Dodgers minor league news

Walker Buehler makes his first professional appearance for Arizona Dodgers

By Craig Minami Aug 24, 2016, 6:00am PDT

Overall a successful day for the Dodger minor league teams, only Tulsa and DSL Dodgers Two did not win a game on Tuesday. Oklahoma City scored six runs in the tenth inning to win a getaway game, Rancho Cucamonga had a walk-off win, Great Lakes and Ogden won convincingly and AZL Dodgers took two games from the AZL White Sox.

Player of the day

Right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler, the Dodgers 2015 No. 1 pick, made his first professional appearance on Tuesday for the AZL Dodgers. Buehler had Tommy John surgery on August 6, 2015.

The former Vanderbilt pitching star (whose teammates included 2015 overall No. 1 pick Dansby Swanson and fellow Dodger minor league pitcher Jordan Sheffield) pitched two innings on Tuesday and retired all six batters he faced.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers were trailing 1-0 until Corey Brown scored in the seventh to tie the Zephyrs (Marlins) 1-1. Both teams didn't score again in regulation, so the game went to extra-innings, not exactly the thing you want facing long travel from New Orleans to Oklahoma City.

The Dodgers must have been inspired as they scored six runs in the tenth inning, capped by a grand slam off the bat of Corey Brown. For Brown, it was his 21st home run this season. And Brown hit the home run off former Dodger farmhand, left-handed pitcher Chris Reed.

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Casey Fien had come into the game in the bottom of the ninth and got the last out. Fien finished up the game to get the win.

The win combined with another Colorado Springs loss, lowered Oklahoma City's magic number to five.

The Dodgers are starting their last homestand of the regular season tomorrow and their first opponent for five games are the Sky Sox. So it is possible, the Dodgers will clinch their division by Sunday.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers and Travelers (Angels) had an old-fashioned pitching duel and it was good that neither got the loss. But the Travelers were the team to come up on top with a 2-0 shutout win over the Drillers.

Scott Barlow and Jordan Kipper each pitched seven scoreless innings as the respective starters for the Drillers and the Travelers. Kipper would also get the win because he was the pitcher record in the top of the eighth.

Yaisel Sierra pitched the eighth inning for the Drillers and everything happened after two were out. Two straight walks followed by two straight singles scored two runs.

But that would be the sum total of all the offense in this game. The Drillers could only muster up three singles and a double. The Drillers were 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes trailed the Storm (Padres) 4-3 going to the bottom of the ninth but then the Quakes put up a rally that scored two runs to give the Quakes a 5-4 walk-off win. The win lowered the magic number to eliminate the Storm in the wild card race to three.

Noah Perio doubled and then moved to third on a groundout. Garrett Kennedy drove in Perio with a double to tie the game. Devan Ahart followed with a single to score the winning runs.

Michael Boyle started for the Quakes and went six innings and allowed four runs. David Reid-Foley followed with two scoreless innings. Alex Burgos would get the win after he pitched the ninth for the Quakes.

Besides getting the double to start the rally, Noah Perio went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Erick Mejia had two hits including a two-run scoring triple. Mike Ahmed hit a solo home run.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons beat the TinCaps (Padres) 9-2 and moved into the wild card spot with thirteen games to go. Leonardo Crawford got the win, Tony Gonsolin picked up his second save.

Brendon Davis went 3-for-4 and scored twice. Saige Jenco hit a three-run home run. Ibandel Isabel hit his fourth home run in the last three days.

Pioneer - Ogden

The Raptors were fueled by seven extra-base hits and defeated the Owlz (Angels) 12-6. The Raptors hit two doubles, four triples and one home run and had two four-run scoring innings.

Kelbert Ruiz and Brock Carpenter each had three hits, Mitchell Hansen went 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI.

Arizona League - AZL Dodgers

AZL Dodgers won twice over the AZL White Sox. The wins kept them within two games of the playoffs.

In the 5-2 win over the White Sox, the Dodgers had seven pitchers in the game. In the fifth inning, Walker Buehler made his professional debut as noted above.

Buehler struck out three and retired all six batters he faced. Buehler would get the win as a result of that appearance.

Walker Buehler up to 97 in two innings of work.
— Eric Longenhagen (@longenhagen) August 24, 2016

Dominican Summer League - Dodgers One & Dodgers Two

Dodgers One and Rojos (Reds) split a pair of games while the Dodgers Two lost two games to the Royals.

Transactions

Triple-A: Los Angeles recalled right-handed pitcher Ross Stripling, left-handed pitcher Luis Avilan and infielder Charlie Culbersonfrom Oklahoma City; Los Angeles optioned right-handed pitcher Josh Fields to Oklahoma City.

Double-A: Right-handed pitcher Dan Johnson assigned to Tulsa Drillers.

Rookie: AZL Dodgers activated right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler from the 60-day disabled list.