Travelers take sole possession of first

TRAVELERS 3, DRILLERS 2

The Arkansas Travelers took the outright lead in the Texas League North on Friday night after a 3-2 victory over the Tulsa Drillers at ONEOK Field in Tulsa.

The Travs' victory and Northwest Arkansas' 5-4 loss to Springfield in Springfield, Mo., gave Arkansas a one-game lead over the Naturals.

Three Arkansas pitchers combined to limit the Drillers to five hits, including starter Jordan Kipper (10-5) who allowed 3 over 6 1/3 innings while striking out 5. Tyler DeLoach gave up a hit in his 1 2/3 innings in relief of Kipper, while Keynan Middleton allowed a two-out home run to Kyle Garlick in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Arkansas took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Andrew Daniel lined a two-out single to score Anthony Phillips, who led off the inning with a walk off Tulsa starter Seth Frankoff (0-2).

Tulsa tied the score in the bottom of the inning when Garlick led off with a single to left center. After a walk and a hit batsman, Willie Calhoun lofted a sacrifice fly to center to score Garlick.

The Travs took the lead for good in the top of the fifth when Phillips led off with a double to right center. Tim Arakawa's RBI single to right center followed to give Arkansas a 2-1 lead.

Arkansas scored its final run in the sixth on Eric Aguilera's 12th home run of the season, a leadoff shot to right field off Tulsa reliever Yimi Garcia.

Middleton got the first two outs in the bottom of the ninth before Garlick tagged him for his sixth home run of the season. Middleton then got Edwin Rios to line out to Bo Way in center field to seal the Travs' victory.

Sports on 07/30/2016

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