DRILLERS ARE CHAMPS!
TulsaDrillers.com
Posted: 6/18/2006
June 18, 2006 – The Tulsa Drillers are the first-half champions of the Texas League’s North Division. A dramatic winner-take-all game with the Springfield Cardinals Sunday afternoon turned anti-climatic when the Drillers scored five times in the top of the third inning. After the big inning, Tulsa starting pitcher Marc Kaiser turned in a brilliant performance, retiring 21 straight hitters at one point, as the Drillers won the first-half finale 8-1.
The win allowed the Drillers to finish one game in front of the Cardinals in the standings. Tulsa finished with a record of 41-29, while Springfield finished at 39-29.
After losing the resumption of Saturday night’s game earlier in the afternoon, the Drillers took an early lead in Sunday’s regularly scheduled contest. Ian Stewart lined the first pitch of the second inning over the wall in right field to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead. After the homer, Chris Iannetta singled and Joe Gaetti doubled. A groundout by Jordan Czarniecki plated Iannetta to make it 2-0.
The Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the second when Terry Evans led off with his sixth homer of year to cut the lead in half.
Springfield then provided Tulsa plenty of help in the pivotal third, as all five runs that scored were unearned . Troy Tulowitzki led off with a fly ball that left fielder Nick Stavinoha dropped for a three base error. A passed ball by catcher Gabe Johnson allowed Tulowitzki to come home with the Drillers third run. After Seth Smith popped out, Joe Koshanksy was hit by a pitch. Ian Stewart singled and Iannetta was hit by another pitch to load the bases. Joe Gaetti then hit a pop up just behind first base that the Cardinals failed to catch. Koshansky scored to make it 4-1, but Iannetta was forced at second base on the play. Czarniecki followed, and with runners at first and third, he hit a drive down the left field line that cleared the wall just inside the foul pole for his 8th home run of the year. The homer increased Tulsa’s lead to 7-1.
From there, Kaiser dominated. From the third through the eighth inning, the Cardinals did not have a single base runner. Mike McCoy finally broke the streak of 21 straight outs with a one-out single in the ninth. Kaiser quickly ended any comeback hopes when he got pinch-hitter Cody Haerther to ground into a game-ending double play.
The performance by Kaiser improved his record to 6-5 and lowered his ERA to 4.03. It was only the second 9-inning, complete game for a Tulsa hurler this season. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a 9-inning shutout earlier this month.
Stewart, Iannetta, Gaetti and Czarniecki all had two hits each to lead a 10-hit Tulsa attack. Czarniecki finished with four runs batted in.
The first-half title guarantees the Drillers a spot in the first round of the Texas League playoffs in September. Tulsa will play the North Division’s second-hlaf winner in a best-of-five series with games one and two at Drillers Stadium.
The Drillers will now enjoy three off days as the Texas League takes its All-Star break. The All-Star Game will be played Tuesday night in Little Rock with eight Tulsa players participating.
Tulsa will begin the second-half of the season Thursday night at Drillers Stadium against the Midland RockHounds. It will be the beginning of a 7-game homestand for the Drillers. Steven Register will be the starting pitcher in Thursday’s opener with first pitch scheduled for 7:05PM.