Kody Hoese homers, drives in four in Tulsa victory

There were five games on the slate for Thursday’s action among Dodgers affiliates, with four ending in losses and the opposition outscoring them 28-12.

Player of the day

While there weren’t many to pick from for the honor, Kody Hoese certainly earned his way into this spot. The big third baseman drove in as many runs (4) as were scored among all four of the other games combined Thursday.

Hoese finished the night going 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, RBI-single and two-run double, though that fifth run was scored due to error. The former 2019 first-round draft pick is on a tear, hitting .409 (18-for-44) over his last 11 games.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Simply put, it just wasn’t Oklahoma City’s night, The Dodgers dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Reno (Diamondbacks) by the scores of 9-0 and 4-2 Thursday at home.

OKC had just three hits — two from Stefen Romero — in the first game and couldn’t find a way to scratch a run across. The Dodgers had two on in the first and bases loaded in the fourth but were denied both times.

Starter Beau Burrows gave up a two-run homer in the second and a solo shot in the third to fall behind early, which is a bad thing for seven-inning doubleheaders. Burrows wore it for the staff, giving up a total of eight hits and two walks, allowing one more run to score on a triple and single before being pulled in the sixth.

Reno scratched out five runs in the seventh on four hits and four walks to run away with the opener.

Game 2 needed extra innings all tied at two and the Aces didn’t waste time getting on the board. Dodger reliever Carson Fulmer gave up the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth and that was all for the scoring.

Double-A Tulsa

Springfield (Cardinals) tried to make a game of it by scoring three in the ninth inning but Tulsa had banked plenty of runs to hold on for an 8-6 win.

After falling behind 1-0 immediately in the first, Tulsa answered with three home runs over the next three innings. A solo homer for James Outman in the first, Hoese’s two-run bomb in the second and a Ryan Ward solo shot in the third helped the Drillers to a 5-1 lead.

Devin Mann doubled in a run on the fifth and Tulsa stretched the lead to 8-3 in the seventh when they got two runs on a Hoese double, helped by a fielding error.

An inside-the-park homer for Springfield’s Masyn Winn made it interesting in the ninth but the Drillers were able to put it away two batters later.

High-A Great Lakes

It was a pitcher’s duel until late Thursday between South Bend (Cubs) and the Loons. The Cubs scored twice in the seventh and twice in the eighth as the Loons went without a run in a 5-0 loss.

Both starters went five solid innings and the only run allowed by either side was a solo homer off the bat of South Bend’s Cole Roederer in the third.

All the scoring was attributed to home runs and South Bend would cap their night with a two-run blast in each of their last two-at-bats to cruise to victory.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

Rancho had a 2-1 lead heading to the seventh inning but Visalia (Diamondbacks) would score a run in each of the final three frames to best the Quakes 4-2.

Quakes starter Ben Casparius tossed five no-hit innings, allowing an unearned run in the first, striking out seven and walking only one.

First baseman Julio Carrion drove in both runs for Rancho on a solo home run and a run-scoring groundout in the fourth and fifth innings. That was as much offense as the Quakes could muster and they couldn’t overcome the late push by Visalia.

Thursday’s scores

• Reno 9, Oklahoma City 0
• Reno 4, Oklahoma City 2 (Game 2)
• Tulsa 8, Springfield 6
• South Bend 5, Great Lakes 0
• Visalia 4, Rancho Cucamonga 2

Friday’s schedule

• 2:35 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Landon Knack) vs. Springfield (Gordon Graceffo)
• Game 2: Tulsa (TBD) vs. Springfield (TBD)
• 4:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Nick Nastrini) at South Bend (Manuel Espinoza)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma CIty (Michael Grove) vs. Reno (Corbin Martin)
• 6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Maddux Bruns) vs. Visalia (Yilber Diaz)