Urias Leads Drillers Past Frisco

After suffering a tough 14-inning loss the previous night, the Tulsa Drillers were in need of a win Wednesday evening at ONEOK Field, and Julio Urias made sure they got it. Urias turned in one of his best performances of the season, leading the Drillers to a 2-1 victory over the Frisco RoughRiders. 

Urias had one of his top outings of the season. The lefthander worked the first six innings, surrendering one run on five hits. He walked one batter and struck out eight while improving his record to 3-4 and lowering his Double-A ERA to 3.03. 

The victory moved the Drillers to within one game of first-place Springfield in the North Division standings of the Texas League with only 18 games remaining in the second half. 

The Drillers jumped out to a quick lead in the game with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Ronald Torreyes led off with a triple into the gap in left-center field. On the next pitch, Peter Lavin brought him home with a sacrifice fly. 

The RoughRiders tied the score at 1-1 with a run in the third. Zach Cone led off with a double and eventually came home when Julio Urias was called for a balk. 

Lars Anderson broke the tie leading off the fourth. The first baseman belted a drive that cleared the perimeter fencing around ONEOK Field, landing on Elgin Avenue. It was Anderson's 12th home run of the season and gave the Drillers a 2-1 lead. 

Deck McGuire came on for Urias to open the seventh and allowed only one hit in 2.1 innings of work. Ryan Dennick got one out in the ninth, and Ralston Cash got the final out to record his second save of the season. 

Urias and the Tulsa relievers needed to be at their best because ex-Drillers hurler Edwar Cabrera was also outstanding. The lefthander, who pitched for Tulsa during the 2012 season, worked an 8-inning complete game. The loss dropped his record to 4-1. 

The game featured only 12 hits, 6 by each team, and took only 2:09 to complete. 

Torreyes accounted for three of the Drillers' 6 hits. 

Tulsa and Frisco will conclude their series Thursday night. Ross Stripling (3-3, 3.73 ERA) will pitch for the Drillers, while the RoughRiders will counter with Connor Sadzeck (0-0, 14.40 ERA). Starting time at ONEOK Field is scheduled for 7:05PM.