Cleary Jr. Comes Through To Carry Drillers To Victory

Entering the ninth inning Tuesday night at ONEOK Field, Delta Cleary Jr. had enjoyed a big night at the plate with three hits from his leadoff spot. The outfielder didn't stop there though. His fourth hit of the evening in the bottom of the ninth scored Jose Rivera from second base for the winning run as the Drillers rallied for a 6-5 walk-off win over Northwest Arkansas.

Tulsa starter Richard Castillo pitched into the 7th inning before giving up back-to-back home runs.

The dramatic victory was not the only news of the night for the Drillers as they also learned who their opponent in the Texas League playoffs would be. Arkansas defeated Springfield 5-4 on Tuesday to clinch the second-half North Division crown. The Drillers and Naturals will meet in the best-of-five North Division Playoff Series with Tulsa hosting games one and two on September 3 and 4 of next week.

Tuesday's game marked the start of the final regular season homestand for Tulsa and the two teams traded early offensive outbursts. After the Naturals opened the scoring with an unearned run off Richard Castillo in the top of the first, the Drillers responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Tulsa began the initial inning with four straight hits. Leadoff man Delta Cleary Jr. singled and moved to third on a base hit by Chris O'Dowd. After O'Dowd swiped second base, Taylor Featherston brought both base runners home with a double into the left field corner. A fourth hit from Ryan Casteel moved Featherston to third where he scored on a fielder's choice grounder from Tyler Massey to give the Drillers a 3-1 lead.

Northwest Arkansas promptly responded in the top of the second when Hunter Dozier led off with a single and moved to third on a double from Jorge Bonifacio. Juan Graterol evened the score at 3-3 with another double that plated both Dozier and Bonifacio.

From there, Castillo and Northwest Arkansas starter Matt Murray settled in and slowed the scoring. The game remained tied until the Naturals turned to the long ball to retake the lead.

Graterol hit Castillo's first pitch in the seventh inning over the Budweiser Terrace in left field for his fourth home run of the season. Parker Morin made it back-to-back shots when he followed with his third homer of the season off the top of the right field foul pole to up the Northwest Arkansas lead to 5-3.

The Naturals appeared to add to their lead in the top of the eighth. With runners at second and third, Kraig Sitton delivered a wild pitch that caromed off to the backstop. Dozier trotted home from third, but catcher O'Dowd alertly realized that Dozier had not touched home plate and the run was removed from the scoreboard, keeping the lead at two runs.

The Drillers crept closer in the bottom of the eighth when Cleary Jr. singled, stole second and scored on a bouncing base hit from Featherston that just escaped the glove of second baseman Angel Franco.

The game-deciding bottom of the ninth began luckily for the Drillers as Humphries struck out to open the inning, but reached safely when the third strike bounced to the backstop. Will Swanner struck out, but Humphries advanced to second on a ground out from Joey Wong.

Rivera tied the game up with a base hit into centerfield and advanced into scoring position when the throw from centerfielder Lane Adams came home. That set the stage for the game winner from Cleary Jr. Mark Peterson was summoned from the Naturals' bullpen to replace Brandon Finnegan. Cleary Jr. lined the first pitch from Peterson down the right field line for his fourth hit of the night and plated Rivera with the winning run.

The victory was the fourth straight for the Drillers, only two short of matching a season high.

Featherston also enjoyed a big night at the plate for Tulsa, finishing with two hits and three runs batted in.

It was only the second time this season that Castillo pitched into the seventh inning, and the two late homers tainted a quality start from the right-hander. His final line was five runs allowed, four earned, on ten hits in six-plus innings.

After surviving the difficult first inning, Murray was outstanding for Northwest Arkansas. He allowed only one more run and recorded one out in the eighth before departing.