Dickson heating up at the plate, Loons and Quakes walk off winnners

Two affiliations needed eleven innings to achieve victory on Wednesday, while the Oklahoma City Dodgers' first baseman continues to heat up.

Player of the day

O'Koyea Dickson might have been facing an uphill climb for playing time after returning from the disabled list, with the Dodgers having added Mike Carp and Andy Wilkins to Kyle Jensen and Dickson to the "better first baseman than left-fielders" roster crunch.  Since then, Carp has been sent packing while Wilkins and Jensen slump at the plate.  After Wednesday's 3-4 performance, Dickson's batting average has climbed sixty-nine points to it's current .269 since returning from the disabled list.  Two of Dickson's hits went for extra bases, highlighted by a solo home run in the second inning.  With the bulk of the middle order hitters slumping in the Oklahoma City Dodger lineup, Dickson's bat will be counted on heavily until others' bats come alive.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

A bullpen implosion cost Oklahoma City a win Wednesday afternoon, falling to the New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins) 10-4, despite carrying a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning.  Zach Lee started and threw six solid innings, allowing three runs on six hits, no walks, and five strikeouts.  The trouble started in the seventh when Ramon Troncoso allowed all four runners he faced to reach base.  Corey Seager was partly to blame with an error to lead off the inning, but was bailed out by Brian Ward, who later picked the runner off third base.  Josh Ravin entered with the bases loaded and allowed them all to score, also allowing one to his ledger before exiting.  David Aardsma would similarly start the eighth inning but fail to finish it, allowing three runs in his two-thirds of an inning.  In total, the bullpen would allow six runs on four hits and seven walks in just two innings.

Offensively, Dickson was the main story, with Darnell Sweeney, Corey Seager, Buck Britton and Andy Wilkins each adding a hit apiece to the cause.

Double-A Tulsa

Tulsa had the day off Wednesday and will head to Little Rock to play the Arkansas Travelers (Angels) Thursday at 5:10 PST.  Deck McGuire gets the start in the series opener.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes didn't muster as much offense as they are accustomed to, but they produced when it mattered, winning in eleven innings over the Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners) 4-3.  Newly added Billy Bereszniewicz came on in the eleventh as a pinch runner and outran a throw home on an infield hit to first to beat the tag and score the winning run.

Kenley Jansen started as part of his rehab assignment and threw a clean opening frame.  Zach Bird would follow and was solid for five innings, with two of his three runs allowed coming unearned after Kyle Farmer allowed a passed ball on the third strike to the leadoff batter in the fourth, in what would become Bird's only real troublesome inning.  The bullpen worked its way in and out of trouble for the remaining five innings to hold off the Blaze long enough to prove victorious.

Low Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons needed eleven innings to score two runs, but one run would be the difference in a 2-1 victory over the Dayton Dragons (Reds) Wednesday afternoon.  The Loons would walk off in the eleventh inning on three straight singles with two outs.  Alex Santana hit the first single of the frame and would score the winning run, his first run scored on the season since starting his 2015 campaign on Monday.

Hopefully the first of many! Big ups to @BWolfe5 for the walk-off winner! #LoonsBaseball pic.twitter.com/Twk6qEIgB1

— Matt DeVries (@DeVries_Matt) May 13, 2015

The Jacob Scavuzzo kicked off the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning, the first of his two extra-base hits on the afternoon.

Kevin Guzman got the start and pitched six strong innings, allowing one run on four hits, three walks, and four strikeouts.  The bullpen was lights out for the remaining five innings, allowing only one walk and one hit, striking out three.  Joe Broussard would pitch the final two innings and get credit for the win.

Transactions

Double A:  Jeremy Rathjen was called up to Tulsa on Wednesday, with no announced corresponding move as of yet.  The Drillers were off.

High-A:  With Rathjen departing, Billy Bereszniewicz was added to the Quakes from extended Spring Training.

Tuesday box scores

New Orleans 10, Oklahoma City 4

Rancho Cucamonga 4, Bakersfield 3

Great Lakes 2, Dayton 1

Thursday schedule

7:35 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Brock Stewart) vs. Dayton (Wyatt Strahan)

5:00 p.m.: Oklahoma City (TBD) at New Orleans (Adam Conley)

5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Deck McGuire) at Arkansas (Albert Suarez)

7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Scott Barlow) vs. Bakersfield (Tyler Pike)