Martin, Newell Lead Tulsa to Third Straight Win
Tulsa, OK – After opening the second half of the Texas League season with two straight losses, the Tulsa Drillers have now restored the winning form they showed in the first half of the season. The Drillers recorded their third straight victory on Saturday night at ONEOK Field, defeating Corpus
Tulsa, OK – After opening the second half of the Texas League season with two straight losses, the Tulsa Drillers have now restored the winning form they showed in the first half of the season. The Drillers recorded their third straight victory on Saturday night at ONEOK Field, defeating Corpus Christi 8-2.
It was the second straight game that pitching shined for the Drillers. One night after Adam Serwinowski allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings, Payton Martin nearly matched him, holding the Hooks to just two hits over seven scoreless frames.
Martin was backed by a big game from Chris Newell. Newell homered twice, hitting a grand slam and a three-run homer, to provide most of Tulsa’s offensive output.
Through the first three innings, it looked as if the pitching would dominate on both sides, but the Drillers broke through in the bottom of the fourth. The game’s first run came courtesy of Sean McLain who belted his fifth home run of the year. The solo shot gave Tulsa a 1-0 lead.
The Drillers padded their lead in the fifth inning, and again a home run played a key role. Mike Sirota and Zyhir Hope both singled before Jake Gelof drew a walk that loaded the bases. Newell promptly cleared them with the Drillers fifth grand slam of the season that quickly increased the lead to 5-0.
Newell struck again in the seventh inning with his second homer of the game that upped the margin to 8-0. Elijah Hainline and Hope drew walks to open the inning and set up Newell’s three-run blast.
The Hooks’ Cameron Sisneros ended Tulsa’s shutout bid when he hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth off reliever Lucas Wepf.
Cam Day came on in the ninth and walked four batters to force in Corpus Christi’s second run. Antonio Knowles came on and got a strikeout and a line out to complete the game.
GAME NOTES
*Sirota had no problem extending his impressive on-base streak. The Tulsa outfielder had one hit and walked twice and had now reached base safely in all 34 games he has played with the Drillers. Prior to his promotion to Double-A Tulsa, Sirota reached base in his final 30 games with High-A Great Lakes, giving him an overall 64-game, on-base streak. It is the longest on-base streak in professional baseball this season. The all-time record in Minor League Baseball is 74 straight games.
*Gelof’s fifth-inning walk extended his on-base streak to 37 straight games, which marks the longest on-base streak this season in the Texas League, when just counting league games.
*Newell’s big game continued a big month of June for the Tulsa outfielder. He finished 2-4 with both hits being home runs. It was Newell’s third two-homer game in his last six games. He has four two-homer games on the season. His seven RBI were a career high and the most in a game for a Tulsa batter this season. In June, Newell has hit 10 home runs and he has 27 RBI in 21 games.
*Martin has also had an impressive month. In his seven shutout innings on Saturday, he allowed two hits and three walks while striking out four. It was his third win in five appearances this month without a loss. In June, he is 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA.
*Tulsa hitters drew ten walks in the game.
*McLain’s home run was his fifth of the year, matching his total from all of last season, which were a career high. Three of his homers this season have come in June.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and the Hooks will conclude their six-game series on Sunday night at ONEOK Field. The game will have a special starting time of 6:30 p.m. and the pitching matchup for the series finale is expected to be:
Corpus Christi – RHP Brett Gillis (3-2, 3.88 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Patrick Copen (3-5, 7.44 ERA)