Drillers' Bats Stay Cold In July 4 Letdown

There were plenty of fireworks at ONEOK Field Thursday night. Unfortunately, the Tulsa Drillers were unable to generate enough noise to pull off any fireworks in the form of a late-inning rally. The San Antonio Missions used a three-run third inning to take early control and fended off the Drillers late to secure a 4-2 victory before an Independence Day sellout crowd of 8,359 fans.

Tulsa fell to .500, both in the second half (7-7) and overall (41-41), with the loss. 

The loss to San Antonio was the second straight for the Drillers and they have managed a total of only five hits in the two defeats.

The sellout was the second straight in downtown Tulsa and the 11^th this season, only one short of the Drillers record of 12 that was set during the inaugural 2010 season of ONEOK Field.

Starting pitcher Tim Gustafson, who had pitched well in his last five starts, suffered the loss on Thursday. He allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings, while striking out seven and walking three. The outing broke a 10-game, quality start streak for the Drillers' rotation that dated back to June 21.

Gustafson's opposition, Donn Roach was very effective in 5.1 innings of work to record his sixth win of the season. Roach, the #14 prospect in the San Diego Padres organization, allowed one run on two hits while striking out two and walking one in the contest.

The Missions took an early lead with their three-run third and never looked back. Jeudy Valdez singled and stole second to open the frame. Following a walk to Cory Spangenberg, the pitcher Roach laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. With the infield playing in, Rico Noel bounced a single through the middle, plating both runners to give San Antonio the lead. 

After Noel stole his league-leading 37^th base of the season, Futures Game selection Reymond Fuentes ripped an RBI single into the center field to make it 3-0.

Jake Blackwood added another run to San Antonio's advantage with an RBI single in the sixth. Tommy Medica walked to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a single by Yeison Asencio. Blackwood followed with a line drive into center field to score Medica and make it a four-run lead.

Jayson Langfels responded in the bottom half of the inning for the Drillers, clubbing a solo home run onto the concourse beyond the right field wall for his sixth home run of the year. The third baseman's long ball broke a 17-inning scoreless streak for Tulsa.

The Drillers cut further into San Antonio's lead an inning later. With two on and one out, Kyle Parker lined a fastball from Leonel Campos through the middle to score Delta Cleary Jr. from second base.

Tulsa would get no closer as Oklahoma native Jeremy McBryde struck out four of the six batters he faced in two perfect innings. For McBryde, it was his third save of the season.

The two teams return to ONEOK Field Friday for the third and final game of their series, which will be followed by the third and final Fourth of July Fireworks Show. Christian Bergman (4-6, 2.93 ERA) will take the mound for Tulsa against San Antonio's Eddie Bonine (0-0, 3.60 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.