Leonel Valera finishes a double shy of the cycle for Great Lakes

The Quakes were the only Dodgers minor league team to score much on Wednesday, but it was an individual performance in High-A that stood out.

Player of the day

For the second night in a row, a Dodgers minor leaguer finished a double shy of the cycle. On Wednesday, it was Great Lakes shortstop Leonel Valera, who scored both Loons runs on the night.

Valera, a 21-year-old signed out of Venezuela in 2015, homered in the third inning, then tripled and scored on an errant pickoff attempt in the fifth. He singled with one out in the seventh of a tie game, but was thrown out trying to steal second. In the ninth, Valera came to the plate with one out and the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but he struck out swinging on three pitches.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers didn’t know it at the time, but Gus Varland allowing two runs in the first inning was enough to lose to the Wichita Wind Surge (Twins).

Tulsa only had two hits on the day, one of them a double by Ryan Noda, who homered twice on Tuesday. That set up the Drillers’ only run of the day, a sacrifice fly by Carlos Rincon.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons led 2-0 entering the seventh inning, but the Lake County Captains (Cleveland) rallied against the bullpen for a road win. Jeff Blege allowed two runs in the seventh to tie the score, and Braidyn Fink allowed the game winner in the top of the ninth.

Great Lakes rallied in the bottom of the ninth, with two walks to open the frame, but two strikeouts and a groundout ended the game with the Loons a run short. The Loons also switched things up a bit with the lineup. Miguel Vargas, who normally plays third base, started at second and hit leadoff. Zac Ching, the regular second baseman, started at third.

Bobby Miller, in his first game since May 4, pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, allowing a single and a walk. The Dodgers’ 2020 first-round pick spent the better part of the last two weeks at extended spring training.

Clayton Beeter, the Dodgers’ Competitive Balance Round B pick, followed Miller with two strikeouts in a scoreless inning of his own. Both pitchers have 0.00 ERAs with eight strikeouts this season — Miller in five innings, Beeter in four.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

Hyun-il Choi pitched five scoreless innings, the longest start by a Quakes pitcher so far this season, in a blowout win over the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres). Choi allowed only two singles and struck out three.

Second baseman Sam McWilliams and first baseman Sauryn Lao each had two doubles and a single, and left fielder Jake Vogel had two singles, two RBI, a walk and a stolen base in the win.

Transactions

Low-A: Right-hander Daniel Cruz was placed on the injured list, and left-hander Nelfri Contreras was called up from extended spring training.

Wednesday scores

Wichita 6, Tulsa 1

Lake County 3, Great Lakes 2

Rancho Cucamonga 8, Lake Elsinore 2

Thursday schedule

3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jose Martinez) vs. Lake County (Raymond Burgos)

5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Ryan Pepiot) vs. Wichita (Bryan Sammons)

5:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Aaron Wilkerson) at Albuquerque [Rockies] (Kyle Freeland)

7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Kendall Williams) at Lake Elsinore (Jesus Lugo)