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Great Lakes drops Game 1, Oklahoma City stopped short

By Eric Stephen
Over four hours of waiting in Round Rock on Wednesday night yielded nothing but frustration for Oklahoma City.
Over four hours of waiting in Round Rock on Wednesday night yielded nothing but frustration for Oklahoma City.
MiLB.tv

On the same night the Dodgers lost a one-run game to the Angels, both LA minor league affiliates in action in the playoffs on Tuesday suffered crushing one-run defeats, including one featuring an archaic rule.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The OKC Dodgers lost Game 1 of their best-of-five series against the Round Rock Express (Rangers), 2-1 in a game shortened to just five innings by rain.

The Dodgers struck first with an RBI single by Ronald Torreyes, but Round Rock struck back in the bottom of the inning. Zach Lee surrendered two home runs, solo shots by Drew Robinson and Jared Hoying, giving the Express a 2-1 advantage. Lee allowed one home run in his previous 86 innings with Oklahoma City before Wednesday night.

Lars Anderson had two ok OKC's three hits, and was left stranded at second base to end the top of the fifth inning. That's when the rains came, and persisted for over four hours before umpires determined the game could not go on because of unsafe field conditions.

In the major league playoffs, such a game could be suspended, then continued at a later time or date until nine innings are complete. In the minors, not so much.

Oklahoma City broadcaster Alex Freedman weighed in:

Lee took the complete game loss, allowing two runs in four innings.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons opened up at home, but lost a back-and-forth Game 1 of their best-of-three Midwest League first-round playoff series to the Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays), 6-5.

Down 6-3, Great Lakes clawed back with solo home runs by Michael Ahmed in the seventh inning and Garrett Kennedy in the eighth. But that's where the comeback ended.

The Loons have lost five straight playoff games, and four straight home playoff games.

Game 1 starter Grant Holmes allowed three runs on seven hits in 4⅔ innings, with three strikeouts and two walks.

Matt Beaty had two hits and drove in two runs in defeat.

"It’s a tough loss, but we gave ourselves a chance to win the game," Beaty told reporters after the game. "That’s all you can really ask for. We were down by one in the 9th and with one swing of the bat we could’ve been playing extras."

The rest of the series will be played in Lansing, with Great Lakes trying to stave off elimination in Game 2 on Thursday.

[Recap]

Transactions

Triple-A: First baseman (and occasional pitcher!) Lars Anderson and right-handed pitcher Matt West were promoted from Double-A Tulsa for the playoffs. Starting pitcher Scott Barlow was sent back to Class-A Rancho Cucamonga after starting OKC's regular season finale, and catcher Ralph Henriquez was transferred to the Arizona rookie league.

Class-A: The Loons added outfielder Jordan Paroubeck and left-handed pitcher Wes Helsabeck from rookie-level Ogden; pitcher Colin Hering was placed on the disabled list, and pitcher Nolan Long, who started Monday, was transferred to the Arizona rookie league in a paper move.

Wednesday box scores

PCL Game 1: Round Rock 2, Oklahoma City 1 (5)

Midwest League Game 1: Lansing 6, Great Lakes 5

Thursday schedule

4:05 p.m. PT: Game 2 of Midwest League Eastern Division Quarterfinal (Loons trail best-of-three series, 1-0)
Great Lakes (Andrew Sopko) at Lansing (Justin Shafer)

5:05 p.m. PT: Game 2 of PCL American Conference Finals (OKC trails best-of-five series, 1-0)
Oklahoma City (Julio Urias) at Round Rock (Anthony Ranaudo)

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