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Three of the four games played were settled by one run and the other got close late in Dodgers’ minor league action Friday night. All four games saw scoring in the ninth and two were ended on walk-offs.
Player of the Day
Luke Raley went deep in the third inning and again in the tenth, both times with a runner on base to drive in all four runs for Oklahoma City. Fresh off being activated from the injured list Thursday, the big lefty went 3-for-4 on the night.
It was the second game this season that Raley had multiple home runs in a game. The 26-year-old hit three homers back on May 30.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
There wasn’t much offense to speak of outside of Raley’s big night but luckily that was all the Dodgers needed. Kevin Quackenbush locked down the ninth on 11 pitches to seal a 4-3 win in 10 innings for Oklahoma City over Salt Lake (Angels).
OKC has now won four in a row and six of the last seven to turn around their season. The Dodgers had lost 11 of the last 13 before going on this run.
Double-A Tulsa
Infielder Devin Mann hit two homers for the second night in a row, including a two-run bomb to dead center in the ninth. The latter proved to be the winning runs with the Drillers holding on for a 8-7 win.
Devin Mann had his 2nd two homer game in as many nights, hitting his 10th and 11th of the season! pic.twitter.com/R6VF0fp1YR
— Josh Thomas (@jokeylocomotive) September 11, 2021
Amarillo (Diamondbacks) also scored a pair in the home half of the ninth and had the tying run at first when the last out was recorded.
Tulsa jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning before the Sod Poodles scored two in the fifth and three in the sixth. Drillers’ starter Michael Grove was cruising into the fifth inning before allowing a pair of solo home runs.
Friday was the first victory in Grove’s career after getting drafted 68th overall in 2018.
Outfielder Ryan Noda hit his 27th homer of the year and only trails MJ Melendez (28) for the most in Double-A this season. Melendez was promoted to Triple-A back in August and already has eight at that level.
High-A Great Lakes
The Loons did most of their damage in a four-run fifth inning and held on late for a 6-4 victory over West Michigan (Tigers).
A hit batter, followed by two singles with a balk in between got a pair of runs in to bring Andy Pages to the plate in the fifth. The Dodgers No. 5 prospect in MLB’s mid-season rankings, Pages launched his 27th homer of the season, a two-run blast to center field to give Great Lakes a 5-0 lead at the time.
Pages stayed just ahead of his teammate Ryan Ward for the lead in long balls for all of High-A. Ward smashed a solo shot for his 26th just two innings later.
Ward, Carson Taylor and Pages combined to go 6-for-14 on the night.
Jesus Vargas went six innings for the second time this season (May 21), allowing only three hits and one run. The right-hander struck out seven with no walks to earn his seventh victory of the year.
Low-A Rancho Cucamonga
A wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning allowed the winning run to score for Inland Empire (Angels), sending Rancho to a 6-5 loss.
The 66ers got a one-out triple in the ninth to bring the winning run within 90 feet of the win. Two pitches later, Reinaldo De Paula made a pitch low and away on an 0-1 count that got past Yeiner Fernandez to allow the decisive blow.
Luis Yanel Diaz hit his fifth home run of the year in the second inning with a man aboard, giving the Quakes an early 2-0 lead. Inland Empire answered right back with four straight two-out hits in the bottom of the inning to plate three runs for the 66ers.
The two clubs traded one-run innings until the game was tied at five in the fifth. Braydon Fisher tossed three scoreless innings to get the Quakes into the ninth.
Transactions
Triple-A: Dodgers optioned Andre Jackson to OKC.
Friday Scores
- Oklahoma City 4, Salt Lake 3
- Tulsa 8, Amarillo 7
- Great Lakes 6, West Michigan 4
- Inland Empire 6, Rancho Cucamonga 5
Saturday’s Schedule
- 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Carlos Duran) at West Michigan (Adam Wolf)
- 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Gus Varland) at Amarillo (Bryce Jarvis)
- 5:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Aaron Wilkerson) at Salt Lake (Jhonathan Diaz)
- 7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Jerming Rosario) at Inland Empire (Braden Olthoff)