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Player of the day
Alex Verdugo has had slow start in his first full-season as a professional but in 42 plate appearances in June, Verdugo is hitting .308/.357/.513. On Sunday, Verdugo had key double to drive in the go-ahead runs as the Loons won their tenth straight game in their playoff drive.
Verdugo turned 19 last month and he is the eighth youngest player in the Midwest League. That may not explain his first two months but it will be interesting to watch Verdugo and see if he continues to improve as the season progresses.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
The Dodgers won their sixth straight game and had their first four game sweep when they defeated the Sounds (Athletics) 4-2 on Sunday afternoon. Deck McGuire pitched 7 innings and allowed two runs, six hits, and struck out seven. It was McGuire's second win for the Dodgers.
All the scoring took place in the third inning. The Sounds scored their two runs on four hits including a double.
Hector Olivera got his second of four hits as he singled to lead off the inning. With one out, Kyle Jensen and Andy WIlkins singled to load the bases.
Austin Barnes cleared the bases with a double and then Barnes stole third. O'Koyea Dickson drove in Barnes with a sacrifice fly.
Dustin Richardson and Juan Gonzalez each pitched an inning to secure the game for the Dodgers. Gonzalez picked up his first save of the season.
Double-A Tulsa
The Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning and never looked back as the Drillers were shutout 8-0 in a rain-shortened game at Tulsa.
The interesting thing that happened in this game was how the Cardinals scored four runs in the seventh inning without getting one hit.
Chris Reed started the inning and walked the first batter. After one out, Reed then walked four consecutive batters to score two runs. Mike Thomas replaced Reed and then he walked the first batter he faced to score the third run. A fielder's choice scored the fourth run of the inning. Chris Reed had the unusual line of ⅓ inning, four runs, no hits, five walks.
Class-A Rancho Cucamonga
The Quakes are fighting for a first-half division championship and the Ports (Athletics) made it much more difficult with a 8-5 win over the Quakes at Rancho Cucamonga. The Quakes ended the day with a one-game lead and seven games to go.
Brock Stewart pitched 4⅓ innings and he gave up two runs, seven hits, two walks and five strikeouts. A.J. Vanegas pitched ⅔ inning and gave up a run.
Michael Johnson took the loss as he gave up the go-ahead run. Rob Rogers then gave up four runs that proved to be too much for the Quakes to overcome.
Scott Van Slyke started in left field and he was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Van Slyke will play first base on Monday night and he said after the game that he will be back with Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Brandon Trinkwon, Paul Hoenecke, and Webster Rivas each had two hits. Hoenecke hit his sixth home run of the season.
Low Class-A Great Lakes
The Loons played their second double-header in three days and on Sunday, they split the pair against the River Bandits (Astros).
The Loons won the first game 3-2. By doing that, the Loons won their tenth straight game. This game marked the return of Ross Stripling. Stripling missed all of the 2014 season after having "Tommy John" surgery in March 2014.
Stripling pitched 4 innings and allowed no runs, one hit, two walks and struck out four. Matt Campbell pitched 2 innings and gave up one run.
The Loons rallied in the ninth inning. With two out and runners on first and second, Alex Verdugo doubled in both runs.
Karch Kowalczyk was the winning pitcher and Kyle Hooper got his fifth save despite a passed ball scoring one run in the bottom of the ninth.
In the second game, the Loons lost 5-0 as they fell behind in the third inning and were never in it after that. Victor Gonzalez gave up all five runs. Gonzalez pitched 2⅔ innings and along with the five runs, Gonzalez gave up four hits, two walks and struck out two.
Mike Ahmed was 3-for-3 and Alex Santana was 2-for-3 in the loss.
Transactions
Triple-A: Los Angeles sent infielder Darwin Barney outright to Oklahoma City; activated infielder Brian Burgamy from the 7-day disabled list.
Class-A: Pitcher Victor Gonzalez assigned to Great Lakes from Ogden.
Sunday box scores
Springfield 8, Tulsa 0 (7 innings - completed early due to rain)
Stockton 8, Rancho Cucamonga 5
Great Lakes 3, Quad Cities 2 (9 innings) - Game 1
Quad Cities 5, Great Lakes 0 - Game 2
Monday schedule
7:30 a.m. PT: DSL Dodgers vs. DSL Red Sox
9:00 a.m: Tulsa (Mickey Storey) vs. Springfield (TBD)
11:00 a.m.: Great Lakes (TBD) at Quad Cities (Akeem Bostick)
6:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Eric Surkamp) vs. Colorado Springs (Mariners) (Josh Roenicke)
7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Jharel Cotton) vs. High Desert (Rangers) (Reed Garrett)