Wynston Sawyer’s home run leads to 4-3 Tulsa win

Oklahoma City was rained out again. Tulsa had to break a tie in the eighth to win while Rancho Cucamonga was ahead, fell behind, and then made a big comeback only to lose it in the ninth. And Great Lakes had a difficult weekend in Dayton.

Player of the day

Catcher Wynston Sawyer went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a home run that provided the difference for Tulsa’s one-run win. For the season, Sawyer is hitting .295/.367/.568.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

For the second day, inclement weather postponed the games between the Oklahoma City Dodgers and Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals). So they will try to play a doubleheader today and then another doubleheader is scheduled for August 16, 2017.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers saw the NW Arkansas Naturals (Royals) tie the game in the top of the eighth but as noted above, Wynston Sawyer untied with a home run and the Drillers won 4-3. Yaisel Sierra gave up the run that tied the game but he did finish the game to collect his second win.’

Joshua Sborz started and pitched 5⅓ innings and gave up no runs, one hit and walked four, he did not record a strikeout. Clinging to a one-run lead, Sierra gave up an unearned run in the eighth inning to briefly tie the game.

Aside Sawyer, Edwin Rios went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Erick Mejia hit his second triple and scored a run.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes had a 3-0 lead going to the bottom of the seventh before the Lancasater JetHawks (Rockies) scored four runs to take the lead. Scoring four runs once wasn’t enough so the JetHawks scored four again to take a 8-3 lead into the ninth inning.

However, the Quakes sent 12 men up in the ninth and seven of them scored to retake the lead. But momentum changed one more time and the JetHawks scored three in the ninth, the last two on a walk-off home run and the JetHawks took the game 11-10.

All of the scoring in the last three innings should not take the spotlight off Quakes’ right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana. Santana had a very good start, going 5⅔ innings and allowing no runs, four hits, two walks and struck out eight.

However, the pitchers following Santana were not so fortunate, the remaining four Quakes relievers each allowed runs, Parker Curry and Alex Hermeling each pitched ⅔ innings and gave up two runs apiece. Andrew Istler surrended four runs in the eighth inning. And Tony Gonsolin only got one out before Hamlet Marte hit the two-run walk-off home run.

Hard to believe that the Quakes left runs on the bases when they score 10 runs but not only did they have 13 hits, including two doubles and a home run, they received 10 walks. The team went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Franklin Gutierrez played his second rehab game and went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Zach McKinstry was 3-for-6 with two RBI. And Garrett Kennedy had three hits which included two doubles.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Dayton Dragons (Reds) finished off their four game over the Loons with a 7-1 win on Sunday. It was a completely forgettable weekend with the Dragons scoring 30 runs while the Loons scored two runs.

Starting pitcher Devin Smeltzer gave up two runs to end his scoreless inning streak at 17. In his five innings of work, he allowed those two runs, five hits and struck out eight.

When you score two runs in four games, your offense was likely under siege in every game and Sunday’s was no different. The Loons had three singles and three walks while striking out 11 times.

Transactions

No transactions were reported on Sunday.

Sunday scores

Tulsa 4, NW Arkansas 3

Lancaster 11, Rancho Cucamonga 10

Dayton 7, Great Lakes 1

Monday schedule

9:05 a.m.: Oklahoma City (Justin Masterson) & (Jair Jurrjens) at Omaha (Jake Junis) & (Luke Farrell)

9:05 a.m.: Tulsa (Scott Barlow) vs. NW Arkansas (Miguel Almonte)

6:00 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Walker Buehler) at Lake Elsinore Storm [Padres] (Joey Lucchesi)