Dodgers minor league news

Carl Crawford, Brandon League on different ends of minor league rehab spectrum

By Eric Stephen@ericstephen Jul 1, 2015, 6:00am PDT

Tuesday on the Dodgers minor league side saw the beginning of one rehab assignment and possibly the end of another. Carl Crawford played in a competitive game for the first time in nine weeks, and Brandon League pitched in his 10th minor league game in 24 days.

Crawford was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored as the designated hitter on Tuesday night for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga in his first rehab game. Crawford played the first five innings, and left after getting his four plate appearances with the Quakes up 9-1.

The tentative plan for Crawford, sidelined since April 27 with a strained oblique, is to DH on Wednesday then play left field on Thursday for Rancho Cucamonga before moving his rehab to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.

League pitched a scoreless seventh inning for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday in Memphis, allowing a fly out, a strikeout and a ground out. In 10 appearances between Rancho Cucamonga and Oklahoma City, League allowed three runs (one earned run) in 10⅔ innings, with eight strikeouts and two walks.

League, who pitched in his minor league assignment in Lancaster, Modesto, Rancho Cucamonga, Oklahoma City, Nashville and Memphis, has been out since spring training with a right shoulder impingement. The next step will likely be returning to Los Angeles, where League will be reevaluated and could possibly be activated for the Dodgers' homestand, which begins Friday.

Now to the actual minor leaguers, every Dodgers affiliate won on Tuesday, including three ninth-inning rallies to erase deficits.

Player of the day

Class-A Great Lakes center fielder Alex Verdugo went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. Verdugo, the Dodgers' second-round pick in 2014, is hitting .426/.436/.500 during the streak.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Kyle Jensen homered in the second inning, and Darnell Sweeney homered in the third inning, leading OKC to a 2-1 road win over the Memphis Cardinals. Eric Surkamp allowed one run in six innings and struck out five for the win.

Oklahoma City (50-27) reached 50 wins the earliest time in franchise history. The previous record for quickest OKC team to 50 wins was set in 2012, when it took 86 games.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers are off for three days, but Tuesday night saw the Texas League All-Star Game, won by the North Division 9-4 thanks to five late runs in the eighth and ninth innings. All three Tulsa representatives were pitchers, and all three made their marks on the game.

Chris Anderson pitched a perfect seventh inning for the win, and left-hander Jeremy Horst retired the one batter he faced in the ninth to end the game for a save. Jeremy Kehrt retired the one batter he faced in the fifth inning, meaning the Drillers contingent retired all five batters they faced in the game, which was played in Corpus Christi.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

Shortstop a Brandon Trinkwon had four hits and a walk, and left fielder Jacob Scavuzo hit his first home run for Rancho Cucamonga in the Quakes' 10-1 romp at home over the High Desert Mavericks (Rangers). Scavuzzo was 3-for-4 with a walk, and is 6-for-16 (.375) with a home run and a double in four games since his promotion.

Jeff Brigham allowed one run in five innings for the win, and catcher Tyler Ogle had two singles, walked twice and scored two runs.

Low Class-A Great Lakes

In addition to Verdugo setting the table with four hits, catcher Juan Leon was 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and three RBI in the Loons' 8-7 win over the Dayton Dragons (Reds). Great Lakes trailed 7-4 entering the ninth inning, but four singles by the first five hitters of the inning brought the Loons to within a run. Kyle Garlick, drafted by the Dodgers in the 28th round this year out of Cal Poly Pomona, hit a two-run double to give Great Lakes the tying and winning runs in just his second game with the Loons.

[Recap]

Rookie-level Ogden

Down two runs in the ninth inning, the Raptors rallied for three runs to beat the Idaho Falls Chukars (Royals) 9-8 on Tuesday night on the road. Three walks loaded the bases for 2015 fourth-round pick Willie Calhoun, who singled home the tying runs with two outs. Then Calhoun stole second base and Nick Dean scored the go-ahead run from third base on the throw.

Michael Medina, 18, was 3-for-5 with a two-run home run for Ogden in the win, his fourth home run in 12 games this season.

[Recap]

Rookie-level Arizona

Keeping with the theme, the AZL Dodgers rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to beat the AZL Diamondbacks 8-6 on Tuesday night. Erisbel Arruebarrena played his first game of the season, batting second, and went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and one RBI in the win.

Juan Jaime struck out the only batter he faced for his second save, in his fifth appearance in the Arizona League. Jaime has nine strikeouts and two walks in 4⅓ scoreless innings in the AZL.

Dominican Summer League

Jhoan Calderon, a 17-year-old outfielder signed out of the Dominican Republic last July 2, on the first day of the international signing period, went 2-for-5 with six RBI in the DSL Dodgers' 12-8 win over the DSL Yankees. Calderon hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning, then added a three-run double in the seventh. It was the first professional home run for Calderon, in his 13th game.

Transactions

Rookie-level: Three 2015 draft picks - Michael Boyle (13th round), Casey Mulholland (37th round) and Isaac Anderson (40th round); all college pitchers - were added to Ogden's roster. Right-handed pitchers Gregor Mora and M.J. Villegas were transferred from Ogden to Arizona League.