home runs and 23 RBI.
*Mike Sirota was kept off base for the second straight game. Sirota’s 72-game on-base streak ended on Friday, just two games short of matching the modern, Minor League Baseball record of reaching base in 74 straight games set by Andrew Velasquez in 2014 while playing for Class-A South Bend. Sirota is now 0-8 in the first two games of the series with Frisco.
*Tulsa got a solid effort from its bullpen in back of Serwinowski. Cam Day allowed just one hit in two shutout innings while striking out four batters, and Antonio Knowles worked a scoreless eighth inning.
*The three pitchers for the Drillers did not issue a single walk in the game.
*Texas Rangers pitcher Cody Bradford made the start on the mound for Frisco on a major league injury-rehabilitation assignment as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Bradford gave up just one hit and zero walks with four strikeouts in two scoreless innings.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will close out their brief three-game series in Frisco on Sunday evening at Riders Field. The winner of the game will claim the series victory.
Starting time for the finale is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Tulsa– TBA
Frisco– LHP Blake Townsend (3-4, 5.26 ERA)