Drillers advance to Texas League Championship series

Tulsa won and advances to the Texas League Championship series. The Loons lost their second straight and were eliminated from their playoffs. But the Raptors won Game 1 of their best-of-three series and they will go for series winner tonight.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers had an ace in the hole as they took on the Travelers (Mariners) in Game 5 of their series on Sunday. Edwin Uceta pitched six strong innings to earn the win.

Uceta, who in his combined work between Rancho Cucamonga and Tulsa pitched 123⅓ innings and he struck out 141 with a 2.77 ERA. On Sunday, Uceta allowed a run and five hits while striking out five.

Luis Vasquez pitched three scoreless innings to get the save.

Four Drillers, Connor Wong, Cody Thomas, Omar Estevez and Errol Robinson each had two hits. As a team, the Drillers had 12 hits and went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

The Drillers will have today off and they will likely spend it traveling to Amarillo, Texas to take on the Sod Poodles (Padres) in the Texas League Championship in their series beginning on Tuesday.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons went down to defeat by the Cubs as they were beaten 7-3 on Sunday. That meant the Cubs won their series two games to none. The Loons can look back on their Midwest League’s best regular season record of 81-55 and know that they played well for five months and that one two-game span does not define them.

The Loons trailed 2-1 until the Cubs scored twice in the both the fourth and fifth innings to build a lead the Loons could not overcome.

Justin Hagenman gave up those four runs (three earned) in 1⅔ innings pitched.

The Loons had 11 hits with four of their first five hitters collecting two hits apiece. But they went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.

Advanced Rookie Ogden

The Raptors and Rockies were tied 1-1 going to the top of the ninth inning. Up stepped Andrew Shaps who had entered the game as a defensive replacement back in the sixth inning. So Shaps went on to hit a solo home run that would provide the difference for the Raptors and give them a 2-1 lead.

The Raptors now head back to Ogden to play Game 2 tonight. If they win, they will advance to the Pioneer League Championship series.

The Raptors got excellent pitching from all four of their pitchers on Sunday. Elio Serrano started and pitched 5⅓ innings and gave up one run and five hits. Mitchell Tyranski, who was the Dodgers 12th round pick in 2019, pitched 1⅔ innings and struck out four.

Tyranski pitched 14 innings for Ogden this season and struck out 27 while walking two. Overall, Tyranski pitched 22 innings this season between Ogden and AZL Dodgers and he struck out 40 and walked three.

Jacob Cantleberry was the Dodgers 13th round pick in 2019, he pitched one inning and got the win. And finally, the Dodgers 7th round pitck in 2019, Nick Robertson, got the save as he retired the side in order in the ninth inning.

Other notes

Transactions

No transactions reported

Sunday scores

Tulsa 5, Arkansas 1

South Bend 7, Great Lakes 3

Ogden 2, Grand Junction 1

Monday schedule

5:30 pm: Ogden (TBD) vs. Grand Junction (TBD) - Game 2