Dodgers minors: Sheldon Neuse paces Oklahoma City’s offense with three hits

It was a quiet pair of losses for the lower level teams while the the upper two teams won with some late offense in the Dodgers minors.

Player of the day

Sheldon Neuse drove in a pair of runs with three hits Saturday, including a solo homer and two singles. The long ball came in the first inning to score the first run of the game and the second of Neuse’s singles drove in what would be the winning run.

Acquired in a February trade that sent reliever Adam Kolarek to Oakland, Neuse has been one of the several in the Dodger organization that have struggled with the bat in the majors. The 26-year-old has found success in Triple-A, going 8-for-20 (.400) over his last five games with five extra-base hits, including three homers.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City overcame an early 3-2 deficit by scoring two in the fifth and two in the seventh to come away with a 6-4 win over Albuquerque (Rockies).

Neftali Feliz held down the middle innings to pick up the win in relief. The 33-year-old allowed just an unearned run in 2.2 IP, striking out four with no walks.

Corey Knebel threw on back-to-back nights as his last hurdle before rejoining the team on the upcoming road trip. The right-hander allowed a single before striking out the next hitter to end the inning after only six pitches.

Double-A Tulsa

A three-run homer off the bat of Devin Mann gave the Drillers a 3-0 lead after one inning on the road Saturday. It was a lead the bullpen couldn’t hold and Tulsa found themselves down 5-3 heading into the seventh inning.

Solo homers from Jacob Amaya and Romer Cuadrado knotted the game at five apiece in the seventh. Justin Yurchak doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth and Stevie Berman gave the Drillers some insurance with an RBI-single in the ninth to lock down the 7-5 victory over Springfield (Cardinals).

Tulsa has now won four straight.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons didn’t have it on offense Saturday, managing only two hits in a 2-0 loss to Fort Wayne (Padres).

The standouts in the game for Great Lakes were the relief appearances from Cole Percival, Aldry Acosta and Zack Plunkett. The three combined to not allow a run after the damage was done early.

Percival went 4.1 IP scoreless, allowing four hits, striking out out four with no walks. Acosta struck out the side in the seventh and pitched a perfect eighth, while Plunkett pitched a spotless ninth with two strikeouts.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes were clinging to a 3-2 lead in the fifth when Gavin Stone allowed a two-run homer in the fifth to give the opposing Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) a 4-3 lead they wouldn’t surrender.

Stone struck out eight without a walk but also gave up nine hits and all four runs.

Rancho could only muster two singles and a walk after the fourth and neither one of those three baserunners came in the same inning.

Transactions

Triple-A: Kevin Quackenbush promoted to the Dodgers. Nick Tropeano assigned to Oklahoma City. Yefry Ramirez assigned outright to Oklahoma City.

Saturday scores

• Oklahoma City 6, Albuquerque 4
• Tulsa 7, Springfield 5
• Fort Wayne 2, Great Lakes 0
• Lake Elsinore 4, Rancho Cucamonga 3

Sunday schedule

• 10:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Hyun-il Choi) vs. Fort Wayne (Moises Lugo)
• 4:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Jose Martinez) at Springfield (Tyler Pike)
• 5:00 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Robbie Peto) vs. Lake Elsinore (Levi Thomas)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Ryan Pepiot) at Albuquerque (José Mujica)