/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69879033/Screen_Shot_2021_09_18_at_8.32.01_PM.0.png)
Saturday was the penultimate day of the season for three Dodgers minor league affiliates, and the final day for the Arizona Complex League.
Player of the day
Landon Knack, the Dodgers’ second-round draft pick in 2020, finished off his Double-A season in style with four scoreless innings in Tulsa’s win over Wisconsin. Knack struck out five on Saturday, lowering his Double-A ERA to 4.37 in six starts.
Unless the 24-year-old Knack joins Triple-A for the final two weeks, his first professional season ends with an impressive 82 strikeouts against only eight walks in 62⅓ innings, with a 3.18 ERA between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Kevin Quackenbush allowed four runs in the ninth inning in a loss to the Round Rock Express (Rangers). Oklahoma City got home runs from Matt Davidson, Steven Souza Jr., and Omar Estévez in the loss.
Ryan Pepiot pitched two perfect innings in relief, with three strikeouts.
Victor Gonzalez struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning. Since getting optioned to Triple-A, the left-hander in eight games has a 4.91 ERA in 7⅓ innings, with 11 strikeouts (33.3-percent K rate) and two walks.
Double-A Tulsa
Six of the Drillers’ 10 hits were doubles in beating the Midland RockHounds (A’s). Six different Tulsa hitters had doubles, including one of first baseman Justin Yurchak’s two hits.
If Yurchak goes 2-for-4 or better on Sunday, he can finish off the Double-A portion of his season hitting .400 in 30 games. Overall, between Great Lakes and Tulsa, Yurchak this season is hitting .369/.447/.491 in 399 plate appearances.
Tulsa was technically alive for the postseason entering Saturday but needed a lot of scenarios to fall in their favor. Despite winning, they were eliminated thanks to wins by Arkansas, Frisco and Northwest Arkansas.
High-A Great Lakes
The Loons were eliminated from postseason consideration with a 10-inning loss to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers). Down one in the ninth, shortstop Leonel Valera tripled and scored the equalizer on a wild pitch. But Dodgers 2021 10th-round draft pick Michael Hobbs gave up a three-run home run to Chad McLanahan in the 10th inning to provide the winning margin.
Emmett Sheehan, the Dodgers’ sixth-rounder this year, started for Great Lakes after getting promoted from Low-A, and had four strikeouts among his five outs. But he also allowed three runs without the benefit of a hit, thanks to three two-out walks in the second inning, all of whom scored after he was pulled.
From the other day, the Loons unveiled their 2022 schedule, which opens next year on April 8.
Low-A Rancho Cucamonga
Yeiner Fernandez, yet another Venezuelan catcher in the Dodgers system who turns 19 Sunday, delivered his second walk-off hit of the week to lift the Quakes over the Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks).
YEINER FERNANDEZ DOES IT AGAIN!!! FERNANDEZ WALKS US OFF FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SERIES!!!
— Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (@RCQuakes) September 19, 2021
QUAKES WIN, 7-6!!! pic.twitter.com/9ne9jt7fZJ
Fernandez, who had three hits on Saturday, joined Rancho Cucamonga on September 9 from the Arizona Complex League, and he has at least one hit and one RBI in all seven games with the Quakes, going 16-for-31 (.516) with 10 runs batted in.
Right-hander Daniel Cruz struck out six in two scoreless innings in relief.
Transactions
Triple-A: Garrett Cleavinger, whose major league season ended when he was transferred to the 60-day injured list on September 7, joined Oklahoma City on a rehab assignment on Saturday. He pitched the sixth inning, allowing two runs on a hit and a walk, and recorded two outs.
Low-A: Edgardo Henriquez, a 19-year-old Venezuelan right-hander, joined the Quakes from the Arizona Complex League. He allowed four runs in two innings in his start on Saturday.
The ACL Dodgers completed their 2021 schedule on Saturday, finishing 31-27.
Saturday scores
- Round Rock 8, Oklahoma City 5
- Tulsa 5, Midland 2
- Wisconsin 8, Great Lakes 6 (10 innings)
- Rancho Cucamonga 7, Visalia 6
Sunday schedule
- 10:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Hyun-il Choi) vs. Wisconsin (TJ Shook)
- 12 p.m.: Tulsa (Bobby Miller) at Midland (Matt Milburn)
- 12:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Mitch White) vs. Round Rock (David Kubiak)
- 2 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Benony Robles) vs. Visalia (Scott Randall)