Dodgers minor league news

DJ Peters homers twice, Ogden takes first game in important four-game series

By Craig Minami Sep 6, 2016, 6:00am PDT

Ogden drew within a half game of Grand Junction as those two teams play to see who will take the second half division title. This has now become a best two-out-of-three as the first to win two games will win the division.

Monday was the final day of the regular season for the full-season minor league teams. Oklahoma City and Great Lakes won their final regular season games as they get ready to start their playoffs on Wednesday. Rancho Cucamonga lost but will still move on to the playoffs. Tulsa was eliminated and their season ended on Monday.

Player of the day

Outfielder DJ Peters homered twice and drove in four runs to lead the Raptors to victory. The 20-year old Glendora native is hitting .356/.443/.628 in his first professional season. Peters was also named to the 2016 Pioneer League end-of-season All-Star team. Peters was the only representative from the Raptors.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers hit four home runs and defeated the Storm Chasers (Royals) 10-8 to win their final regular season game. It was the Dodgers sixth straight win and they finished the season with a 81-60 record, a season's best 21 games over .500.

Cody Bellinger hit his third home run in two games, Brandon Hicks hit two home runs and Corey Brown hit his 23rd home run of the season. Micah Johnson went 4-for-5 and Chris Taylor finished with three hits.

The Dodgers will host the Nashville Sounds (Athletics) in their playoff series starting on Wednesday.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers lost their fourth straight game as the Cardinals won the final regular season 10-4 over the Drillers. The Drillers were eliminated from the playoffs late last week and finished with a 68-71 overall record.

First baseman Lars Anderson made four pitching appearances in 2015 for the Drillers, pitched the final inning of the 2016 season for the Drillers and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk.

Wille Calhoun went 1-for-5, Alex Verdugo went 0-for-4. Tim Locastro had three hits and Edwin Rios had two hits.

Joshua Sborz and Yaisel Sierra each pitched a scoreless inning.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes lost their third straight, losing 10-5 to the Nuts (Rockies) on Monday at LoanMart Field. The Quakes finished the season 79-61 and will move on to the California League playoffs as the wild card team.

Los Angeles Dodger right-hander Brandon McCarthy made his first rehab start since being placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 14th. McCarthy gave up all ten runs in his four innings. I wrote about that and you can read McCarthy's reflections about that start here.

Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Andre Ethier played in his ninth rehab game for the Quakes, he hit .290/.343/.419 in 34 plate appearances. After the game, Ethier said he and the Dodgers will talk about what will happen next.

"Got a day off tomorrow from everything, but I'm going to Dodger Stadium and going to talk to our trainers and coaches their and see what the game plan is moving forward from these last couple of games."

Ethier says he is fine and that now it is all about his timing and final things you need to play major league baseball.

"Healthy, back-to-back defense for the first time, not have any little things pop up, just working on getting back and the act and the groove of a full baseball game."

The Quakes will host the Lancaster JetHawks (Astros) on Wednesday in their best-of-three playoff series.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons trailed 1-0 going to the bottom of the eighth but then scored five runs and went on to win their final regular season game by a 5-1 score over the WhiteCaps (Tigers).

With two outs and the game tied 1-1, Zach McKinstry singled in Steve Berman with the go ahead run. Omar Estevez walked and Matt Jones hit a three-run homer to finish the scoring.

Victor Gonzalez started and pitched five innings, he gave up the one run but also struck out eight.

The Loons will host the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays) in their playoff series starting on Wednesday.

Pioneer - Ogden

The Raptors began their most important series in the regular season and won the first game 6-2 over the Rockies. The win reduced the Rockies' lead over the Raptors to a half game. This means that whichever team wins two games first of the remaining three games left, will win the second half division title and move on to the playoffs.

The Raptors saw the Rockies score two runs off starter Rob McDonnell in the fourth but then scored three runs in the fifth. DJ Peters hit his first of two home runs, a two-run shot to give the Raptors the lead and a batter later, Brandon Montgomery hit a solo home run.

DJ Peters hit his second home run in the seventh and then in the ninth, singled in Keibert Ruiz to make it 6-2.

Transactions

Triple-A: Los Angeles recalled left-handed pitcher Luis Avilan from Oklahoma City.

Class-A: Los Angeles sent right-handed pitcher Brandon McCarthy on a rehab assignment to Rancho Cucamonga; Great Lakes activated left-handed pitcher Victor Gonzalez from the temporarily inactive list.

Rookie: Right-handed pitcher Willian Soto assigned to Ogden from Great Lakes.