SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -
With the two team's playoff spots already assured, the four-game series between Tulsa and Springfield at Hammons Field this week is essentially meaningless. But, if the first two games of the series are any indication, next week's best-of-five North Division Playoff Series should be outstanding.
For the second straight game Wednesday night, the two teams battled to the final pitch. For the second straight game, the Drillers finished on top. After losing a two-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Tulsa Drillers got a big three-run, pinch-hit home run from Kiel Roling in the top of the ninth, then survived another rally attempt from the Redbirds in the bottom of the ninth, to claim a narrow 6-5 victory.
The result leaves the teams with identical 15-15 records in their 30 meetings this season. Nearly half of the games have been decided by a single run with Tulsa now holding an 8-6 record in those 14 meetings.
After blowing their 3-1 lead in the eight inning, the Drillers quickly responded in the ninth. Mike Mitchell struck out to open the inning, but Jose Gonzalez and Warren Schaeffer delivered consecutive singles. Manager Duane Espy then called on Roling to bat for reliever Joe Torres, and the pinch-hitter blasted a 3-1 pitch from Michael Blazek well over the left field wall. Roling's 10th home run of the season gave the Drillers a 6-3 lead, but the game was far from over.
Brett Jacobson took over for Torres to open the bottom of the ninth and promptly walked Greg Garcia. Texas League Player of the Year Oscar Taveras followed with his 23rd home run to quickly cut Tulsa's lead to a single run.
Jacobson recovered to strike out both Jamie Romak and Xavier Scruggs to get within one out of ending the game, but he walked Adam Melker to bring the potential winning run to the plate.
Espy turned to Mike Solbach from the bullpen to face catcher Audry Perez. The right-hander needed only two pitches to retire Perez on a ground out to end the game and collect his first Double A save as well as preserve Tulsa's fifth straight win.
Solbach has been brilliant since signing with the Colorado Rockies out of the independent Atlantic League, and his yet to issue a run at two different levels. He has worked eight scoreless innings in two separate stints with the Drillers. In between, he worked 7.2 scoreless innings for Class A Modesto.
For the second straight game, the offense reached double figures in hits, finishing with 12. Angelys Nina led the attack with four hits, while Nolan Arenado and Ben Paulsen collected two each.
The Drillers opened the game's scoring with a run in the top of the third. Schaeffer drew a leadoff walk from Springfield starter Boone Whiting and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from starting pitcher Parker Frazier. Corey Dickerson flied out, but Nina drew a walk to keep the inning alive. Arenado came through with a two-out base hit that scored Schaeffer to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead.
The margin increased to two runs in the sixth inning when Nina and Arenado opened the inning with consecutive singles. With runners and first and third, Paulsen produced a sacrifice fly that scored Nina to make it 2-0.
Springfield second baseman Kolten Wong delivered the only damage against Frazier in the bottom half of the sixth. Wong belted his ninth home run of the year to cut the Drillers lead in half.
Tulsa got the run back in the top of the eighth, and Nina was again involved. The second baseman doubled with one out and scored on a two-out base hit by Paulsen.
The Cardinals erased the lead in the bottom of the inning. Zach Simons came on for Frazier and was greeted by Melker's tenth home run that cut the lead to 3-2. Perez followed with a base hit and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt.
Joe Torres was brought in to take over for Simons, and the lefthander's first pitch was lined into right field by Chris Swauger, plating Perez with the game-tying run. Torres escaped the inning by getting a ground out and a pickoff to set the stage for Tulsa's ninth-inning comeback.
A tough-luck season for Parker Frazier continued. He was in a position to pick up a victory, departing after seven stellar innings and with a 3-1 lead. The Tulsa native delivered one of his best outings of the season, as he allowed only three hits and did not walk a batter while striking out three. Despite lowering his season ERA to 3.88, Frazier's record remained at 5-14.
The two teams will play game three of their series at 7:08PM Thursday night. Josh Outman (1-5, 4.01 ERA) will pitch for the Drillers against Kevin Siegrist (1-1, 2.96) of the Cardinals.
Tulsa's Parker Frazier surrendered 1 run on 3 hits over 7 complete innings while striking out 3 in Wednesday's 6-5 win.
