Drillers Run Out Of Pitchers But Break Through To Win In 17th Inning

The Tulsa Drillers have received some impressive pitching performances this season, but nothing compared to what took place Tuesday night in Springfield. Tulsa pitchers combined to blank Springfield hitters for 15 innings, before running out of hurlers. Manager Razor Shines was forced to send first baseman Lars Anderson to the mound, and he continued the streak with a scoreless 16th inning.

The Drillers offense finally produced a run in the top of the 17th inning when Adam Law singled and eventually scored on a two-out double by Jeremy Rathjen.

With pitcher Steve Smith playing right field, Anderson worked around a two-out single in the bottom of the 17th and picked up the win in an improbable 1-0 victory at Hammons Field. The second out of the inning was provided by Smith on a basket catch in right field.

For Anderson, it was his first appearance on the mound in a professional game. His final line was 2 hits allowed in 2 shutout innings.

Tulsa used seven pitchers to keep Springfield scoreless for the first 15 innings before turning things over to Anderson.

Starter Deck McGuire turned in a quality outing, blanking the Redbirds on only four hits through the game's first six innings.

Ralston Cash relieved McGuire and retired all five batters he faced, and Ryan Dennick retired one batter.

Jacob Rhame and Chris Thomas continued the shutout, combining to work 4.2 scoreless innings while allowing only 2 hits.

Juan Gonzalez recorded four outs to carry the shutout through 15 innings.

Tulsa batters struck out 20 times in the contest that took nearly 4 hours to complete.

Catcher Ali Solis finished 3-7 with a pair of singles. It was his first multi-hit game since going 2-3 on opening day.

The Drillers announced another roster change prior to the start of Tuesday's game. Outfielder Peter Lavin was placed on the Disabled List and outfielder Adam Law was activated from the DL.

The Drillers will continue their series with the Cardinals Wednesday evening. Jeremy Kehrt (2-3, 3.41 ERA) is expected to make the start for Tulsa. Starting time in Springfield is scheduled for 6:30PM at Hammons Field.