Jose Martinez pitches 6 scoreless innings for Double-A Tulsa

Thursday night in the Dodgers minor leagues saw a turnaround start for a 22-year-old after scuffling in his first few outings in Double-A.

Player of the day

Jose Martinez had his best start since joining Double-A Tulsa, with six scoreless innings on Thursday night to beat Wichita on the road. The 22-year-old right-hander, who was a non-roster invitee in big league camp during spring training, allowed only two singles and a walk on the night.

It was a rough go for Martinez since joining Tulsa, striking out only five of his first 71 batters faced in his first four games in Double-A, allowing 18 runs and five home runs in 13 innings. But he struck out six of 21 batters faced on Thursday, giving him 10 strikeouts in 11 innings and one run allowed in two starts against Wichita.

The Dodgers signed Martinez out of Venezuela in 2016.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Ryan Pepiot was working on a solid start into the sixth inning, but a three-run home run spoiled his night in Oklahoma City’s loss the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s). Catcher Austin Allen hit a two-out home run off Pepiot to break a 1-1 tie. Pepiot finished the sixth, allowing four total runs with three strikeouts.

Leftfielder Aldrich De Jongh had two doubles for OKC. Zach Reks drove in the only run in defeat.

Double-A Tulsa

Consecutive run-scoring hits by Kody Hoese, Jacob Amaya, and Devin Mann in the fourth inning proved enough for Tulsa to beat the Wichita Wind Surge (Twins).

Michael Busch had one of his two singles to start the fourth inning, then later scored on a single by Hoese. Amaya’s single added a second run, and Mann’s double capped the inning. Catcher Hunter Feduccia had two hits of his own, including an RBI single to score Busch in the fifth.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons managed only five hits in a loss to the Lake County Captains (Cleveland).

You knew things were bad when starter Hyun-il Choi, who entered the day with only 10 walks in 84 innings between both Class-A levels, walked three in four innings on Thursday, allowing three runs.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

Quakes pitchers struck out 20 in a win over the Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks). That included 11 strikeouts from two 2021 Dodgers draft picks to start the game. Fourth-rounder Nick Nastrini out of UCLA whiffed five in two innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs. Emmet Sheehan, a sixth-rounder out of Boston College, struck out six of nine batters faced in 2⅓ scoreless frames.

Catcher Marco Hernandez hit a three-run home run for Rancho Cucamonga in the win, and first baseman Sauryn Lao drove in three runs with three hits, including a double.

Transactions

Triple-A: Darien Nuñez was recalled to the Dodgers. Matt Beaty and Gavin Lux were optioned to Oklahoma City.

Double-A: Pitcher Jose Martinez was sent back from OKC to Tulsa. He was in Triple-A as a fill-in for a few days just in case but was never used.

Thursday scores

• Las Vegas 6, Oklahoma City 1
• Tulsa 4, Wichita 2
• Lake County 6, Great Lakes 1
• Rancho Cucamonga 9, Visalia 4

Friday schedule

• 4 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Logan Boyer) at Lake County (Hunter Gaddis)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Vidal Nuño) vs. Las Vegas (Daulton Jeffries)
• 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Clayton Beeter) at Wichita (Chris Vallimont)
• 6 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Robbie Peto) at Visalia (Kyle Backus)