AZL Dodgers take the Arizona Rookie League Championship with 6-5 victory

Saturday was a win for every team in the organization, that is, every team that finished their game. One game was completely rained out, while another was suspended in the seventh inning.

The highlight of the night came in the Arizona Rookie League where the Dodgers pulled out the Championship. Tulsa also took another step forward after clinching a playoff spot Friday.

Player of the day

Raptors first baseman Dillon Paulson hit two homers and knocked in five to push his club to a 6-5 win.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers and Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Brewers) were suspended after seven innings, all knotted at four apiece.

Brock Stewart got touched up for four runs in the bottom of the fifth, allowing a three-run homer and an RBI-triple.

Henry Ramos was 2-for-3 when play was stopped, driving in three of Oklahoma City’s four runs on a double and single.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers followed up their Friday win that put them in the playoffs, by clinching the second-half title in the Norther Division of the Texas League with a 5-3 win over the Springfield Cardinals.

Dustin May nearly made it through seven innings in his sixth start for Tulsa. The right-hander had allowed just one hit and one walk through six scoreless and took the mound in the seventh with a 5-0 lead.

After getting former teammate Johan Mieses to ground out to start the inning, May would load the bases on two walks and a single. Tulsa manager Scott Hennessey then turned to Karch Kowalczyk to get out of the jam.

Kowalczyk did get out of the inning, but not before the Cardinals brought home two on a Jose Martinez single. The Cardinals would get one more but Kowalczyk would go the rest of the way to secure the win.

May is now 2-2 with a 3.67 ERA since making his Double-A debut on August 3. The lanky pitcher — turning 21 this next Thursday — even knocked in a run of his own on an RBI-single in the second.

DJ Peters got into one to left field for a solo shot in the third, his 28th homer of the year.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes had five players contribute multi-hit efforts as the offense exploded in a 16-2 win over the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels).

Omar Estevez and Cody Thomas each drove in three, while Jared Walker came through with a grand slam.

Jeren Kendall, the Dodgers first-round pick in 2017, has struggled to hit .214 in 2018. Kendall walked five times Saturday and scored three times.

Isaac Anderson turned in five solid innings, striking out eight while allowing two runs (one earned). The bullpen finished off the game with four scoreless to give the Quakes their 85th win of the season.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons game with the South Bend Cubs was postponed.

Pioneer-Rookie Ogden

The aforementioned Paulson was key for Ogden, driving in five of the six runs in a 6-5 win over the Grand Junction Rockies.

Down 4-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth, this is where Paulson’s heroics began. A three-run homer in the sixth and a two-run shot in the eighth to gave the Raptors the lead for good.

Six different pitchers combined to get through nine innings for the win.

Arizona-Rookie AZL Dodgers

The AZL Dodgers beat the AZL Cubs One 6-5 to take the Arizona Rookie League Championship.

Sauryn Lao delivered a two-run triple in a four-run fifth that would be the driving force behind the victory over the Cubs at Sloan Park in the decisive third game. The Cubs scored two in the ninth but the Dodgers held on.

Dodgers manager Mark Kertenian led the Raptors to the Pioneer League crown last season.

Here is a video of the last out:

Transactions

Triple-A: Alex Verdugo, Andrew Toles, Kyle Farmer and Tim Locastro were all recalled to the big club. Connor Joe was activated from the 7-day DL and Tyler Goeddel was assigned to OKC from Tulsa.

Double-A: Pitchers Michael Boyle, Karch Kowalczyk and Austin Hamilton were assigned to Tulsa. Tony Gonsolin was placed on the temporarily inactive list.

Saturday’s scores

Oklahoma City 4, Colorado Springs 4 (Suspended)

Tulsa 5, Springfield 3

Rancho Cucamonga 16, Inland Empire 2

Ogden 6, Grand Junction 5

AZL Dodgers 6, AZL Cubs One 5

Sunday’s schedule

11:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (TBD) vs. South Bend [Cubs] (Brailyn Marquez)

2:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (TBD) vs. Inland Empire (Luis Madero)

3:00 p.m.: Oklahoma City vs Colorado Springs (Brewers) continuing suspended game

4:00 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Logan Bawcom) at Colorado Springs (Alec Asher)

4:10 p.m.: Tulsa (Yadier Alvarez) at Springfield [Cardinals] (TBD)