Drew Rucinski was dealing
The former Union High School hurler had quite the rousing return home on Wednesday night.
He skirted around an unearned run in the first inning, and at one point retired 11 Drillers in a row in Arkansas' 4-1 win.
He didn't need a gaudy strikeout count. He didn't need to be perfect. The dominance was evident, regardless.
"Each time you go on the mound, it's a new experience," Rucinski said.
He's right. And his last experience at ONEOK Field (4 1/3 innings, six earned runs, nine hits) wasn't ideal.
But Game 1 of the Texas League playoffs was a new experience.
"You get excited for it, being in the playoffs," said Rucinski, who picked the win after allowing five hits in seven innings of work. "Just go out there and do what you can do."
Being in the same division that consists of only four teams, a pitcher is bound to face the same hitters over and over. Rucinski used that as leverage, instead of being a hindrance.
"It's tough because they know what you're going to throw," he said. "But luckily you kind of know what you want to throw against them, too."
Butler bottomed out
Eddie Butler and Rucinski were putting on a pitching clinic, and then the wheels fell off for Butler.
In the fifth inning, Jett Bandy and Matt Long singled off of Butler with one out. Butler followed by walking Eric Stamets and Kaleb Cowart on eight straight pitches.
A strike to Maikol Gonzalez seconds later drew a derisive cheer from the 3,396 in the stands.
Offensive surprise
Alex Yarbrough, the Texas League's Player of the Year, had two hits against the Drillers in Game 1, but both were singles and amounted to very little.
Brian Hernandez, the league's Player of the Month in August, was 0-for-5.
Those are the two big bats to try and silence in Arkansas' lineup, and Tulsa managed to do that.
Instead, it was Bandy, Long, Stamets and Cowart that derailed the Drillers' effort. The bottom four in the Travelers' lineup finished 6-for-12.
Long and Stamets both legged out triples, and Stamets and Cowart both drove in runs.
Changes for Game 2
Tulsa has Tyler Anderson, the league's Pitcher of the Year, going in Game 2, so that's a plus.
But look for some other possibilities from manager Kevin Riggs in the second game before the series shifts to Little Rock, Arkansas.
Possibilities include:
- Having O'Dowd catch. Will Swanner, who was on the bench for Game 1, could also catch with O'Dowd remaining as the DH.
- Inserting Jared Simon in the outfield. That would likely mean shifting Tyler Massey to center field and having Delta Cleary Jr.'s speed on the bench.
- Moving Ryan Casteel to first base. Jayson Langfels didn't look comfortable with the glove in his hand at first game in Game 1.
- Moving Featherston back to second base. The trio of Trevor Story (third base), Cristhian Adames (shortstop) and Featherston (second base) makes the most sense, but Adames and Featherston swapped their roles on Wednesday.
Prediction
Called for a 5-3 Tulsa win in Game 1. That didn't even come close to happening.
For Game 2, a 6-4 Drillers win seems reasonable. After all, if Tulsa doesn't win the second game, this thing is over.
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