Drillers Return Home, Grab Four-Run Win

The Naturals threatened in the middle innings, but Tulsa pulled away at the end.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:55 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Aug 28, 2010 10:37 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Tulsa Drillers held off a late push Saturday to defeat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 8-4.

Northwest Arkansas (79-52) started the scoring in the first inning thanks to a wild pitch by Tulsa starter Aaron Cook, giving the Naturals a 1-0 lead. But Cook buckled down from there.

The Drillers (64-66) took their first lead in the bottom of the second, when Matt Repec delivered a two-run double. Tulsa added another run in the fourth on an RBI single by Radames Nozario, and Jordan Pacheco added a two-run single in the fifth to stretch the Drillers’ lead to 5-1.

Cook held Northwest Arkansas to just two hits in the first five innings of the game, but the Naturals’ bats caught fire to start the sixth. After back-to-back singles to start the frame, Johnny Giavotella delivered an RBI double to cut the lead to three and put runners on second and third with nobody out.

The Naturals seemed poised to eliminate their deficit, but Cook responded. After a coaching visit to the mound, Cook struck out the next batter he faced. After an intentional walk to load the bases, he forced a popup for the second out of the inning. Al Alburquerque then relieved Cook and got the final out of the inning.

Alburquerque stayed on the mound in the seventh, but did not get much help from the defenders behind him. With two outs in the inning, Anthony Jackson committed a throwing error that should have ended the inning. But a run scored on the play, and the Naturals added another unearned run later in the inning to cut the lead to 5-4.

But the Drillers immediately responded in the bottom of the frame, when Pacheco delivered his second two-run single of the game to provide important insurance runs. Repec added one more run with a single in the eighth to finish the game’s scoring.

Cook (1-1) earned the win after giving up runs on five hits in 5.2 innings. Danny Duffy (4-2) surrendered five runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings in a losing effort.

The victory stretches the Drillers’ winning streak to three games and also marked the beginning of Tulsa’s final home stand of the season. The two teams will continue their series at 6:05 p.m. Sunday.