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RANCHO CUCAMONGA —- The Quakes closed out the Storm to sweep their three-game series and that also meant all four Dodger minor league affiliates won on Saturday.
Player of the day
2015 No. 1 Draft pick right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler made his LoanMart Field debut and dazzled the sold-out home crowd with his pitching. Buehler gave up back-to-back singles to start the game and then after a line out, Buehler struck out the next eight batters in a row.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City scored five runs in the eighth and they went on to beat Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) 8-4 to take the first game of their series. Julio Urias started for the Dodgers and he pitched 4⅔ innings and he gave up one run, four hits, walked two and struck out four. Urias made 73 pitches in the game.
With just a one run lead going into the eighth, the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs. Chris Taylor was hit-by-a-pitch to score the first run of the inning and then Cody Bellinger doubled home two. Taylor and Bellinger would later score to make it 8-2.
Layne Somsen and Joe Gunkel finished up the game for the Dodgers, Somsen got the win and Gunkel picked up the save.
Alex Verdugo had three hits, Cody Bellinger and Rob Segedin each had two hits., Taylor hit his first home run of the season.
Double-A Tulsa
The Drillers scored all of their runs in just one inning but fortunately it was enough to beat Midland RockHounds (Athletics) 6-3 to win their second straight. Trailing by two runs, the Drillers put six runs across in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead.
With the bases-loaded and two out, back-to-back two RBI hits by Kyle Farmer and Edwin Rios made it 6-2. Rios had three hits and two doubles.
One thing to perhaps watch, right-handed pitcher Yaisel Sierra closed out the game with one inning pitched, one hit allowed and one strike out.
Class-A Rancho Cucamonga
The Quakes pitchers on Saturday combine to strike out 20 and that combined with early offense helped lead to a 5-3 win over the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres). The Quakes won their fourth straight and got their first series sweep of the season.
Walker Buehler was electric, the speed gun graphic was flashing 97, 98 and even one 99 during his three innings of work. After Buehler was taken out, Shea Spitzbarth, Dean Kremer and Wes Helsabeck pitched the last six innings and they totaled 12 strikeouts with Helsabeck striking out six of the seven batters he faced.
The Quakes scored their first run on a two-out single by Drew Jackson. In the third inning, Will Smith tripled home two and later scored on Ibandel Isabel’s sacrifice fly.
Drew Jackson drove in his second run, scoring Logan Landon with a single.
The Storm made it close, scoring three runs against Kremer but that was not enough to overtake the Quakes.
Class-A Great Lakes
The Loons ended their home game losing streak and beat Dayton Dragons (Reds) 7-1 on Saturday afternoon. The Loons had dropped their first four games at home.
Carlos Rincon put the Loons on the board with his fifth home run, a 2-run shot in the first inning. The teams traded runs in the fourth inning but single runs by the Loons in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning put the game out of reach.
One of those runs was a Zach McKinstry home run, his first in the season. McKinstry has a .519 on-base percentage with 10 walks and nine hits in the team’s first 10 games.
Brendon Davis and Mitch Hanson each had three hits and they also each hit a triple, which were the first two of the season for the Loons.
A.J. Alexy pitched 2⅔ innings, he allowed a run, two hits and struck out five. Willian Soto followed Alexy and he pitched 3⅔ innings, and he gave up no runs, three hits, two walks and struck out two.
Transactions
Double-A: Right-handed pitcher TIm Shibuya placed on 7-day disabled list; right-handed pitcher Josh Sborz assigned to Tulsa from Dodgers Extended Spring Training.
Class-A: Right-handed pitcher Lenix Osuna assigned to Great Lakes from Ogden; right-handed pitcher Nolan Long assigned to Dodgers Extended Spring Training from Great Lakes.
Saturday scores
Rancho Cucamonga 5, Lake Elsinore 3
Sunday schedule
12:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Trevor Oaks) at Memphis (Daniel Poncedeleon)