Dodgers minor league news

Oneil Cruz goes 5-for-5 in Loons 10-0 win

Melvin Jiminez gets first win for Loons

By Craig Minami Jul 21, 2017, 6:00am PDT

Wins for Tulsa, Great Lakes, Ogden, AZL Dodgers and DSL Dodgers2 while Oklahoma City, Rancho Cucamonga and DSL Dodgers1 suffer tough losses.

Player of the day

Oneil Cruz has been one of the younger players in the Midwest League this season and the infielder is playing his best month so far. While his strikeouts remain high, he’s hitting .304/.381/.554 in 63 plate appearances this month.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers and the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) game promised a great pitching match-up of Walker Buehler making his Oklahoma City debut against top prospect Luke Weaver. So of course, the Redbirds would on to win a 10-8 slugfest.

Weaver did his part, pitching five innings and giving up just a run. But the Dodgers top prospect, pitching in front of his family, did not match his opponent.

Buehler had an inauspicious start as he pitched to five hitters in the first and did not record an out. Two walks and a single loaded the bases and from there, Buehler walked in a run and then gave up a two-run single.

Buehler was taken out at that point and another run scored that put the Dodgers down 4-0 after one. The Dodgers would fall behind 6-0 before beginning their comeback.

O’Koyea Dickson would try to single handily bring them back, he went 4-for-5 with home run, two doubles and six RBI. Alex Verdugo had two hits and a run scored.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers defeated NW Arkansas Naturals (Royals) 2-1 on Thursday. Erick Mejia’s ground rule double and Darien Tubbs single scored two runs in the seventh that was enough to take the game.

David Hale was the winner, he pitched 6⅔ innings and gave up a run and six hits. Corey Copping got his tenth save.

Blake Gailen had three hits and a run scored, Tim Locastro was 2-for-4.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes took a early big lead but saw the San Jose Giants comeback and win 12-7 at San Jose. Devin Smeltzer and Dean Kremer both gave up six runs, with Kremer taking the loss.

Four Quakes had two hits, Luke Raley, DJ Peters, Johan Mieses and Keibert Ruiz. Ruiz had the only extra-base hit, a double, and he also had two RBI.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons had one of their more impressive wins in the season as they shutout the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins) 10-0 behind impressive performances from Oneil Cruz, Imani Abdullah and Melvin Jiminez.

Cruz was 5-for-5 with a home run and a double. Cruz scored three runs and had three RBI. Saige Jenco had four hits, Cody Thomas and Cristian Santana each had two hits.

As impressive as the offense was, Abdullah and Jiminez also stood out from the mound. Abdullah started and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing three hits and a walk and striking out four.

Jiminez made his Great Lakes debut at 17-years old and he pitched four scoreless innings, giving up a hit, two walks and striking out four. Jiminez will turn 18 this weekend and he has advanced quickly, he pitched 11 innings for the AZL Dodgers before making his first outing as a Loon.

Rookie-Pioneer Ogden

The Raptors only scored in one inning so they made it count by putting 11 runs on the board and thus beating the Missoula Osprey (Diamondbacks) 11-7. Jeren Kendell was the designated hitter and the 1st round pick had three hits, including a triple, with a run scored and two RBI.

Hendrik Clementina hit his third home run, a three-run shot, Rylan Bannon was 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Rookie-AZL Dodgers

The AZL Dodgers had a seven run lead after three and then held on to a 10-9 win over AZL Indians. 20th round pick Donovan Casey went 4-for-4 in his third game with AZL Dodgers.

Casey had four singles and four RBI, Felix Osorio and Marcus Chiu each had two hits and they both hit home runs.

Transactions

Double-A: Right-handed pitchers Yadier Alvarez, Dennis Santana and Mitchell White assigned to Tulsa from Rancho Cucamonga; catcher Brant Whiting assigned to Tulsa from Rancho Cucamonga; Tulsa placed right-handed pitcher Tim Shibuya and left-handed pitcher Colt Hynes on the 7-day disabled list.

Class-A: Catcher Garrett Hope and right-handed pitcher Andrew Thurman assigned to Rancho Cucamonga from Tulsa; Rancho Cucamonga placed right-handed pitcher Alex Hermeling on the 7-day disabled list; right-handed pitcher Zach Hartman assigned to Rancho Cucamonga from Ogden.