WICHITA — Last season, Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Andy Pages won High-A Central League Player of the Year honors after hitting 31 homers and collecting 88 RBI with the Great Lakes Loons. If Friday night’s 2022 Double-A opener is any indication, he might be in the conversation at the end of this season for the same award in the Texas League. Pages finished with two hits and three runs batted in to lead the Tulsa Drillers to a 5-4 victory over the Wind Surge at Wichita’s Riverfront Stadium.
The five runs were just enough offensive support for Driller starting pitcher Gus Varland and four Tulsa relievers. Varland allowed just one hit in 4.1 shutout innings, striking out five Wichita batters. The outing was longer than any outing he had in 14 starts for the Drillers last season.
Tulsa wasted little time in plating its first run of the season. Leadoff batter James Outman singled to open the game, and Michael Busch drew a walk. Pages followed and doubled on the second Double-A pitch that he saw, plating Outman to give the Drillers a quick 1-0 lead.
Pages was also involved in the game’s second run as he drew a walk to open the top of the third. After Justin Yurchak drew another walk, Pages scored on Ryan Ward’s first Double-A hit to make it 2-0.
Tulsa padded its lead further in the sixth inning. After Jacob Amaya doubled, Outman and Busch drew two-out walks to load the bases. Pages came through again with a two-run single that upped Tulsa’s lead to four runs. A single by Yurchak plated Busch and put the Drillers in front 5-0.
The five runs were just enough as Tulsa had to survive a late rally from the Wind Surge.
The shutout bid ended in the seventh inning when Tulsa reliever Nick Robertson gave up a pair of walks in front of a two-out, RBI single from Alex Isola.
Things got interesting in the bottom of the eighth as control issues again hurt Drillers pitchers. Guillermo Zuniga walked two more batters to set the stage for a three-run homer from Cole Sturgeon that cut Tulsa’s lead to just 5-4. The veteran Sturgeon, who has spent most of his career in the Boston Red Sox system, hit an opposite-field line drive off the left field foul pole for the home run.
Aaron Ochsenbein ended Wichita’s hopes of an opening night rally, striking out the side on only 12 pitches in the bottom of the ninth inning to close out the victory for the Drillers.
The Drillers will play the second game of their three-game, season-opening series in Wichita tonight. The pitching matchup will feature Tulsa RHP Clayton Beeter against Wind Surge RHP Woods Richardson. First pitch at Riverfront Stadium is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.