Drillers Fall Short Against Midland

Tulsa was going for a ONEOK Field season-series sweep of the Midland RockHounds Thursday night in the two teams' final regular season meeting, and despite a late rally, the Drillers fell short. Trailing for much of the game, Tulsa rallied to tie the score with a pair of runs in the eighth inning, but Midland's D'Arby Myers delivered a game-winning home run in the top of the ninth to propel the RockHounds to a 3-2 victory.

The win was Midland's first this year in Tulsa. The Drillers had won the previous five meetings at ONEOK Field and finished the season with an overall 9-3 mark in all games against the Hounds this year, their best winning percentage against any team in the Texas League.

In the finale, both starting pitchers, Midland's Shawn Haviland and Tulsa's Jon Gray, excelled. The RockHounds' right-hander blanked the Drillers through the first 6.2 innings, allowing only three hits. Haviland did not walk a batter while recording six strikeouts.

Gray fell short in his pursuit to join the Texas League win leaders, but pitched well. He surrendered just one run on five hits and three walks while striking out four. Gray departed after throwing 94 pitches in 5.1 innings.

The RockHounds took a 2-0 lead in the contest with the first run coming in the top of the second inning.

Jefrey Marte singled with one out, and with Jeremy Barfield at the plate, he swiped second base. Barfield then brought Marte home with a base hit to give the RockHounds a 1-0 lead.

The score stayed the same through much of the game until the Hounds added an additional run in the seventh. Myers doubled off Ryan Arrowood and scored on a two-out hit by Kenny Wilson to make it 2-0.

Control issues from the Midland bullpen helped the Drillers to pull even in the bottom of the eighth. Omar Duran walked Trevor Story and Chris O'Dowd before giving way to Ryan Dull. Dull promptly walked Brian Humphries to load the bases for Delta Cleary Jr. The centerfielder delivered with a lined hit to right field that scored both Story and O'Dowd to tie the game at 2-2.

Tulsa missed the chance to take the lead as the hit by Cleary Jr. put runners at second and third with only one out, but Dull recovered to retire Taylor Featherston on a strikeout and the rehabbing Michael Cuddyer on a ground out to keep the score tied and set the stage for Myers decisive blow.

Drillers' reliever Kraig Sitton allowed a leadoff base hit to Dusty Coleman in the top of the ninth but coaxed Bruce Maxwell to hit into a double play, bringing Myers to the plate with two outs and the bases empty. The ninth-place hitter lined a pitch from Sitton into the Budweiser Terrace beyond the left field fence to put the Hounds back in front. It was just the outfielder's second home run of the year.

Dull made sure the lead held up this time, setting the Drillers down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Cuddyer, playing in his final game with the Drillers as he recovers from a fractured shoulder, was hitless in four at-bats. In three games with Tulsa, he finished 2-11. Cuddyer will travel on Friday and is expected back in the Colorado Rockies lineup for Saturday's game against the Reds.

The Drillers were limited to only four hits in the game, but one of those belonged to Tyler Massey. His second-inning single extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games.