Drillers Come From Behind To Beat NW Arkansas

For the second game in a row Wednesday night, the Tulsa Drillers produced a come-from-behind-victory over Northwest Arkansas, but they did not wait until the ninth inning for this one. Three times the Naturals took the lead, but three times the Drillers rallied. The final rally proved decisive as Tyler Massey delivered a three-run homer and Will Swanner a two-run shot in a five-run sixth inning to propel Tulsa to a 7-3 victory. The win was the fifth straight for the Drillers, one shy of matching a season high.

The Naturals started quickly in the game against Tulsa's Eddie Butler. Speedy Lane Adams, a native of Red Oak, Oklahoma, led off the game with a base hit and moved to second with his 36th stolen base of the season. Adams advanced to third on a base hit by Ethan Chapman and scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly from Brian Fletcher.

The Drillers tied the game at 1-1 in the second inning, courtesy of Trevor Story. Naturals' starting pitcher Luke Farrell, the son of Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell, was making his Double-A debut and retired the first five hitters he faced before Story delivered his ninth home run of the year to even the score.

Brian Fletcher matched Story leading off the top of the fourth for Northwest Arkansas. Fletcher cleared the Budweiser Terrace in left field with his fourth homer of the season to put the Naturals back in front.

Tulsa evened the score again with a run in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, consecutive singles by Jayson Langfels and Will Swanner put runners at the corners. A sacrifice fly from Delta Cleary Jr. tied the score at 2-2, but the Drillers nearly got more. After Swanner stole second, Chris O'Dowd grounded a single into left field. Swanner attempted to score on the hit, but left fielder Chapman made a strong throw home and catcher Parker Morin tagged him out to keep the game tied.

It did not stay that way long as both teams struck again in the sixth inning. For Northwest Arkansas, Adams led off with a double and eventually scored on a hit by Fletcher.

Again, the Naturals could not protect the lead. In the bottom of the sixth, Taylor Featherston led off with a base hit, and Ryan Casteel drew a walk. With the runners at first and second, Massey drilled a delivery from Farrell deep to right field, but it was well foul. On the next pitch, his timing was perfect as he hit a drive inside the right field foul pole that landed onto Elgin Avenue for a three-run homer that gave Tulsa a 5-3 lead. It was the Massey's seventh home run and fourth at ONEOK Field.

Tulsa was not finished in the inning as Humphries delivered a one-out single. After Farrell retired Langfels on a fly out, Swanner greeted reliever Kevin Perez with a home run that just cleared the right field fence near the 307 foot marker. It was his third homer at the Double-A level.

Relievers Nate Striz and Ken Roberts held Northwest Arkansas scoreless in the final three innings.

Striz allowed only a single to Adams, his third hit of the night, in two shutout innings, while Roberts pitched around a one-out hit in a scoreless ninth.

The win for Butler improved his record to 6-9 and was only his second victory in seven decisions since returning to the Drillers in July. The right-hander was charged with three runs on seven hits in his six innings. He walked only 1 batter while striking out 2, throwing 58 strikes in 93 pitches.

Offensively, the Drillers had 11 hits in the victory with eight of the nine starters getting at least one. The three runs batted in for Massey equaled a season high for the outfielder.