Drillers Fall; Will Play For Texas League Title On Sunday

The 2014 Texas League season will come down to one game to determine a champion. The Tulsa Drillers will face the Midland RockHounds in a winner-take-all Game 5 Sunday afternoon in west Texas. The RockHounds forced the fifth and final game with a 9-4 victory over the Drillers at a chilly 54 degree Security Bank Ballpark in Midland on Saturday night.

In a post-season setting that seemed more appropriate for late October instead of mid-September, Midland jumped out to a six-run lead and never trailed in getting the victory that forced the final game.

The RockHounds opened the scoring in the second with a pair of runs off Jayson Aquino, who was making only his third start for the Drillers. With one out, Max Muncy singled and Matt Chapman drew a walk. Kenny Wilson singled home Muncy, and Beau Taylor plated Chapman with a squeeze bunt to give the Hounds an early 2-0 lead.

Midland increased its lead to 6-0 with a big four-run fourth. The inning began with three straight hits from Muncy, Chapman and Wilson that upped the lead to three runs. Daniel Robertson singled home another run, and D'Arby Myers capped the big inning with a two-run double.

It remained that way until the Drillers got back in the game with a four-run rally of their own in the top of the sixth. Tyler Massey opened the inning by drawing a walk from Deryk Hooker. Will Swanner, the hero of Tulsa's Game 4 victory, followed with a double to the gap in right-center field to plate Massey and put the Drillers on the scoreboard. Chris O'Dowd singled to put runners at the corners, and Delta Cleary Jr. followed with a base hit to center that scored Swanner to cut the deficit to four.

Murphy Smith relieved Hooker, and following a sacrifice bunt from Cristhian Adames, Taylor Featherston hit a slow roller up the third base line that Chapman barehanded and threw well wide of first baseman Muncy. By the time second baseman Daniel Robertson tracked down the errant throw, both O'Dowd and Cleary Jr. had crossed the plate to make it 6-4.

Smith kept the lead at two runs by striking out Ryan Casteel and retiring Trevor Story on a pop up.

The Drillers would get no closer as the Hounds promptly got two of the runs back in the bottom of the sixth. Robertson drew a leadoff walk from reliever Ryan Arrowood, and after Myers struck out, the key play of the inning occurred. Kent Matthes hit a liner at Story at short that looked like it might be an inning-ending double play, as Robertson was halfway to second base, but the ball deflected off Story's glove for an error that put runners at first and second. Arrowood recovered to pick Robertson off second base for the second out, but he walked Jeremy Barfield. Dusty Coleman then singled home Matthes, and Muncy plated Barfield with his fourth hit of the game that made it 8-4.

The Hounds tacked on another unearned run in the seventh to complete the scoring.

Reliever Javier Palacios, who pitched this season at Rookie League Grand Junction, made his Double-A debut for the Drillers in the eighth and retired the RockHounds in order.

Midland out-hit Tulsa 14-5 in the game. Muncy's four hits in the game were one short of a Texas League post-season record held by 11 players and last accomplished by the Drillers' Jason Grabowski in 1999.

It will be only the second time in franchise history that the Drillers will play a fifth and deciding Game 5 playoff game. In 2012, Tulsa lost Game 5 of the North Division Playoff Series by a final score of 3-1 to the Cardinals in Springfield. The Drillers have played in a number of Game 7 contests when the league championship was a best-of-seven series.

The pitching matchup in the finale will likely feature the two starters from Game 1. Eddie Butler will look for his first post-season win of the year for the Drillers. Nate Long, who led the TL with 13 regular season wins, will try to repeat his Game 1 victory for the RockHounds. Starting time in Midland is scheduled for 4:00PM.