Andy Pages homers twice, leads High-A Central in homers

A record-setting offensive explosion, a 20-year-old leading his league in home runs, and a rehabbing major leaguer going deep twice highlighted Sunday in the Dodgers minor leagues.

Player of the day

Andy Pages won’t be old enough to legally drink alcohol until December, and is the ninth-youngest hitter to play in High-A Central this season. He also leads the formerly-named Midwest League with 12 home runs, after hitting two on Sunday.

The league-leading total is even more notable considering Pages didn’t go deep until his 15th game of the season. He has 12 homers in his last 28 games, including his two-run shot in the third inning and solo shot in the fourth inning Sunday.

Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs was high on Pages before the season, ranking him as the fourth-best prospect in the Dodgers system.

“He can hit balls out with a flick of the wrist, even when he hasn’t taken his best swing,” Longenhagen wrote. “If he stays in center, he has a star-level ceiling. If not, then he has a whiff-prone, traditional right field profile driven by obvious impact power.

Pages was in right field for the 27th time this season on Sunday, compared to his 13 starts in left. He’s hitting .256/.363/.543, also leading High-A Central in runs scored (40), and in the top six in RBI (30), slugging percentage, and OPS, with a 24.9-percent strikeout rate that’s better than league average (26.4 percent).

Triple-A Oklahoma City

A five-run eighth inning broke a tie in Oklahoma City’s road win over the Round Rock Express (Rangers). Let’s focus on the players most likely to play in the majors relatively soon:

• Yoshi Tsutsugo started in left field and hit two solo home runs in his fourth rehab game.
• Brusdar Graterol pitched a perfect seventh inning with a strikeout, throwing six of his eight pitches for strikes.
• Alex Vesia struck out three in a perfect eighth inning.
• Luke Raley homered, doubled, scored twice, and drove in two runs.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers came within one strike of being no-hit in a loss to the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners). But after a two-out walk by Donovan Casey, Miguel Vargas hit a two-run home run for Tulsa’s only hit of the game. It was the second home run in as many days for the 21-year-old, who was just promoted to Double-A this week.

Andre Jackson struck out eight in his 4⅔ innings, but allowed two home runs and three runs, suffering the loss.

High-A Great Lakes

Pages wasn’t the only Loon to homer twice. Deacon Liput also hit two home runs, one day after hitting his first of the season, in Great Lakes’ romp over the Lansing Lugnuts (A’s). All four Loons homers were hit off Lansing bulk pitcher Stevie Emanuels, who allowed five runs in his three innings.

Alec Gamboa struck out five in four innings for the win, allowing only one run. Five Loons relievers each pitched a scoreless inning, combining to allow one walk and no hits in five innings, with seven strikeouts.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes set franchise records for runs scored (24) and victory margin (19) in a rout of the Visalia Rawhide (D-backs). The previous club mark for runs in a game was 23, set at a game in High Desert on July 5, 2010. The previous record for runs in a home game was 19, set back in 2018.

Left fielder Sam McWilliams and right fielder Ismael Alcantara each had three hits, scored three times, and drove in five. McWilliams homered twice and doubled, and Alcantara homered once.

Designated hitter Jonny DeLuca homered and drove in four. Shortstop Alex De Jesus homered, doubled, scored three runs, and drove in three. Corner man Sauryan Lao also homered, driving in three.

Right-hander Daniel Cruz struck out four in two scoreless, hitless innings, picking up the win.

Transactions

Triple-A: Edwin Uceta was called up to the majors, and Mitch White optioned back to Oklahoma City.

Double-A: Pitcher Austin Drury was promoted from Great Lakes. Pitcher John Rooney was placed on the seven-day injured list.

High-A: Joe Vranesh was activated after missing six games on the injured list. He was 0-for-5 as the designated hitter on Sunday, with three strikeouts.

Sunday scores

• Oklahoma City 7, Round Rock 2
• Arkansas 3, Tulsa 2
• Great Lakes 7, Lansing 1
• Rancho Cucamonga 24, Visalia 5

Monday schedule

5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Yefry Ramírez) at Round Rock (Brock Burke)

Tulsa, Great Lakes, and Rancho Cucamonga are off on Mondays.