Smith shows his power at home and the road

Good wins for Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Ogden. Rancho Cucamonga loses on a walk-off and AZL Dodgers drop their Saturday night game.

Player of the day

Will Smith is hitting .336/.413/.757 at home this season and 13 of his 17 home runs have been hit at home. Away from Tulsa, Smith is hitting .227/.339./423 with four home runs. However, Smith has carried his recent power surge to the road this week as he has two home runs in this four-game series at NW Arkansas.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers had a starting pitcher ejected in the third inning but were able to recover and beat the Express (Rangers) 7-5 at Round Rock. With one out in the third inning, Manny Bañuelos walked Scott Heineman. As Heineman went to first, he and Bañuelos got into an argument. The argument led to both benches clearing.

In the aftermath, both Bañuelos and Heimeman were ejected. The Express would take a 4-1 lead before the Dodgers came back.

The Dodgers scored twice in the fifth when Jake Peter tripled and scored on a ground out. That was followed by Connor Joe hitting a solo home run.

The Dodgers completed the comeback in the eighth inning. Kyle Garlick hit a grand slam to make it 7-4 and the Dodgers were able to hold on for the win.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers produced a 15-hit attack and needed all of them to beat the NW Arkansas Naturals (Royals) 12-8 on Saturday. It was not until Will Smith hit a three-run homer in the eighth that the Drillers took a somewhat comfortable lead in the game.

Drew Jackson also homered, for Jackson this was the third straight game with a home run. DJ Peters and Jackson each had three hits, Peters hit two doubles and drove in two runs. Tyler Goeddel had four singles and scored a run.

Right-handed pitcher Yadier Alvarez returned to Tulsa after almost two months on the disabled list. Alvarez pitched ⅔ inning and gave up three runs (two earned), one hit and three walks.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes continued to get good pitching but their bats were quieted in their 1-0 loss to the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels). In the bottom of the ninth, the 66ers loaded the bases with no outs.

Marshall Kasowski replaced Connor Strain and struck out the first hitter he faced. But then he gave up a the walk-off single to Jonah Todd to score Brandon Marsh with the winning run.

The loss should not mar the another seven-inning outing by Leo Crawford. Crawford gave up just one-hit in seven innings on July 4th and on Saturday, Crawford allowed just two hits against the 66ers in seven innings.

Gavin Lux singled in the sixth inning and that extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Lux has been as hot as the Quakes in July. He is hitting .397/.429/.603 this month.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons and Burlington Bees (Angels) game was postponed on Saturday due to rain, a doubleheader has been scheduled today to makeup for the rainout.

Rookie - Pioneer

The Raptors trailed by three runs in the eighth inning but were able to score five runs to defeat the Helena Brewers 8-6. Chris Roller hit a two-run homer to start the rally in the eighth inning.

Following the home run, Niko Hulsizer and Daniel Robinson each singled. Jacob Amaya then hit a two-run triple to give the Raptors the lead.

Amaya would then score to make it 8-6.

Miguel Vargas had two doubles and scored twice. Drew Avans went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in.

Rookie - Arizona League

The AZL Dodgers lost 4-2 to the AZL Royals. 2018 32nd round draft pick Jacob Gilliland gave up three runs in the eighth inning to take the loss for the AZL Dodgers.

The 18-year old has allowed at least one run in his first four games with the AZL Dodgers.

Transactions

Triple-A: Los Angeles optioned right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler to Oklahoma City. Right-handed pitcher Corey Copping assigned to Oklahoma City from Tulsa. Oklahoma City released left-handed pitcher Brian Moran.

Double-A: Tulsa placed outfielder Yusniel Diaz and catcher Keibert Ruiz on the temporarily inactive list due to participation in Futures Game today in Washington DC. Right-handed pitcher Tony Gonsolin assigned to Tulsa from Rancho Cucamonga. Tulsa activated left-handed pitcher Michael Johnson and right-handed pitchers Yadier Alvarez and Logan Bawcom from the 7-day disabled list.

Class-A: Right-handed pitcher Isaac Anderson assigned to Rancho Cucamonga from Tulsa. Right-handed pitcher Justin Hagenman assigned to Great Lakes from Ogden.

Rookie: Great Lakes sent right-handed pitcher Wills Montgomerie on a rehab assignment to AZL Dodgers. Left-handed pitcher Darien Nunez assigned to Ogden from Great Lakes.

Saturday’s scores

Oklahoma City 7, Round Rock 5

Tulsa 12, NW Arkansas 8

Inland Empire 1, Rancho Cucamonga 0

Ogden 8, Helena 6

AZL Royals 4, AZL Dodgers 2

Sunday’s schedule

11:00 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (TBD & TBD) at Burlington (Jose Soriano & TBD)

3:00 p.m.: Ogden (Joel Inoa) vs. Helena (Max Lazar)

4:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Drew Hutchinson) at Round Rock (TBD)

5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (TBD) vs. Arkansas [Mariners] (Anthony Misiewicz)

5:35 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (TBD) at Inland Empire (TBD)

7:00 p.m.: AZL Dodgers at AZL Reds