Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers knew they had a difficult task in front of them entering Friday’s matchup at ONEOK Field with the Arkansas Travelers. The Travelers had the number one ranked pitching prospect in all of Minor League Baseball on the mound in Kade Anderson.
Anderson certainly lived up to the #1 billing, but Tulsa kept the game close before capitalizing against the Arkansas bullpen. The Drillers hit three home runs over the final innings to overturn an early one-run deficit and defeat the Travelers 4-1 in downtown Tulsa.
It was the fifth straight win for the Drillers. They have won each of the first four games of the six-game series with the Travelers by coming from behind in each one.
With the result, Tulsa remained one game back of Springfield in the second-half division standings of the Texas League’s North Division. The Cardinals rallied to beat Northwest Arkansas 9-8.
The game began about as poorly for the Drillers as it could. The night’s first batter, Jonny Farmelo, doubled on a 0-2 pitch from Tulsa starting pitcher Luke Fox. Felnin Celesten followed and grounded a single into centerfield that brought Farmelo home with the game’s first run.
The inning got worse from there. On his first pitch after the single from Celesten, Fox motioned to the Drillers dugout, and after a brief visit with athletic trainer Dylan Correa and manager Eric Wedge, Fox departed the game. The lefthander has missed over three months of the season with a hamstring issue, but the reason for his departure was unclear.
Aidan Foeller came on to replace Fox and he escaped the first inning with a strikeout- caught stealing double play and another strikeout.
With Anderson on the mound, it looked as if the one run would be enough for the Travelers to claim their first win of the series. The LSU product entered the game with a 1.13 ERA, and it dropped even lower. The lefthander worked 5 2/3 shutout innings, allowing just two hits, both singles, and one walk while striking out seven.
Once he departed, the Drillers quickly took advantage. Reliever Ty Cummings came on and hit the first batter he faced, bringing Jake Gelof to the plate. After fouling off the first pitch from Cummings, Gelof blasted the next pitch over the Country Financial Terrace in left field for a two-run homer that promptly put the Drillers in front 2-1.
Two more homers helped Tulsa pad its lead. The first came courtesy of Nelson Quiroz when lined a Cummings pitch into the Travelers’ bullpen in deep, right-center field.
Joe Vetrano, who had only entered the game in the top of the eighth as a defensive replacement, capitalized on his one at-bat by blasting a pitch high onto the right-field grass berm to give Tulsa a 4-1 lead.
The Drillers got an outstanding effort from the bullpen, beginning with Foeller. After taking over for Fox, the right-hander delivered five shutout innings while allowing just two hits. Foeller walked two batters and struck out six.
Cam Day was next to the mound, and was maybe even more impressive. He set down all six batters he faced, four on strikeouts.
Jacob Kmatz followed Day and recorded five outs before turning over the game’s final out to Christian Suarez. With a runner at first, Suarez needed just one pitch to finish it off, getting fielder’s choice grounder to complete the win and pick up his second save of the season.
GAME NOTES
*Gelof’s home run was his 24th of the season, moving him past Zyhir Hope for the team lead. It is a career high in homers for Gelof whose previous high was 17 last season for Great Lakes.
*For Quiroz, it was his first home run of the season.
*The blast from Vetrano exited the bat at 113 m.p.h. and traveled 437 feet. It was the seventh home run of the year for the first baseman.
*Day was the pitcher of record for the Drillers and the win improved his season record to 3-1. He has not allowed a run over his last four games and 7.0 innings pitched with 11 of the 21 outs he has recorded coming on strikeouts.
*It was just the fourth relief appearance of the year for Foeller and his 5.0 innings pitched were just one inning short of matching his season high.
*Kmatz is yet to allow a run in four games since joining the Drillers in trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. He has allowed just 2 hits across 5 2/3 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts.
*The two saves for Suarez match a career high that he set last year with the Drillers.
*The Drillers were limited to just five total hits in the game. Elijah Hainline had his five-game hitting streak come to an end, and Taylor Young lost his three-game streak.
UP NEXT
Tulsa will look to extend its winning streak on Saturday night with the fifth game this week against the Travelers. Starting time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at ONEOK Field, and the pitching matchup is slated to be:
Arkansas - RHP Ryan Sloan (2-3, 3.91 ERA)
Tulsa - RHP Christian Zazueta (1-1, 3.30 ERA)