Landon Knack, Jose Martinez shine for Tulsa in split doubleheader

For the second consecutive night, four of the five games for the affiliates ended in a loss for the Dodgers. Tulsa was once again the only win, this time in a split of a doubleheader.

Player(s) of the day

Starting pitching was outstanding for Tulsa in their doubleheader Friday night. Landon Knack and Jose Martinez combined to allow just one run in 11 ¹⁄₃ innings of the 14 total innings between the two games.

Knack pitched six innings in the first game, giving up just two hits and walking none while striking out four. Martinez didn’t allow a run in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings despite allowing three hit and four walks.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City made it interesting in the ninth inning after entering their final at-bat down by two runs to Reno (Diamondbacks). An aggressive send around third base in an attempt to tie the game, instead ended the affair in a 3-2 loss for the Dodgers.

Outfielder Jason Martin hit a one-out solo home run for OKC in the ninth to cut the Aces lead to one, putting the best scoring offense in minor league baseball in striking distance. Drew Avans singled two batters later to put the tying run aboard with two outs and Zach McKinstry on his way up.

Avans was in motion on a 2-2 pitched that McKinstry hit on the ground into the left-center gap and just kept running around third base in an attempt to score. Left fielder Stone Garrett came up firing for Reno and threw out Avans with plenty of room to spare.

Garrett was already a hero on the night before the game-saving throw. The outfielder gave the Aces a 3-0 lead in the third inning with a two-run homer that proved to be the winning runs.

The only other run for the Dodgers came in the third inning after they had loaded the bases for the meat of their order. Jake Lamb drew a two-out walk to get OKC on the board but Eddy Alvarez struck out swinging to end the threat.

Drawing the third inning walk meant Lamb has now reached base safely in 23 of his last 24 games.

McKinstry’s ninth inning single meant he was 2-for-4 with a walk for his 16th multi-hit game of the season. His 47 hits are second-most among OKC players although he has played in just 34 of the team’s 46 games this season.

Double-A Tulsa

Offense was hard to come by in both ends of the doubleheader Friday with Springfield (Cardinals). Two late runs weren’t enough in the first game, while two was more than enough in the second game for a split.

The Driller and Cardinals entered the final inning of Game 1 all tied up at one apiece. After Springfield scored a pair on a Chandler Redmond two-run shot to take a 3-0 lead, Tulsa came right back to score a pair of their own and brought the winning run to the plate.

A two-run single off the bat of Kody Hoese brought the Drillers back within one and pinch-runner Jeren Kendall stole second on the first pitch to pt the tying run in scoring position. But Justin Yurchak would pop out one pitch later to end the game in a 3-2 loss for Tulsa.

Two runs were a different story in Game 2 between the two clubs. Tulsa scored a run in the first on a Hoese run-scoring ground out and one in the second on a solo homer from Devin Mann. Drillers’ pitching made that lead stand up, shutting Springfield down for a 2-0 victory.

Springfield had runners reach scoring position in each of the first three innings but Martinez was able to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard. Martinez induced an inning-ending groundout with the bases loaded in the second and with runners at first and third in the third.

Amazing note from the Drillers: Game one took just one hour and 35 minutes to complete making it the fastest Tulsa home game since the Drillers lost 1-0 to Arkansas on April 16, 1994 in the first game of a doubleheader. It was the fastest game ever at ONEOK Field. The record lasted all of a couple of hours because the second game took just one hour and 33 minutes to set another new mark.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons couldn’t keep South Bend (Cubs) from scoring early on Friday, allowing runs in five of the first six innings on their way to an 11-4 loss.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first, Jose Ramos got one back immediately with a solo homer in the second. That would be as close as Great Lakes would be in the game as the Cubs began to pull away one inning later with a Jake Slaughter three-run long ball to take a 5-1 lead.

Great Lakes got three back in the sixth when they strung together two singles and a walk after loading the bases, cutting the deficit in half. But South Bend came right back with three of their own in the home half of the sixth to put the game out of reach.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes scored 10 runs for the third time in this series but the results were less favorable than the first two instances. An 11-run inning for Visalia (Diamondbacks) was too much for Rancho to overcome, falling 13-10 in front of the home crowd.

Rancho looked very much in control early in the game. Luis Rodriguez hit a solo home run in the second and the Quakes took advantage of three walks and three singles to score four in the third. Damon Keith’s solo homer in the fifth gave Rancho a 6-1 lead heading into the sixth.

That’s when the Rawhide exploded for 11 to double up on the Quakes with a 12-6 lead. Amazingly enough, two of the first four batters of the inning would make outs, meaning all 11 runs came across with two outs.

Rancho couldn’t escape the barrage as 15 men came to the plate for Visalia. Five of the first eight batters singled to bring the Rawhide within one run. Designated Hitter Ramses Malave would then crush a three-run homer to give Visalia an 8-6 lead. The bases-clearing long ball didn’t stop the momentum.

Five batters later after two walks and two singles, Sheng-Ping Chen — already with an RBI-single under his belt in the inning — smacked a three-run double to put the cap on the offensive outburst.

Rancho got a late push on a Yeiner Fernandez solo homer in the eighth and a two-run job from Julio Carrion in the ninth. It wasn’t nearly enough to climb back into the game.

Transactions

Low-A: Quakes placed pitcher Carlos De Los Santos on the 7-day injured list retroactive to May 25, 2022. Quakes placed pitcher Yamil Castillo on the 7-day injured list retroactive to May 26, 2022. Infielder River Ryan assigned to Rancho Cucamonga Quakes from ACL Dodgers.

Friday’s scores

• Reno 3, Oklahoma City 2
• Springfield 3, Tulsa 2
• Tulsa 2, Springfield 0 (Game 2)
• South Bend 11, Great Lakes 4
• Visalia 13, Rancho Cucamonga 10

Saturday’s schedule

• 4:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Lael Lockhart) at South Bend (Kohl Franklin)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma CIty (Yefry Ramírez) vs. Reno (Tyler Gilbert)
• 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Bobby Miller) vs. Springfield (Dalton Roach)
• 6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Edgardo Henriquez) vs. Visalia (Liam Norris)