Tim Locastro scores twice in OKC 6-3 win

Oklahoma City has won 11 out of their last 12 games and Rancho Cucamonga eighth-inning comeback brings them back to .500. Tulsa’s offense has an off-day while Great Lakes drops their game in the late innings.

Player of the day

Tim Locastro scored twice and got on base three times in five plate appearances in Oklahoma City’s win. Locastro has scored 18 runs, which ties him for first place in the PCL. He is hitting .391/.481/.609 in 52 plate appearances.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers scored twice in the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie and went on to beat the Round Rock Express (Rangers) 6-3 to take three out of four games in their series. The win raised the Dodgers record to 12-2 which is a franchise best start since joining the Pacific Coast League.

The two-run rally started when Jake Peter was hit by pitch. Breyvic Valera singled Peter to third and then Valera went to second on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly scored Peter and later a wild pitch brought home Valera.

The Dodgers scored once more in the eighth on three singles from Rob Segedin, Peter and Valera.

Six pitchers took the mound for the Dodgers, two highlights include Daniel Hudson’s fifth scoreless appearance and Brian Schlitter recorded his third save in four tries.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers lost 4-1 to the NW Arkansas Naturals (Royals) and split their two-game set in Arkansas. Both teams will now travel to 100 plus miles back to Tulsa for a two-game series.

Karch Kowalcyzk took the loss after giving up three runs (one earned) in two innings pitched. Brian Moran pitched well with three scoreless innings in relief.

The Drillers had a quiet day at the plate, DJ Peters was walked twice and Yusniel Diaz went 2-for-4. Jacob Scavuzzo hit his second home run of the season.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes saw another lead lost in the late innings but this time their offense battled back to score five runs in the eighth and that was enough to beat Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) 7-5 at Rancho Cucamonga.

Leading by a run going to the top of the eighth, the Storm scored three runs to take a two-run lead. The Quakes comeback started with solo home runs from Cristian Santana and Donovan Casey that tied the game 4-4.

The rally continued when after an error put Cody Thomas on, Hamlet Marte tripled in Thomas and Steve Berman followed with an RBi single. Logan Landon doubled Berman to third.

After a pitching change, Omar Estevez hit a sacrifice fly to score Berman. Trailing by three runs, the Storm tried to comeback with a solo home run from Taylor Kohlwey. But that wasn’t enough as the Quakes went on to win. The win evened the Quakes season record to 8-8.

Dean Kremer pitched five innings and gave up a run and five hits. Kremer struck out 10 with no walks. Imani Abdullah relieved Kremer and struck out two in his inning of work.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons dropped the first game of their home stand with a 5-4 loss to the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers). With a one-run lead in the eighth, the Loons lost the lead when after a walk, Luke Burch tripled home the tying run. Burch would later score the ultimate winning run on a sacrifice fly out.

The Whitecaps started the scoring with a run in the first and two runs in the second. Down by three, the Loons loaded the bases with two out. Brandon Montgomery then singled home two runs.

After a pitching change, Romer Cuadrado stole home to tie the game. The Loons would break the tie on a Nick Yarnall singled home Brayan Morales in the sixth inning.

Loon’s reliever Zach Pop was impressive, in 2⅔ innings, Pop struck out six with no hits or walks.

Transactions

Triple-A: Oklahoma City placed right-handed pitcher Justin DeFratus on the temporarily inactive list; right-handed pitcher Tyler Pill assigned to Oklahoma City.

Double-A: Tulsa placed infielder Wes Darvill on the 7-day disabled list; right-handed pitcher Ariel Hernandez assigned to Tulsa.

Friday’s scores

Oklahoma City 6, Round Rock 3

NW Arkansas 4, Tulsa 1

Rancho Cucamonga 7, Lake Elsinore 5

West Michigan 5, Great Lakes 4

Saturday’s schedule

11:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Riley Ottesen) vs. West Michigan (Jesus Rodriguez)

4:00 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Guillermo Moscoso) at New Orleans [Marlins] (Zac Gallen)

5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Yadier Alvarez) vs. NW Arkansas (Glenn Sparkman)

7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Andrew Sopko) vs. Lake Elsinore (Ronald Bolaños)