Jharel Cotton roughed up in second OKC start

The Quakes breeze to a sweep of Inland Empire while Jharel Cotton finds his second start in Triple A to be a rough one.

Player of the day

Brock Stewart is finding his second go around at the California League to be much brighter after two starts.  Stewart went six innings Wednesday night, striking out six and walking none while only allowing one run.  He has now won both starts he has made for the Quakes, having only allowed five hits thus far in eleven innings this season.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Jharel Cotton was roughed up in his second start of the season, and the Dodger offense could muster little in a 8-1 loss to the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals).  Cotton allowed innings of four and three runs in his four official innings of work, though he was able to strike out six.  Luis Avilan threw one scoreless inning, striking out two, while Sean Burnett allowed one unearned run in his inning of work.

Corey Brown and Micah Johnson would pace the offense with two hits apiece.  Johnson would also see time at three defensive positions, starting at second base and ending in the outfield.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers were off on Wednesday.  They will welcome the Corpus Christi Hooks Thursday night in Tulsa's home opener.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

Behind Brock Stewart and an efficient offense, the Quakes were quick winners over Inland Empire Wednesday night, taking the game 7-2 and sweeping the series.  In addition to Stewart earning his second win of the season to move the team a game over .500, Luis De Paula earned his first save of the season, striking out three in one and a third scoreless innings.

The offense managed seven runs on just nine hits, despite no hits going for extra bases.  Mike Ahmed managed a pair of hits and runs from the ninth spot in the order, and Julian Leon added a pair of hits from one spot ahead of Ahmed.  Yusniel Diaz went hitless in three at bats, bringing his rough stateside debut statline to just one hit in seventeen at bats.

Low Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons saw their rally come up short in the ninth inning, falling to the fort Wayne Tincaps (Padres) 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon.  Much of the damage done to the Loons was self inflicted, as the Loons made three errors while their pitchers balked three times and walked three despite only allowing four hits.  Victor Gonzalez was solid in his season debut, going four innings and striking out five while only allowing two unearned runs on one hit and one walk.

Matt Jones went two for four with a home run to lead the Great Lakes offense.  Omar Estevez also contributed a pair of hits and a stolen base, while Jordan Paroubeck hit his first triple of the season.

Transactions

Double A:  Drew Maggi was moved back to the Tulsa roster after a short stint with Oklahoma City.  His roster move would start a cascade down of position players.

High-A:  Jordan Tarsovich was assigned back to Rancho Cucamonga after playing two games with Tulsa.

Low-A:  Nick Dean was reassigned to Great Lakes from Rancho Cucamonga.

Tuesday box scores

Memphis 8, Oklahoma City 1

Rancho Cucamonga 7, Inland Empire 2

Fort Wayne 6, Great Lakes 5

Thursday schedule

9:05 a.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Sam LeClure) at Memphis (Jeremy Hefner)

3:30 p.m.: Great Lakes (Michael Boyle) at Lake County (Sam Hentges)

5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Chris Anderson) vs. Corpus Christi  (Joe Musgrove)

6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Grant Holmes) at Lake Elsinore (Martires Arias)