Drillers Shut Out By Springfield In Opener

The Tulsa Drillers ran into a buzz saw Thursday and saw their five-game win streak snapped, falling to the Springfield Cardinals 6-0 to open the weekend series.

Springfield (7-6) starter Trevor Rosenthal (1-2) was dialed in, giving up just four hits and striking out six in his six innings of service. Eric Fortunato came in for two innings of relief and struck out three to hold the lead.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead, thanks to an RBI double by Xavier Scruggs in the bottom of the first and an RBI single from Jose Garcia in the bottom of the second gave the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage early on.

A two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth by Greg Garcia gave the Cardinals a four-run lead and essentially ended the day for Drillers' (9-4) starter Dan Houston.

Houston finished after just four innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits, picking up his second loss of the year.

Springfield added on two more in the bottom of the seventh to close the door on a Drillers comeback.

The two squads will dust it off and try again at 7:08 p.m. Friday, the second of the four-game weekend series.