Eddy Alvarez, OKC walk it off to take series from El Paso

On this trip around the Dodgers minors, two teams were sent home without a win and one of the two teams to win, walked it off in the ninth.

Play(er) of the Day

There weren't really any standout players to nominate here. Sure, some players had three hits and others hit home runs. But the standout for the day was the walk-off in Oklahoma City.

With the score knotted at three apiece in the bottom of the ninth, Zach McKinstry worked a one-out walk. Eddy Alvarez followed with a single to right field that right fielder Taylor Kohlwey overran, allowing McKinstry to come all the way around to score the winning run.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers had led most of the way Thursday but El Paso (Padres) scored a run in the top of the ninth to tie the game 3-3. That’s when the play highlighted above happened to send the home crowd home happy with a 4-3 win.

After falling behind 2-0 after the first two innings, OKC took the lead in the third with three solo homers. Jason Martin started the inning with a home run and following a pair of outs, Miguel Vargas and Jake Lamb went back-to-back to go up 3-2.

Things stayed that way until the ninth when the Chihuahuas took advantage of an Alvarez fielding error that put the tying run aboard. Luis Liberato followed with a double that scored the run from first and make the bottom of the ninth necessary.

Double-A Tulsa

The number of the day was three as far as the Drillers were concerned. Tulsa hit three home runs on the night, they scored in three different innings and one of the two teams scored three runs in an inning three separate times.

Unfortunately for the Drillers, that team wasn’t them and Amarillo (Diamondbacks) hung a 10-5 loss on Tulsa.

The Drillers even had a three-run inning of their own in the fifth when Devin Mann hit a leadoff homer and Andy Pages hit a two-run shot later in the frame.

By the time the bats came around for Tulsa, the Sod Poodles had already scored seven in the first four innings. Driller starter Clayton Beeter gave up a three-run homer in the second and was touched up for six runs (five earned) in 3 ¹⁄₃ innings of work, including four hits, a walk and six strikeouts.

Already down 7-4, John Rooney allowed another three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth the put the game out of reach. Jacob Amaya hit his ninth homer of the season, the solo variety and third of the game for the Drillers, to provide the last whimper for the Tulsa offense.

High-A Great Lakes

Continuing the theme from Double-A, Great Lakes scored three runs in the second and three runs in the third and held on late to an 8-5 win over Lansing (Athletics).

The Lugnuts sent eight men to the plate in the seventh to score four runs on a two-run homer, a wild pitch and run-scoring groundout. The first three men would reach in the ninth before Loons’ reliever Ryan Sublette struck out the last three batters of the game to seal the win.

Great Lakes got the scoring going in the second with an Aldrich De Jongh RBI-single and two-run double off the bat of Ismael Alcantara. Catcher Kekai Rios would double the lead with a three-run homer in the third to give the Loons what would end up as the winning run.

Great Lakes would pad their lead in the fifth when they loaded the bases in front of one of their hottest hitters. Eddys Leonard connected for a two-run single to give the Loons an 8-0 advantage, enough to hold off the late surge from Lansing.

Loons’ pitching was solid with Emmett Sheehan and Kyle Hurt combining for five shutout innings to lead the way. The two struck out 11 of the 19 batters they faced.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes scored all their runs during a four-run fifth inning Thursday. But by that point, Fresno (Rockies) had already scored six runs and they would tack on two more before sending Rancho to an 8-4 loss.

Starter Benony Robles lasted just two innings for Rancho, allowing five runs (four earned) on three hits and 2 walks while only striking out one.

Fresno scored a pair in the first inning thanks in large part to a wild pitch and passed ball. After allowing singles to the first two batters he faced, Robles wild pitched the runners 90 feet closer and one scored on a passed ball a few pitches later. The second came in on a sac fly.

A three-run homer in the second and a solo homer in the fourth for the Grizzlies put the Quakes behind 6-0.

The first two hitters made out in the fifth for Rancho but the next three singled to load the bases for the meat of the order. Alex De Jesus cleared the bases with a three-run double and came home on a Diego Cartaya double on the very next pitch. Damon Keith struck out to end the threat and the Quakes were kept of the scoreboard the rest of the night.

Transactions

High-A: Great Lakes Loons activated RHP Emmet Sheehan from the 7-day injured list.

Thursday’s scores

• Oklahoma City 4, El Paso 3
• Amarillo 10, Tulsa 5
• Great Lakes 8, Lansing 5
• Fresno 8, Rancho Cucamonga 4

Friday’s schedule

• 3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Kendall Williams) vs Lansing (Mac Lardner)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Andre Jackson) at Sugar Land (Brandon Bielak)
• 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Landon Knack) at Amarillo (Slade Cecconi)
• 6:50 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Ben Casparius) at Fresno (Brayan Castillo)