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Andrew Sopko wins again for Tulsa; Logan Landon & Jared Walker hit All-Star home runs

By Eric Stephen
Andrew Sopko has won all three starts since returning to Double-A.
Photo credit: Matthew Christensen | Tulsa Drillers

Tuesday featured a pair of minor league All-Star Games, each including a Dodgers home run, and a slew of 2018 draft picks making their professional debuts.

Player of the day

Andrew Sopko struck out three in his six innings, allowing a run in a win for Tulsa, enjoying his return to Double-A. After making 23 starts for the Drillers in 2017, Sopko was a victim of the depth chart to start this season, opening with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. In three starts since rejoining Tulsa, Sopko is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA, and on the season has a 2.93 ERA in 15 starts, with 87 strikeouts in 83 innings.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

An error by Angelo Mora in the 10th inning allowed an unearned run to score, giving the Las Vegas 51s (Mets) a 3-2 win over Oklahoma City. The new rule in the minors placed a runner at second base to start each inning after the ninth. Las Vegas on Tuesday sacrificed the runner to third base, then saw the fateful ground ball to shortstop that was mishandled by Mora, scoring the winning run.

OKC flew out twice and grounded out in their half of the 10th.

Edwin Rios had two hits in defeat. Brett Pill struck out five and allowed a run in his five-inning start, getting a no-decision.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers opened the second half with a 5-1 home win over the Springfield Cardinals, with the big hit a three-run double by outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo in a four-run third inning. Outfielder turned pitcher Stetson Allie was promoted to Double-A and tossed a scoreless inning in relief, with one strikeout.

Tulsa played on Tuesday as Los Petroleros de Tulsa (“The Oilmen of Tulsa”), as part of minor league baseball’s initiative to celebrate Hispanic culture and fans. The uniforms and caps looked like this:

Advanced Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes were off, but five players took part in the California League All-Star Game, won by the North 8-1. Logan Landon started in right field and had two of the South’s four hits, homering for their only run.

Connor Wong started at catcher and was 0-for-2. Omar Estevez went 0-for-2 and played second base in reserve. Dean Kremer allowed a run on three hits and recorded two outs in relief.

Rylan Bannon was 0-for-3 with a walk and played all nine innings at third base. He also did well in the home run derby:

Class-A Great Lakes

A pair of Loons played in the Midwest League All-Star Game, won by the East 3-2 in 10 innings. Jared Walker homered and started at third base for the East, and Andre Scrubb retired his only batter faced in relief. The two teams combined to use 28 pitchers (14 each) in the 10 inning game, which ended in odd fashion:

Rookie-level Ogden

The Raptors beat the Orem Owlz (Angels) 7-2 in a game highlighted for the debuts of several 2018 Dodgers draft picks:

  • 8th-rounder Luke Heyer started at third base and was 1-for-3 with two RBI
  • 13th-rounder Dillon Paulson started at first and went 1-for-3 with a double
  • 18th-rounder Niko Hulsizer started in right field and was 1-for-3 with a stolen base and a run scored
  • 29th-round pick Daniel Robinson started in left and was 1-for-3 with a walk, run and RBI
  • 30th-rounder Matt Cogen was 0-for-2 as the designated hitter but walked three times and scored a run

Transactions

Triple-A: Brock Stewart was called up to the Dodgers as their 26th man in a doubleheader, and utility man Breyvic Valera was optioned to Oklahoma City. Matt Beaty was placed on the seven-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday.

Class-A: The Quakes added pitcher Nathan Witt, the Dodgers’ 17th-round pick in 2017 out of Michigan State. Witt, who pitched five innings for the Arizona League Dodgers last year, will make his 2018 debut with Rancho.

Rookie: 2018 draftees James Outman, Luke Heyer, Dillon Paulson, Niko Hulsizer, Daniel Robinson and Matt Cogen joined Ogden. Shortstop Ronny Brito joined the Raptors from the Dominican Summer League (the 19-year-old played 16 games with Ogden last season). Infielder Leonel Valera was sent to the Arizona League. Ogden released outfielders Pascal Amon and Felix Osorio.

Tuesday scores

Wednesday schedule

  • 9:05 a.m. PT: Tulsa (Devin Smeltzer) vs. Springfield (Jake Woofford)
  • 6 p.m.: Ogden (TBD) vs. Orem (TBD)

Oklahoma City, Rancho Cucamonga and Great Lakes are off Wednesday.

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