Yefry Ramirez turns in solid start, Ryan Ward homers for second consecutive game

There wasn’t much to talk about on the hitting side for Friday night but two of the four affiliates came away with wins in the five total games.

Player of the day

There were several players to pick from that performed well enough to have a good night but none that really jumped off the page.

Yefry Ramírez turned in five solid innings for Oklahoma City, going five innings while only allowing two hits and a walk. One of those hits was a solo homer for the only run the opposing team would score and Ramírez would come away with his first win of the season.

The home run Ryan Ward hit for Tulsa capped off a three-run eighth that put the Drillers up by one in their 4-3 victory over Amarillo (Diamondbacks). It was the second straight night Ward left the yard and the outfielder had as many hits in a 2-for-3 effort Friday than he had for the season to this point (2-for-16 previously).

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Another player of the day candidate was Ryan Noda, with his 2-for-4 performance for OKC Friday. The first baseman provided most of the offense in the first inning when he launched a three-run homer to right-center.

Noda has now hit safely in eight of the nine games he has played in and is 12-for-30 (.400) on the year to this point.

Following the five innings from Ramirez was a pair of relievers new to the organization. Former White Sox 2015 first-round pick Carson Fulmer and Yency Almonte both pitched two scoreless to seal the win for the Dodgers.

Eddy Alvarez was 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot, scoring a run in the fifth on a Jake Lamb single. OKC tacked on another run in the eighth on a Jason Martin RBI-single.

Double-A Tulsa

Down 3-1 entering the eighth inning, the Drillers put runners on first and third with one out. Michael Busch lofted a sacrifice fly to bring Tulsa within one and bring Ward to the plate to give them the lead with the long ball. The Drillers would go on to win 4-3 over the Sod Poodles.

Starting pitcher Clayton Beeter struck out seven of the 13 batters he faced in three innings of work. The right-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit and two walks in his second start of the season. Three Tulsa relievers each went two innings and allowed only one more run to cross to keep them in the game.

Andy Pages provided the Drillers first run with an RBI-single in the first inning that tied the score at that point.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons played a doubleheader to make up the postponed game from Wednesday and dropped both ends. Great Lakes had a combined six hits and three runs in the two games.

Cole Percival gave the Loons a good start to the first game with four scoreless innings. The right-hander walked three and allowed two hit while striking out three.

Minor League doubleheaders are only seven innings but neither team had scored after seven in this game. It wasn’t until the ninth when Eddys Leonard doubled in a run to give the Loons a lead. That soon evaporated with a run for Peoria (Cardinals) in the bottom half and another in the 10th on a walk-off wild pitch with the bases loaded.

It was more of the same for the Loons on offense in the second game, with the team scoring twice but without the benefit of stringing together a rally of any sort. It wasn’t enough to overcome a three-run second for Peoria and they would eventually drop the game 5-2.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

In a 2-2 game entering the eighth, Inland Empire scored seven runs and ran away with a 9-4 victory over the Quakes.

Before Rancho could record an out in the frame, the 66ers had already single twice, doubled, hit a three-run homer and had another baserunner by way of the walk. Inland Empire tacked on three more runs to put the game out of reach.

Damon Keith continued his hot hitting with two more Friday, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. The 21-year-old outfielder has a hit in all seven games and is hitting a scorching .577 (15-for-26) out of the gate.

Friday scores

• Oklahoma City 5, El Paso 1
• Tulsa 4, Amarillo 3
• Peoria 2, Great Lakes 1
• Peoria 5, Great Lakes 2
• Inland Empire 9, Rancho Cucamonga 4

Saturdays schedule

• 2:30 p.m. PT: Tulsa (John Rooney) vs. Amarillo (Bryce Jarvis)
• Game 2: Tulsa (TBD) vs Amarillo (Brandon Pfaadt)
• 4:35 p.m.: Great Lakes (Nick Nastrini) at Peoria (Dionys Rodriguez)
• 5:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Ryan Pepiot) at El Paso (Luke Westphal)
• 6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Maddux Bruns) vs. Inland Empire (Mason Albright)