Drillers, Diaz Wrap Up Winning Road Trip
Springdale, AR – The Tulsa Drillers closed out their winningest road trip of the season in appropriate fashion Sunday afternoon at Northwest Arkansas. The Drillers concluded a 12-game, 2-week trip with an 8-1 win over the Naturals at Arvest Ballpark. The victory gave the Drillers their second straight series win
Springdale, AR – The Tulsa Drillers closed out their winningest road trip of the season in appropriate fashion Sunday afternoon at Northwest Arkansas. The Drillers concluded a 12-game, 2-week trip with an 8-1 win over the Naturals at Arvest Ballpark.
The victory gave the Drillers their second straight series win and an 8-4 record on the extended trip. Prior to the trip, they had lost their previous four road series and had not won a series away from ONEOK Field since the first of June when they took five of six games in Wichita.
Sunday’s victory was fueled by Yusniel Diaz who finished a perfect 5-5 in the game. The Drillers were in control of Sunday’s finale from the very start, courtesy of Diaz. The outfielder hit his 12th home run of the season in the top of the first inning, followed by his 13th in the third, staking Tulsa to an early 2-0 lead.
Another solo homer from Imanol Vargas in the fourth made it 3-0 before the Drillers put the game away with a five-run seventh inning.
Tulsa loaded the bases in that big inning with two walks and an error. Luis Diaz singled home one run, and Yusniel Diaz singled home two more. A sacrifice fly from Wladimir Chalo and a run-scoring single from Kody Hoese accounted for the final two runs.
Starting pitcher Ben Casparius took full advantage of the support to record his second win of the series, his first-ever wins at the Double-A level. Casparius scattered three hits over five shutout innings, walking two batters and striking out three.
Four Drillers relievers worked one inning each to close out the game.
HIGHLIGHTS & HAPPENINGS
*It was the first five-hit game for a Drillers player this season and the first five-hit game of Diaz’s career. He also scored three runs and drove in four. The last five-hit game for a Tulsa player occurred last year on April 23 by Jacob Amaya.
*Vargas finished with three hits, his fourth three-hit game of the season.
*On the 12-game road trip, the Drillers hit .284 as a team and averaged just over 6.5 runs scored per game. The average was the third highest among all Double-A teams during that period. The pitching staff had a 4.24 ERA on the trip.
*The Drillers scored at least seven runs in the game, meaning fans can purchase large, one-topping pizzas from Mazzio's on Monday for just $7 each. The special offer is good throughout the day on Monday, but it is only available online at Mazzios.com and when you use the promotion code DRILLERS at checkout.
UP NEXT:
The Drillers will open a six-game home stand on Tuesday night against the Arkansas Travelers. It is the next-to-last home stand of the regular season. Starting time for Tuesday’s opener is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at ONEOK Field and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Arkansas – RHP Blas Castano (0-1, 2.25 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Kendall Williams (2-1, 2.61 ERA)