Drillers Fall To Cardinals, 3-2

The Tulsa Drillers quest to hold their ground in the Texas League's North Division pennant race came up short Saturday night at ONEOK Field. In one of the best pitching matchups of the season, Springfield's Alex Reyes came out with the victory as the Cardinals defeated the Drillers 3-2. A sellout crowd of 8,492 watched the action on Oklahoma City Thunder Night. 

The defeat dropped Tulsa five games behind first-place Arkansas with only nine games remaining in the regular season. 

The marque pitching duel featured two of the Top 30 prospects in all of Minor League Baseball. Reyes is rated as the #18 prospect, while Tulsa's starter, Jose De Leon, is ranked as the #26 overall prospect. Both right-handers pitched effectively. 

The only damage against Reyes came in the very first inning when Yadir Drake and Lars Anderson delivered consecutive one-out hits. Drake singled and scored when Anderson doubled to the base of the wall in right-centerfield. 

Springfield answered in the top of the second with the only run against De Leon. Bruce Caldwell led off with a double, then scored on another double from David Washington. The Redbirds nearly took the lead when Patrick Wisdom dropped a single into shallow centerfield. Washington attempted to score on the hit, but he was thrown out at the plate on a strong throw from Peter Lavin.