TEXAS LEAGUE

Home runs doom Naturals in sixth

A five-run sixth-inning sparked by home runs from Tyler Massey and Will Swanner helped the Tulsa Drillers rally for a 7-3 victory Wednesday night against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in front of an announced crowd of 3,828 at ONEOK Field in Tulsa.

After the Naturals took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth on Brian Fletcher's RBI single, the Drillers put their first two runners on to lead off the bottom of the inning against Northwest Arkansas starter Luke Farrell (0-1). Massey lined an 0-2 pitch off Massey over the right-field fence to give the Drillers a 5-3 advantage.

Brian Humphries sandwiched a single between two outs before Swanner greeted Naturals reliever Kevin Perez with a two-run home run to right to increase the lead to 7-3.

The Naturals' final threat came in the seventh when they had runners on second and third, but Fletcher grounded out to second to end the inning.

Tulsa rallied from three one-deficits in the game. The Naturals took leads with single runs in the first, fourth and sixth innings, but the Drillers tied the score in the second and fifth before their five-run burst in the sixth.

Lane Adams led the Naturals, going 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored, and Fletcher was 2 for 3 and drove in all 3 runs.

Farrell gave up 8 hits, allowing 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings while walking 2 and striking out 5.

Sports on 08/28/2014

Upcoming Events