Diego Cartaya drives in six, homers twice in blowout win for Rancho

Saturday’s minor league action for the Dodgers featured a lot of runs, a late loss and rainout.

Player of the day

Dodgers’ top prospect Diego Cartaya broke out of the slow start at the plate with a big performance Saturday. The 20-year-old catcher clubbed a pair of two-run homers and drove in six runs, going 4-for-4 with a two-run double, a single, a walk and hit by pitch.

Cartaya was just 9-for-54 (.167) in 13 games prior to Saturday and was certainly due.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Space Cowboys (Astros) in front of the home crowd Saturday.

The pairing of Mike Wright Jr and Robbie Erlin went the distance on the mound, scattering four hits and four walks to allow just a first inning run. Erlin pitched the final five innings and was outstanding, striking out eight over five shutout innings.

Jake Lamb came up with his fourth multi-hit effort in the past six games, slugging a two-run homer in the eighth to go with a single and a walk. Lamb wasn’t the only Dodger to have a good night at the plate.

Outfielder Stefan Romero pitched in a two-run double in the seventh and an RBI-single that tied the game back in the top of the second. Jason Martin reached base four times with two hit and two walks, scoring twice and bringing home a run on a bases-loaded walk.

Double-A Tulsa

Up until the eighth inning came around, the Drillers only offense came on a James Outman solo homer in the bottom of the first. There would be three lead changes from the sixth inning on and it would end with a 7-5 Tulsa loss at the hands of the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros).

Down 4-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Tulsa rallied for four runs to take a 5-4 lead into the ninth. The first four batters of the inning reached on two walks and two hits, including a Devin Mann RBI-double. Ryan Ward brought home another run on a sac fly three batters later to set up an Andy Pages two-run double to give the Drillers the advantage.

Reliever Jordan Leasure nearly wriggled off the hook when he walked the first two batters of the ninth. After striking out the next two, Leasure gave up the three-run homer to Enmanuel Valdez to put the Hooks up for good.

The Dodgers’ top pitching prospect Bobby Miller was great in his fourth start of the season. Miller didn’t even allow a baserunner until the fourth inning when he walked the leadoff batter. That runner stole second and came around to score on a single two batters later. The 23-year-old struck out the final two batters and be lifted after 72 pitches.

Miller ended his night with seven strikeouts to give him 15 on the year against just two walks.

High-A Great Lakes

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

I would say the Quakes broke out the bats Saturday in a 21-5 drubbing of Visalia (Mariners), but that ignores the 18 walks taken and only ten hits needed.

Usually when we talk about multiples it’s hits but there were three different Quakes that walked at least three times in order to set the table. Damon Keith (three), Luis Rodriguez (four) and Luis Yanel Diaz combined for eleven walks while they only had one hit between them.

Alex De Jesus was the only other player for Rancho to have multiple hits Saturday. The 20-year-old homered in the second inning and drove in two more with a single in the fourth on his way to a 3-for-7 night.

Visalia answered Rancho’s three-run first with three of their own in the second but that would be as close as they would get. The Quakes would score eight times in the fourth and four more in each of the sixth and eighth innings to run away with the was victory.

Saturday scores

• Oklahoma City 7, Sugar Land 1
• Corpus Christi 7, Tulsa 5
• Great Lakes at West Michigan (Postponed)
• Rancho Cucamonga 21 Visalia 5

Sunday schedule

• 11:00 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Kyle Hurt) at West Michigan (Wilmer Flores)
• Game 2: Great Lakes (Kendall Williams) at West Michigan (Carlos Guzman)
• 11:05 a.m.: Tulsa (Michael Grove) vs. Corpus Christi (Jose Bravo)
• 12:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Sam Gaviglio) vs. Sugar Land (Shawn Dubin)
• 2:00 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Orlando Ortiz) vs. Visalia (Liam Norris)