Drillers Rally In Ninth To Beat Naturals

The Tulsa Drillers staged one of their biggest comebacks of the season Saturday night in Springdale, Arkansas. The Drillers overcame a two-run deficit with three runs in the ninth inning to rally for a 6-5 victory over Northwest Arkansas at Arvest Ballpark.

Kiel Roling's two-out, bases loaded single off Naturals closer Zach Jackson in the final inning turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead, and former Northwest Arkansas reliever Cole White worked through a tense bottom of the ninth to complete the victory.

It was only the second time this season that the Drillers had won a road game when trailing entering the final inning.

Down 5-3, Tulsa's ninth-inning rally began when Jayson Langfels drew a one-out walk from Jackson. Delta Cleary Jr. followed with a base hit, but Dustin Garneau flied out for the second out of the inning.

Jackson got two quick strikes on Joey Wong, but the Drillers shortstop eventually worked a walk to load the bases and prolong the game. Kyle Parker followed with his third hit of the night to score Langfels and pull Tulsa to within one run.

Roling wasted little time in putting the Drillers in front, lining the first pitch he saw from Jackson into centerfield, scoring both Cleary Jr. and Wong to turn the deficit into a 6-5 lead.

White worked out of trouble in the bottom of the ninth to close out the victory against his former teammates. Mitch Canham opened the inning with a bouncer to the right of Roling. The first baseman fielded the grounder, but he threw it wildly past White, allowing Canham to race to second.

Brett Eibner followed with a one-hopper back to White. Canham was eventually tagged out after a rundown, but Eibner was able to advance to second base before the out was recorded. Orlando Calixte was hit by a pitch, but Rey Navarro grounded into a force out.

With runners at first and third, Texas League home run leader Matt Fields came to the plate. Fields produced a high fly ball that centerfielder Cleary Jr. caught in front of the warning track to end the threat and preserve the victory. For White, it was his 13th save of the season.

Both teams' offenses started the game quickly. The Drillers opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning against Felipe Paulino, who was on an injury rehabilitation start from the Kansas City Royals. Wong drew a one-out walk and Parker followed with his 20th home run of the season to stake Tulsa to an early lead.

Northwest Arkansas responded with runs in each of its first two at-bats. Eibner tripled on the second pitch from Tulsa starter Tyler Matzek in the bottom of the first and came home on a sacrifice fly from Navarro.

In the bottom of the second, Matzek walked the inning's first three batters to load the bases. Roman Hernandez followed with a two-run single that put the Naturals in front 3-2.

Matzek ran into trouble again in the fourth inning. Jorge Bonifacio doubled with one out and scored on a base hit by Lane Adams. After Adams swiped second bases, he came home on a single from Whit Merrifield that made it 5-2.

It remained that way until the eighth inning, when Tulsa took advantage of an error to cut into its deficit. Jaron Shepherd led off and reached on an error by Navarro at third. After Wong was retired, Parker singled to put runners at first and third. Roling then dropped a base hit into shallow center field that scored Shepherd to pull the Drillers to within one run and set the stage for the ninth-inning rally.

Matzek lasted only four innings, his shortest outing since May 13. The lefthander struggled with his command, issuing five walks and surrendering five runs on five hits.

Joe Gardner worked a scoreless eighth inning to pick up the win and improve his record to 4-3.

Paulino, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, allowed three hits and two runs in his three innings of work.

The Drillers will play the fourth and final game of their series with the Naturals at 6:00PM Sunday night at Arvest Ballpark. Eddie Butler, rated the Colorado Rockies' third best overall minor league prospect by MLB.com, will make his Double A debut for the Drillers.

The hard-throwing Butler was a combined 8-5 with a 2.07 ERA for Asheville and Modesto this season while holding opponents to a .189 batting average. The Naturals will send Brooks Pounders (5-4, 4.62 ERA) to the mound.