Alex Verdugo stays hot in Loons win

Player of the day

Alex Verdugo went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer on Saturday to lead the Loons to a victory. Verdugo is now hitting .287  for the season despite batting .243 in April and .191 in May.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Carl Crawford went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI's in his final rehab game as the Dodgers used a nine-run seventh inning to defeat the Express (Rangers) 11 to 5 on Saturday. As Eric reminded us,

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) July 19, 2015

Scott Schebler also had a big game at the plate as he went 3-for-4 with his 11th homer and two runs scored, as did Austin Barnes who doubled twice and drove in three.

On the mound Eric Surkamp had a quality start as he allowed six hits and three runs over six frames, but it was Grant Dayton who picked up the win his Dodger debut with a perfect seventh inning.

[Recap]

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers' pitching staff allowed just five hits on Saturday, but they still lost to the Travelers (Angels) 5 to 4. Starter Jairo Heredia permitted just three hits over 4⅔, but two runs scored against him and took the loss. The Tulsa bullpen gave up just two additional hits the rest of the way, but they walked seven which resulted in three runs.

The mostly forgotten Jeremy Rathjen hit his fifth homer of the year in this game, but he is batting just .176 for the season. Lars Anderson was a perfect 2-for-2 at the dish with a double and two walks, while Kyle Farmer knocked in a pair thanks to a couple of hits.

[Recap]

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

Rancho Cucamonga managed just one late run on Saturday as they lost to the Rawhide (Dbacks) 3 to 1. The Quakes had just two extra base hits in this game as Dillon Moyer and Travis Witherspoon both doubled. Rancho didn't even push across their run until the bottom of the ninth thanks to a Josmar Cordero RBI single.

In terms of pitching, starter Brock Stewart allowed eight hits and two runs over five innings, while Kyle Hooper permitted the final run in the seventh.

Low Class-A Great Lakes

Great Lakes crushed a trio of homers during their 10 - 2 win over the Lugnuts (Blue Jays). Three batters into the bottom of the first the Loons already had a three run lead after the club's hottest hitter, Verdugo, connected on a three-run bomb. He would have two other hits on the night to increase his average to .287 for the season. Alex Santana followed with a solo shot later in the frame, while Kyle Garlick lofted a three-run jack of his own later in the game.

On the mound starter Tommy Bergjans gave up two runs over four innings in his Great Lakes debut, and the 2015 8th round pick also struck out five. Jose Alberto Molina picked up the long save with 2⅔ scoreless frames.

[Recap]

Rookie-level Ogden

The Raptors were doubled up on Saturday as they fell to the Osprey (Dbacks) 10 to 5. Most of the Missoula scoring came late in the game as Ogden starter Michael Boyle gave up just three hits and one run over four frames. Lenix Osuna and Bernardo Reyes combined to give up five runs in relief, then Andrew Istler got hit even harder over the final few innings as he allowed four runs.

The Ogden offense was led by Scott De Jong who went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple. Lead-off man Gage Green had the only other multi-hit game as he was 2-for 5 with a triple and a RBI.

[Recap]

Rookie-level Arizona

The Arizona Dodgers did not have an extra base hit on Saturday and made seven errors as they fell to the Royals 6 to 3. The Dodgers managed just six singles in total, with two of them coming from 19 year old Ariel Sandoval who drove in one of the runs.

Starter Angel German allowed four runs over 3⅓ innings, but only one was earned thanks to the miscues. Jose Santos, recently promoted from the Dominican Summer League, was impressive in relief as he struck out three over two hitless frames.

Transactions

Triple-A: Zach Lee got the call to join the Dodgers as their 26th man.

Class-A Advanced: Delvis Morales was sent to Ogden on a rehab assignment

Saturday box scores

Oklahoma City 11, Round Rock 5

Arkansas 5, Tulsa 4

Visalia 3, Rancho Cucamonga 1

Great Lakes 10, Lansing 2

Missoula 10, Ogden 5

AZL Royals 6, AZL Dodgers 3

Sunday schedule

11:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Trevor Oaks) vs. Lansing (Justin Shafer)

3 p.m.: Ogden (IvanVieitez) vs. Missoula (Scott Schultz)

4:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Eric Stults) vs. Round Rock (Jerad Eickoff)

4:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Jeremy Kehrt) vs. Arkansas (Luke Farrell)

5:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (John Richy) vs. Visalia (Ryan Doran)

7 p.m.: AZL Dodgers (TBD) at AZL Cubs (TBD)