Drillers receive pitching gem in Chris Campos' Double-A debut; Mickey Mantle Night scheduled (2024)

Weekend

Up next: 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday 1 p.m. Sunday, Tulsa Drillers vs. Amarillo Sod Poodles at ONEOK Field

Radio: KTBZ am1430

Probable pitchers: Friday — Amarillo, RHP Billy Corcoran (3-2, 2.40 ERA); Tulsa, RHP Jacob Meador (0-1, 3.24 ERA). Saturday — Amarillo, RHP Dylan Ray (0-1, 6.00 ERA) Tulsa, RHP Orlando Ortiz-Mayr (3-4, 6.28 ERA). Sunday — Amarillo, RHP Jamison Hill (1-4, 6.87 ERA) Tulsa, RHP Kendall Williams (3-7, 6.71 ERA)

Season series: Drillers lead 5-4

Promotions: Friday — Fireworks. Saturday — Fireworks. It’s also the 12th annual Mickey Mantle Night with a 1962 MVP ring giveaway for the first 2,000 fans entering through the Tulsa World First Base, Oil Derrick or Greenwood/Osage Casino entrances. His sons, David and Danny Mantle, will visit with fans and throw the ceremonial first pitch. Sunday — Drillers Stars and Stripes baseball giveaway for the first 500 kids. Also kids get a coupon for a free hot dog, drink, fruit and ice cream treat, plus they can play catch on the field from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

On deck: July 4-6 vs. Wichita (Fireworks)

Driller bits

Thursday’s recap: Alex Freeland lined a tiebreaking two-out RBI double in the seventh inning to lift the Drillers past the Sod Poodles 2-1 at ONEOK Field. Freeland had been 0-for-12 in the series before his hit that chased home Brandon Lewis from first after he singled with one out.

Tulsa’s Jose Ramos, after being in a 1-for-24 slump, has five hits in his last six at-bats with five RBIs. He singled home the opening run in the fourth after Brendon Davis’ triple.

The Drillers (36-36, 2-1 second half) had averaged 15 runs in each of their four previous wins against Amarillo (31-41, 1-2) this season. It was the Drillers’ fastest nine-inning game of the season at 2:04.

Stellar pitching: Chris Campos was impressive in his Double-A debut for the Drillers on Thursday. Campos, a seventh-round Dodgers draft choice in 2022 from St. Mary’s (California) pitched six shutout innings, allowed four hits, struck out five and didn’t issue a walk in his first appearance since being promoted from High-A Great Lakes.

“We got a great start from Chris Campos and it really set the tone,” Drillers manager Scott Hennessey said. “I think he kept them off balance — fastball-slider-changeup mix, they couldn’t get into a rhythm and he was throwing everything for strikes.”

Campos, who threw 56 of 76 pitches for strikes, kept the same approach he had been taking at Great Lakes, where he had 10 walks and 50 strikeouts.

“It was a lot of fun, a lot of electricity in the stadium,” Campos said.

“I just went out there and executed my pitches. Just was keeping it simple. That’s something I look out for is my walks and I want to keep those down. Just try to be efficient and keep my pitch count down.”

Familiar foe: Amarillo right-hander Cole Percival, who pitched for Tulsa in 2022-23, recently shifted to the bullpen after making nine starts. He is 3-5 with a 4.62 ERA. He tossed a perfect inning Thursday.

Promotions schedule: The Drillers announced their second-half promotions schedule Thursday. There are 11 fireworks shows scheduled. Other highlights include Raft Racers Weekend (Aug. 14-18), OKC Thunder Night (Sept. 6) and Harry Potter Night (Sept. 7).

Winning debut: David Festa became the first member of the 2020 Drillers’ college team to reach the majors Thursday. He pitched five innings and picked up the win for the Minnesota Twins, 13-6, at Arizona.

Thursday

DRILLERS 2, SOD POODLES 1

Amarillo 000 000 100 — 1 6 1

Tulsa 000 100 10x — 2 8 2

File, Alvarez (7), Percival (8) and Roberts Campos, Hobbs (7), Boyer (8) and Rushing. W: Hobbs (2-1). L: Alvarez (0-1). Save: Boyer (5). RBI: Amarillo, Patino (12) Tulsa, Ramos (36), Freeland (20). E: Amarillo, Tawa (8) Tulsa, Campos (1), Rushing (2). LOB: Amarillo 7, Tulsa 6. DP: Amarillo 1. T: 2:04. A: 3,564.

— Barry Lewis, Tulsa World

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