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Kyle Hurt, shown earlier this season, pitched four shutout innings Thursday for his first Tulsa Drillers win.
Up next: 7:05 p.m. vs. Midland RockHounds at ONEOK Field
TV/Radio: KRSU-TV, KTBZ am1430
Probable pitchers: Midland, LHP David Leal (3-4, 5.19 ERA); Tulsa, LHP John Rooney (4-4, 5.14 ERA).
Season series: Drillers lead 6-3 (entering Saturday)
Promotions: Noodlers Beach Towels — Noodlers Weekend continues at ONEOK Field as the first 1,500 fans who enter through the Oil Derrick, Union Home Mortgage or the Osage Casino Hotel/Greenwood gates will receive a Noodlers beach towel. For the second night in a row, there will be a catfish tank with live noodling demonstrations during the game.
On deck: 1:05 p m. Sunday vs. Midland (Noodlers Kids Socks giveaway, Family Funday, Skills Clinic)
Roster move: Drillers catcher Carson Taylor was activated from the Injured List and was in Friday’s lineup, as the designated hitter, against Midland for the first time since suffering an injury in the Aug. 4 game at Northwest Arkansas. Taylor singled in his first at-bat. Friday’s game was not completed before the World’s Saturday print edition deadline. Go online to tulsaworld.com for a game recap.
Streak ends: Gavin Stone had not allowed a home run in 68 2/3 innings since joining Tulsa before giving up Kyle McCann’s towering two-run blast in the first on Friday.
Thursday’s recap: Lael Lockhart and Kyle Hurt combined for 16 strikeouts to pitch Tulsa past Midland 3-1 on Thursday night at ONEOK Field.
In the seventh inning, Kenneth Betancourt lined a two-out RBI single that snapped a 1-1 tie. Justin Yurchak added a solo homer in the eighth.
Midland threatened with two outs in the ninth on Max Schuemann’s bad-hop single and Zack Gelof’s walk, but Hurt (1-2) struck out Kyle McCann to wrap up his first Double-A win.
Hurt allowed four hits and didn’t issue a walk in four shutout innings after entering the game with a 12.00 ERA over his six previous Drillers outings. Hurt threw 50 strikes out of 78 pitches.
“That’s kind of what we were thinking we would see,” Drillers manager Scott Hennessey said. “He was just electric tonight. It’s good to get him some confidence. He had four pitches working tonight, he was up to 98 (mph). He pitched with an attitude tonight that he hasn’t pitched with, and it was great to see, just a confident look from him.”
Lockhart, a former University of Arkansas lefty in his ONEOK Field debut, gave up one unearned run in five innings. He walked three and struck out seven as he threw 49 of 82 pitches for strikes.
The Drillers (58-45, 18-18 second half) played as the “Noodlers” in lime green uniforms. Midland (54-51, 23-13) stranded 11 runners.
Impressive debut: Center fielder Ismael Alcantara went 1-for-3 in his Drillers debut Thursday. He was robbed of another potential triple on a dazzling catch at the wall by Midland center fielder Michael Guldberg in the seventh inning. Alcantara was batting only .183 at High-A Great Lakes when he was promoted.
“Saw a lot of him in spring training and saw him in the Dominican (Republic) the past couple years,” Hennessey said. “He can really defend and I think he’s a better hitter than he showed at Great Lakes this year. He started out really good but just hasn’t swung the bat well there. He put two really good swings on the ball tonight. He can really run and throw, we just need to get his bat going.”
Ginn, Criswell (5) and McCann; Lockhart, Hurt (6) and January. W: Hurt (1-2). L: Criswell (2-4). HR: Tulsa, Yurchak (6). RBI: Tulsa, Betancourt (1), Yurchak (35). E: Midland, Soderstrom (1); Tulsa, Yurchak (6), Valera (14). DP: Midland 2, Tulsa 1. LOB: Midland 11, Tulsa 5. T: 2:38. A: 4,108.
Thursday’s lineups: Midland — 1, Max Schuemann, CF (AB-R-H-BI, 5-0-1-0); 2, Zack Gelof, 3B (4-0-2-0); 3, Kyle McCann, C (4-0-1-0); 4, Jordan Diaz, DH (4-0-3-0); 5, Tyler Soderstrom, 1B (4-0-0-0); 6, Logan Davidson, SS (4-0-0-0); 7, Michael Guldberg, CF (3-1-0-0); 8, Marty Bechina, LF (3-0-0-0); 9, Chase Calabuig, RF (4-0-0-0).
Tulsa — 1, Leonel Valera, SS (4-0-0-0); 2, Justin Yurchak, LF (4-1-1-1); 3, Andy Pages, CF (4-0-1-0); 4, Brandon Lewis, 1B (3-1-1-0); 5, Abiatal Avelino, 3B (2-1-0-0); 6, Ryan January, C (2-0-0-0); 7, Ty Kelly, DH (3-0-0-0); 8, Kenneth Betancourt, 2B (3-0-1-1); 9, Ismael Alcantara, CF (3-0-1-0).
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I cover pro baseball, including the Tulsa Drillers, and coordinate the Tulsa World's high school sports coverage. I write about high school football and basketball. Phone: 918-581-8393
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Kyle Hurt, shown earlier this season, pitched four shutout innings Thursday for his first Tulsa Drillers win.
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