John Richy a hero early, Kiké Hernandez a hero late

A recap of Wednesday's Dodgers minor league action.

Player of the day

John Richy was one of the players I highlighted during the prospect rankings that I have not seen much of but hoped to soon to evaluate.  My wait may end this summer if he continues to pitch the way he has over his first two starts. On Wednesday Richy pitched into the seventh in a scoreless outing for Rancho Cucamonga  that saw him striking out six over his official line of six innings, while walking one and allowing four hits.  Most impressively might have been how efficient Richy was on the night, with 49 of his 69 pitches going for strikes, and had he not been on an early season pitch count, may have easily cruised into the later innings.  Richy’s outing drops his ERA on the season to 0.82 over 11 innings.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Another extra-inning affair with the Nashville Sounds (Athletics) saw the Dodgers the 6-5 walk-off victor this time, thanks to a Kiké Hernandez single with the bases loaded in the tenth inning.  Dodger fans looking forward to seeing Carlos Frias start were instead treated to two innings of Freddy Garcia, who allowed five runs on five hits and two walks in that span.  The next eight innings of pitching out of the bullpen were sterling, with Rudy Owens, Daniel Coloumbe, and Josh Ravin compiling 11 strikeouts against only 3 hits, with Ravin turning in this notable feat:

OKC Dodgers pitcher Josh Ravin records four strikeouts in the 9th, as Joey Wendle struck out, yet reached base on an error by the catcher.

— OKC Dodgers (@okc_dodgers) April 16, 2015

The Dodgers were led at the plate by O'Koyea Dickson, who went 3-5 with a solo home run in the eighth inning that would ultimately send the game to extra innings.  Buck Britton (3-4, 2B) and Kyle Jensen (2-4, 2 2B) were the other multi-hit performers.

Double-A Tulsa

Tulsa was off Wednesday night but resumes action Thursday in San Antonio with Julio Urias on the mound.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

Richy’s stellar outing helped the Quakes snap their three game losing streak and beat the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) 6-0.  AJ Vanegas and Jacob Rhame followed Richy’s strike throwing lead with three hitless innings en route to the victory.  Combined, Richy, Vanegas, and Rhame only needed 100 pitches to shut out the 66ers.

Cody Bellinger went 2-4 with a walk to bump his average to .208, but perhaps more notably he started the game in centerfield.  Bellinger is a good athlete and adding outfield to his defensive profile may lighten the load his bat must carry to reach the major leagues.  Paul Hoenecke also recorded two hits in four at bats as the only other multi-hit performer.  Efficiency was the offensive theme tonight as well, with the Quakes manufacturing 6 runs on just 8 hits.

Low Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons couldn’t capitalize on a strong start from Victor Gonzalez and fell to the Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays) 2-1. Gonzalez scattered four hits and a walk across five innings, allowing only one run and striking out seven.  Jose Alberto Molina was saddled with the loss in his one inning of work when two errors by the Loons defense allowed the Lugnuts to manufacture the winning run.

Alex Verdugo continues to find his footing in Low A, going 1-3 with a walk and a steal.  Mike Ahmed added a hit, walk, and two steals himself, but the offense sputtered as a whole and the defense complicated matters with four errors in this game.

Transactions

Triple-A: Having designated David Huff for assignment, the Dodgers recalled Carlos Frias prior to his scheduled start for Oklahoma City.  Freddy Garcia started in his place.

Double-A: Recently claimed left-hander Ryan Dennick was optioned to the Tulsa Drillers.  Dennick, 28, had a brief taste of the majors with Cincinnati bullpen last season.

Tuesday box scores

Oklahoma City 6, Nashville 5 (10 innings)

Rancho Cucamonga 6, Inland Empire 0

Lansing 2, Great Lakes 1

Wednesday schedule & pitchers>

3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Kevin Guzman) vs. Lansing (Starlyn Suriel)

5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Zach Lee) vs. Nashville (Ryan Verdugo)

5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Julio Urias) at San Antonio (Colin Rea)

7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Zach Bird) vs. Lake Elsinore (Ronald Herrera)