Omar Estévez homers twice, drives in six for Oklahoma City

It was a complete sweep Saturday for all four Dodgers’ affiliates. One win in extras and the other three saw big displays of offense.

Player of the day

Hitting a three-run home run on any given night could get a player into this section of the minors report. Doubling up with two separate three-run bombs guarantees it and that’s what Omar Estévez did for Oklahoma City Saturday.

The middle infielder turned utility player was without a home run on the season entering the night and was barely hitting .200 (14-for-70). That changed in a hurry when the 24-year-old hit the long ball in consecutive innings to account for two-thirds of his team’s runs. Estévez also walked in the second inning to reach base three times total in three straight innings.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

After scoring a total of four runs on 13 hits combined over the last three games, the Dodgers’ offense broke out for nine runs and 10 hits Saturday night. OKC scored nine unanswered runs on their way to a 9-2 win over Reno (Diamondbacks).

After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the second, the Dodgers loaded the bases on a single and two walks. Zach McKinstry followed with a two-run single to tie the game and get things moving on offense for OKC.

The Dodgers hung a four spot on the scoreboard in the third when Drew Avans singled home a run in front of Estévez hitting the first three-run blast of the night. The second homer was just the icing on the cake for a career-high six RBIs, scoring Tomas Telis and Avans both times.

OKC pitching held the Aces scoreless over the final seven innings and the bullpen tossed 4 ¹⁄₃ innings, including Mark Washington’s perfect eighth in his Triple-A debut.

Double-A Tulsa

Kody Hoese delivered a single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to bring in two runs for the walk-off 4-3 win over Springfield (Cardinals) Saturday.

With runs hard to come by in the game, the Cardinals had seized momentum late with two runs in the seventh to tie and scored one in the top of the 10th. Springfield reliever Freddy Pacheco even retired the first two batters of the inning to bring his team one out away from a victory.

It all unraveled quickly from there, hitting Andy Pages on a 2-0 pitch and walking Devin Mann on four pitches to load the bases for Hoese. The Tulsa third baseman drilled a 2-1 pitch to right field to bring in two runs to send everyone home.

Hoese’s bat has come alive in the second half of May, going 23-for-55 (.418) with eight extra-base hits. The 24-year-old ended Saturday with his third hit of the night in five trips.

Top pitching prospect Bobby Miller was fantastic through the first six innings, holding the Cardinals to just one hit while striking out five with no walks. But a leadoff single and hit batter to start the seventh knocked Miller from the game.

Jose Adames came in from the bullpen to protect the 2-0 lead and struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing two runs to come in without a ball put into play. The right-hander walked the bases loaded, plunked the next batter to give Springfield their first run and then walked in the next batter to tie the game. Both runs were charged to Miller’s ledger, of course.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons hung seven runs on South Bend (Cubs) in the eight inning to propel Great Lakes to a 13-10 win in a barn burner of a game that lasted three hours and 43 minutes.

Down 8-6 entering the eighth, the Loons strung together three straight walks to load the bases with nobody out for the middle of the order. Eddys Leonard and Jose Ramos singled to tie the game before Ryan January doubled in two more to make it 10-8.

Leonel Valera brought Ramos home on a sac fly, Juan Zabala doubled in January and the final run of the outburst came on a wild pitch. Great Lakes held on from there, giving up just two more runs along the way.

The Loons had control of the game early on with four runs in the top of the first but the lead slowly slipped away. Jordan Nwogu hit a solo homer for the Cubs in the bottom of the first and brought two more in on a ground-rule double in the third. South Bend took the lead with two in the fourth and three in the fifth for an 8-4 advantage.

An Imanol Vargas solo homer and a bases-loaded walk for Ramos in the sixth cut the deficit to two to set up the big inning for Great Lakes.

Both Ramos and January would finish the night 2-for-5 with a walk. Ramos drove in four runs, while January brought in three.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes took advantage of 11 walks Saturday night to keep pressure on Visalia (Rawhide) pitching, scoring in bunches as they cruised to a 10-1 victory at home.

Five of the free passes were issued in the third inning, allowing Rancho to jump out to a 3-0 lead. A Yunior Garcia single brought home the first run of the game, a wild pitch scored another and three straight walks provided the third.

Top prospect Diego Cartaya doubled the lead in the fourth inning with a three-run bomb to center field and the rout was on. After a run in each of the next two innings, Garcia capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the seventh.

Starter Edgardo Henriquez was solid on the mound for the Quakes, tossing five scoreless on just two hits and a walk while striking out seven. The right-hander got plenty of support from his teammates.

Transactions

Triple-A: Los Angeles Dodgers option Ryan Pepiot to OKC and select the contract of outfielder Kevin Pillar. Oklahoma City placed pitcher Reyes Moronta on the temporarily inactive list. Pitcher Mark Washington assigned to Oklahoma City Dodgers from Tulsa Drillers.

Double-A: Pitcher Jose Hernandez assigned to Tulsa Drillers from Great Lakes Loons.

Saturday’s scores

• Oklahoma City 9, Reno 2
• Tulsa 4, Springfield 3
• Great Lakes 13, South Bend 10
• Rancho Cucamonga 10, Visalia 1

Sunday’s schedule

• 12:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma CIty (Sam Gaviglio) vs. Reno (Ryne Nelson)
• 2:00 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Jerming Rosario) vs. Visalia (Yaifer Perdomo)
• 4:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Emmet Sheehan) at South Bend (Daniel Palencia)
• 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (John Rooney) vs. Springfield (Kyle Leahy)