Frisco Takes Down Drillers

Former ORU pitcher Alex Gonzalez outdueled Tulsa starter Eddie Butler in an 8-2 Frisco victory over the Drillers. 

Saturday, August 16th 2014, 11:47 pm

By: News On 6


It was a battle of first round draft picks on the mound Saturday night at ONEOK Field as Tulsa hosted Frisco, and neither pitcher disappointed. Eddie Butler and Alex Gonzalez, an Oral Roberts University product, are both touted as future major league starters, and the pair looked the part. It was Gonzalez though, who finished on top, as the RoughRiders posted a 8-2 victory in a game that was much closer than the final score showed.

Rumble, the mascot of the OKC Thunder, was one of the Drillers' biggest fans at Saturday Night's game. (Rich Crimi)

Gonzalez, who began the season in the Class-A Carolina League, surrendered only one run and six hits in seven innings of work. He walked two batters and struck out eight. The victory improved his record with the RoughRiders to 7-3. Overall this season, the right-hander now has 12 wins against only 5 losses.

Butler, who started one game in the majors for the Colorado Rockies this season, surrendered only four hits in seven innings, but two of the hits were home runs. He threw 93 pitches, 63 for strikes, and hit 96 m.p.h. on his final pitch of the night to record a strikeout that ended the seventh. Butler issued only one walk and collected five strikeouts.

The RoughRiders opened the game's scoring in the second inning. With one out, Nick Williams doubled off Butler, and Nomar Mozara followed with his second home run of the season.

Tulsa got a homer of its own in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit in half. After Gonzalez had retired the first two batters of the inning, Trevor Story deposited a pitch into the Budweiser Terrace in left field, marking the second straight game that the infielder has homered for the Drillers. It was Story's seventh home run at the Double-A level.

The battle of long balls continued in the fourth. Frisco third baseman and MLB Futures Game MVP Joey Gallo cleared the bullpens in right field with his 18th Double-A home run to put the Riders in front 3-1. The blast allowed Gallo to stay within two of Texas League home run leader Telvin Nash, who hit his 20th for Corpus Christi on Saturday.

Gallo's numbers with Frisco have come in just over two months of action with the RoughRiders. He began the year at Class-A Myrtle Beach before being promoted on June 9 and now has a combined 39 homers this season, the second most in Minor League Baseball. He needs one more to become the first minor league to have back-to-back 40 home run seasons since Ron Kittle accomplished the feat in the 1981 and 1982 seasons.

The home run theme continued into the later innings. With the score still at 3-1, Jayson Langfels pulled the Drillers to within one run with his fourth homer. The solo shot came off Frisco reliever Francisco Mendoza.

Any hopes of a Tulsa comeback ended with a tough top of the ninth. With two outs and a runner at first base, reliever Cole White got what appeared to be an inning-ending grounder from Williams, but the ball deflected off shortstop Taylor Featherston's glove for an error.

The miscue proved costly as it was followed with four straight hits that produced five runs and upped the RoughRiders lead to an insurmountable six runs.

Each team collected eight hits in the contest. Tulsa's Tyler Massey finished 0-3, snapping his 11-game hitting streak.

Mazara led Frisco's attack with two hits and four runs batted in.

The Drillers just missed recording their 17th home sellout of the season. A paid crowd of 7,648 watched the action in downtown Tulsa.

The Drillers are scheduled to close out their homestand at 7:05 p.m. Sunday evening at ONEOK Field. Carlos Hernandez (4-6, 2.71 ERA) will pitch the finale for Tulsa against Frisco's Alec Asher (9-11, 4.00 ERA).

 

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