Joe Kelly makes scoreless relief appearance, Imanol Vargas powers Quakes with four hits

Joe Kelly needed only seven pitches Sunday when he came out of the bullpen for a scoreless inning in Rancho. A strikeout and two first-pitch groundouts made for quick work in the final appearance before the Dodgers activate Kelly on the San Diego trip this week.

The right-hander has been on the injured list since August 10, with no injury designation. In an appearance Friday night in Rancho, Kelly made 16 pitches with a strikeout and two walks.

As pointed out yesterday, the Dodgers will need to make a move to create space on the 40-man roster once Kelly is activated, and they might have a pair of potential candidates in Scott Alexander and Garrett Cleavinger.

Player of the day

Imanol Vargas had a big game for the Quakes Sunday, going 4-for-4 for the second time in his career. A solo homer in the second, an RBI-single in the third, a triple in the fifth and another single in the seventh.

The Dodgers signed Vargas out of the Dominican Republic in 2017 and while he struggled early on this year, his first with Rancho, the 23-year-old has gone 20-for-56 (.357) with seven homers and 19 RBIs in August.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

OKC scored all eight of their runs in the first three innings of the game and coasted to an 8-4 win over Sugar Land (Astros), ending a short three-game losing streak for the Dodgers.

Zach McKinstry, Cristian Santana and Tony Wolters all drove in two runs for OKC, as the offense took advantage of five walks and two errors by the Skeeters. Santana has now hit safely in 21 consecutive starts, going 34-for-88 (.386) and has hit safely in 22 of his last 24 games.

Edwin Uceta went three innings in relief to earn the victory, allowing just a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers also did the bulk of their scoring in the first three innings, scoring five of their six total before the fourth. Tulsa would hang on for a 6-4 win over NW Arkansas (Royals).

Michael Busch started the scoring with a two-run homer in the opening frame.

Starter Landon Knack came out early after getting the first two outs of the game, apparently due to a leg injury. The bullpen was up to the task, allowing three runs (two earned) the rest of the way.

Ryan Noda went 2-for-3 with a walk, doubling in a run in the third.

High-A Great Lakes

A total of six pitchers combined for the Loons to complete a 5-0 shutout over Lansing (Athletics). The Lugnuts actually had more hits (eight) than Great Lakes (five) on the day.

Eddys Leonard had two of the Loons’ five hits and knocked in a run on a triple in the seventh inning. That was the fourth and final inning of Great Lakes scoring exactly one run each. Two of the runs came on a wild pitch and an errant pickoff throw.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

Four different Quakes went deep Sunday in a 9-2 win over San Jose (Giants), including the aforementioned Vargas. Luis Yanel Diaz and Edwin Mateo each launched solo blasts, while Alex De Jesus smacked a two-run homer in the seventh.

The home run for De Jesus put the Quakes on top 9-0, a score the might have held if it weren’t for a pair of fielding errors in the eighth to allow a pair of runs to score.

Mitch White is the scheduled starter for Rancho Cucamonga as they head out on the road to Visalia.

Transactions

Triple-A: Pitcher Jose Martinez assigned to Oklahoma City from Tulsa

Sunday scores

• Oklahoma City 8, Sugar Land 4
• Tulsa 6, NW Arkansas 4
• Great Lakes 5, Lansing 0
• Rancho Cucamonga 9, San Jose 2

Monday schedule

• 5:05 p.m. Oklahoma City (Yefry Ramírez) at Sugar Land (Peter Solomon)