Dodgers minors: Offenses combine for 40 runs across 4 games

To say the bats were hot on Sunday is an understatement. Between the four Dodgers affiliates, there were a combined 40 runs scored. Oh, and that’s with one team scoring only three.

Player of the day

With so many players having great days at the plate, this one was extremely difficult. I decided to give it to someone I haven’t given POTD honors to yet, Quakes slugger Jorbit Vivas.

He had two hits and drove in three runs, including hitting his eighth home run of the season. The 20-year-old continues to be one of the best hitters in the system this season as he’s hitting .310 with an OPS just below .900. Vivas is definitely a name to keep an eye on in the coming years as he continues to rise through the Dodgers’ farm rankings.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

If you love pitching, turn away because this isn’t the game for you. The Dodgers came out on top, defeating the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies) 15-10. The real highlight of this game came in the second inning where there were a combined 13 runs(!!!). OKC outscored ABQ, 8-5 in the second inning alone.

Luke Raley and Sheldon Neuse had back-to-back doubles to bring in the games first run. Hamlet Marte hit a two-run homer a few hitters later, making it 4-0 OKC. Matt Davidson doubled in a couple of runs to make it 6-0, then Raley brought in two more runs with his second double of the inning.

Davidson hit his team-leading 18th home run of the season later in the game. The veteran continues to impress in OKC, as he’s posted an OPS of just below 1.000 this season. Sheldon Neuse also added two hits and drove in two runs.

Ryan Pepiot made his second start for OKC and it was a forgettable one. In four innings of work, he allowed five runs on eight hits. He allowed two homers and issued only three strikeouts. It’s easily his worst outing of the entire season. But hey, he was bound to have one sooner or later. Hopefully he can bounce back in his next start.

Double-A Tulsa

The Springfield Cardinals won a thriller over the Drillers, defeating them 10-9. In total, there were 28 hits in this game between the two teams. There was at least one run scored in every inning aside from the seventh and eighth.

For Tulsa, five players had at least two hits and six players drove in at least one run. James Outman and Jacob Amaya each had three hits. Amaya hit his 11th home run of the season. Over his last 13 gams, Amaya’s bat has really heated up. Since July 23 he has 18 hits and has raised his average from .198 to .222.

Ryan Noda also had a great day at the plate, as he hit his team-leading 20th home run of the season. Michael Busch also hit a home run, his 13th of the season.

High-A Great Lakes

The offense went quiet after the first inning for the Loons, as they fell to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (Padres) 6-3. GL hopped on the board in the first inning after a two-run homer from Ryan Ward. After that, they’d score only one run the rest of the way.

The game flipped in the sixth inning, when the TinCaps scored four runs to take a 6-2 lead.

Hyun-il Choi made his second start with the Loons after getting promoted from Rancho last week. He went four innings and allowed two runs with three strikeouts. On the season, Choi is 8-3 with a 3.15 ERA and 0.87 WHIP. He has 86 strikeouts in 74 combined innings.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

I feel like a lot of this post has featured itself around the offense, so let’s continue the trend. The Quakes’ bats were scorching hot on Sunday as they defeated the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) 13-5. Every player in the starting lineup for the Quakes had a hit except for one. In addition, seven different players drove in a run.

Three players stood out the most for Rancho. We’ll start with Jose Ramos, the 20-year-old outfielder who continues to hit for the Quakes. He had two hits and drove in a run and is hitting .390 with an OPS of 1.208 in his 14 games in low-a. In his previous 15 games in the Arizona League, he hit .383 with an OPS of 1.089.

Jorbit Vivas had two hits and drove in three runs. One of those hits was his eighth homer of the season. He’s been impressing all season in RC, as he’s hitting .310 with an OPS of .898 on the season. Meanwhile, down in the nine hold was Ismael Alcantara, who had three hits and also drove in three runs. Just like Vivas, he also hit his eighth homer of the season. In 32 games in Rancho in 2021, Alcantara is hitting .336 with an OPS of 1.042.

The Quakes aren’t having a shortage of offense this season, to say the least.

Transactions

• Dodgers selected the contract of LHP Justin Bruihl from Oklahoma City Dodger
• Dodgers sent 2B Gavin Lux on a rehab assignment to Oklahoma City Dodgers

Sunday scores

• Oklahoma City 15, Albuquerque 10
• Springfield 10, Tulsa 9
• Fort Wayne 6, Great Lakes 3
• Rancho Cucamonga 13, Lake Elsinore 5

Monday schedule

5:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (TBD) at Albuquerque (Ryan Castellani)