The Kendall George show took over in Double-A while the Comets shut out Reno at home.
Player of the day
Ask not what Kendall George can do because the answer might just be everything. The Drillers’ center fielder was all over the place in a 6-4 win for Tulsa, raising his batting average to .346 by going four for four and also reaching 25 stolen bases on the year.
Having stolen 100 bags last season, it’s tough for George to dazzle you now, but think of this success rate, which has vastly improved. Not caught once, George is now 25 for 28 after being thrown out 24 times last season.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
One quiet day was more than enough for Alex Freeland, who made the most out of his one hit in what turned out to be an 8-0 win for the Comets. Freeland left the yard with a three-run shot in the sixth as part of a rally that saw the Comets score seven runs with a home run from Jack Suwinski as well.
Starter River Ryan needed a little over 60 pitches to get through five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and hand it off to a bullpen that was equally as dominant, carrying on to record 14 of their 27 outs on strikeouts against only five from Reno.
Double-A Tulsa
Reaching base safely in all five of his plate appearances, Kendall George could not have done more at the top of the order for the Drillers, a key player in this 6-4 win over the Wind Surge. Scoring half of the Drillers’ six runs, George was his usual dynamic self on the basepaths, responsible for all three of Tulsa’s stolen bases.
Outhitting the Wind Surge 13 to 6 as a team, the Drillers thrived at the top of the order, with 10 of those 13 hits coming from the top four, including yet another productive day from Mike Sirota. The recently promoted outfielder is settling in as nicely as anyone could’ve hoped in this new environment in Double-A.
Payton Martin finally earned his first win of the year, working through nine base runners (6 of them on walks) to allow just one earned run in 5.1 innings.
High-A Great Lakes
It’s tough to outhit your opponent and still lose by nine runs. That’s what happened as a rattled pitching staff for the Great Lakes could not stop walking Wisconsin’s hitters, leading to a 14-5 defeat that was somehow worse than that final score. The Loons managed to put up three garbage-time runs in the ninth to avoid losing by double digits.
On top of starter Jakob Wright, who allowed a couple of runs on one hit and five walks, the Loons had three other relievers concede more runs than they did hits. Among them was Acccimias Morales, the losing pitcher of record with four earned runs in 0.2 innings of work out of the bullpen.
Single-A Ontario
Seven of the Tower Buzzers’ batters recorded multiple hits, and it was the ninth-hole hitter, AJ Soldra, leading the charge in this 13-10 win. Soldra recorded four hits in five at-bats, the last of them a home run, surprisingly the game’s only long ball, when Ontario already led 12-10 in the ninth.
Starter Hyun-Seok Jang had the Tower Buzzers set for a blowout win, but the bullpen almost gave it all away, allowing four runs in the seventh and another four in the eighth. Luckily, Robby Porco provided some stability by pitching two scoreless innings to wrap things up and earn a second save on the season.
Thursday’s scores
- Oklahoma City 8, Reno 0
- Wichita 4, Tulsa 6
- Great Lakes 5, Wisconsin 14
- Inland Empire 11, Ontario 13
Friday’s schedule
- 3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Christian Zazueta) vs. Wisconsin (Josh Knoth)
- 4:35 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Adam Serwinowski) at Wichita (Sam Armstrong)
- 5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Charlie Barnes) vs. Reno (Kohl Drake)
- 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at Inland Empire (Mason Peters)
