Springfield’s path to a sweep opened in the eighth inning with Jesús Báez running, Tulsa throwing and the baseball skittering away from everyone who might have stopped it.
Báez raced home from first when right fielder Mike Sirota’s throw on Won-Bin Cho’s single escaped the defense, tying the game. Two outs later, Jack Gurevitch sent a sharp double down the left-field line. Cho came around on Patrick Anderson’s aggressive wave, and another wayward relay allowed him to score the go-ahead run.
The Cardinals turned Tulsa’s defensive breakdown into a four-run closing surge, beating the Drillers 6-4 on Thursday night at ONEOK Field to complete a two-game sweep of an 88-win club.
Springfield needed the late rescue after its pitching staff issued nine walks and threw three wild pitches. Tulsa managed only three hits, but carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth because the Cardinals kept furnishing opportunities.
Báez started the comeback with a walk against Christian Suarez. Cho’s single to right followed an out, and Sirota came up throwing. The ball skipped past the cutoff attempt and continued into shallow left as Báez kept charging, scoring from first while the Drillers scrambled after it.
Gurevitch delivered the next blow. His drive hugged the left-field line and rolled into the corner, giving Cho enough time to test the relay. The throw home skipped away, Cho scored and Gurevitch advanced to third. Springfield had taken a 4-3 lead on two hits and two Tulsa errors.
Tai Peete made sure the advantage did not remain thin. Ryan Campos, who went 3-for-4, opened the ninth with a single. Peete followed by lifting a fly ball deep toward the left-field wall, lingering at the plate long enough to admire it before looking toward the Cardinals’ dugout and beginning his trip around the bases.
The two-run homer was Peete’s first of the postseason and his only hit in five at-bats. It stretched Springfield’s lead to 6-3 and gave the bullpen room for Tulsa’s final push.
Nolan Sparks issued a leadoff walk and allowed a Kole Myers single in the ninth. Randel Clemente entered with one out and two runners in scoring position, conceded a run on Sirota’s groundout and induced another grounder from Elijah Hainline to finish his first save.
Springfield had supplied all of its early offense with solo home runs. Báez opened the scoring in the fourth, driving a ball deep to left for his second postseason homer. Tulsa answered in the bottom half when Sean McLain singled home Eduardo Quintero, a runner inherited by Christian Worley from Liam Doyle.
Cade McGee restored the lead in the fifth with an opposite-field drive that carried just beyond the short wall near the right-field corner and into the bullpen. McGee finished 2-for-4, but Tulsa responded again when Charles Davalan singled home Sirota against Daniel Eagen.
Tulsa took its first lead in the seventh without a hit. Taylor Young walked, advanced on two Eagen wild pitches and scored on Hainline’s sacrifice fly. Eagen nevertheless earned the win after allowing two earned runs in three innings, with five strikeouts and two walks.
Doyle’s start captured the strange tension that ran through the night. He did not allow a hit over 3⅔ innings and struck out eight, yet five walks helped produce an earned run. Springfield pitchers repeatedly bent without giving Tulsa much to hit.
The Cardinals’ lineup eventually made the difference. Springfield collected 11 hits without committing an error, while Tulsa’s three hits and two errors left the Drillers unable to protect the lead they had pieced together.
Báez homered, walked and supplied the tying sprint. Gurevitch went 2-for-4 and drove in the go-ahead run. Peete provided the separation.
Three Cardinals went deep, and the final two homers belonged to a game that Springfield seized late—and a sweep it refused to leave unfinished.