truebluefan

For the second straight game Friday night, the Tulsa Drillers surrendered a double figure run total, resulting in a second straight loss. In Friday's defeat, it was the Midland RockHounds doing the scoring, posting a 12-8 victory in the first game of a 3-game series in west Texas.

The RockHounds never trailed in the game, taking a 9-0 lead after five innings. The Hounds jumped on starting pitcher Marc Kaiser for three runs in the first inning and then added four more in the third and two more in the fifth.

The Drillers got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning as Ian Stewart singled and Joe Koshansky belted his league-leading 23rd home run of the season. An infield single by Troy Tulowitzki with the bases loaded later in the inning cut the lead to 9-3.

In the seventh, Stewart doubled and scored on Joe Gaetti's base hit. Another double, this one by Jordan Czarniecki, scored Gaetti to make it 9-5.

A run-scoring single by Koshansky in the eighth inning pulled the Drillers to within three runs, but it would be as close as they would get. Midland put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

A two-run homer by Matt Macri, his eighth of the year, completed the game's scoring in the top of the ninth inning.

Tulsa actually out-hit Midland 15-14 in the slugfest. Tulowitzki led the Drillers attack, finishing 3-5. Stewart, Koshansky, Christian Colonel and Alvin Colina all had two hits each.

Kaiser's record drops to 7-8 with the loss. He allowed nine hits and nine runs in five innings of work. David Bradley picked up the win to improve to 5-8.

Despite the loss, the Drillers remain only three games behind Wichita in the North Division standings.