Loons’ pitching combines for one-hit shutout

A split doubleheader prevented a clean sweep for the Dodgers’ affiliates Wednesday. As it were, each team still came away with a win, with four of the five game ending in the win column.

Player(s) of the Day

The pitching staff of the Loons combined to shutout Wisconsin (Brewers) on one hit and two walks, striking out 16 along the way.

At the heart of the performance was starter Carlos Duran and Emmet Sheehan coming on right behind him. Duran pitched a perfect first and third, striking out four of the six batters he faced. Sheehan allowed a double to start the third — the only hit of the game — before striking out eighth of the next nine to keep it moving.

Antonio Knowles, Jeff Belge and Kevin Malisheski went the final four to complete the gem.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Michael Busch homered for the second consecutive night and Oklahoma City had no problem with Reno (Diamondbacks), winning 8-3 out in Nevada.

The Dodgers took control of the 1-1 game in the fifth, scoring a pair on a Miguel Vargas triple and a balk to bring Vargas home from third. OKC would tack on four more when Busch opened the sixth with a solo dinger and Drew Avans later clubbed a two-run blast to cap off the frame.

OKC scored one more insurance run in the seventh on a Jason Martin single with enough on the scoreboard to not worry about a run in each of the final two innings for the Aces.

Ryan Pepiot was solid over five innings to improve to 5-0 on the season, allowing just one run on three hits, while striking out five and walking three. Over his last four outings combined with OKC, Pepiot has allowed three runs on 11 hits over 19.1 innings, and has 24 strikeouts against seven walks. OKC is now 9-0 when Pepiot starts this season.

Double-A Tulsa

Tulsa scored four runs in both ends of a doubleheader against Wichita (Twins) Wednesday, losing the first 7-4 and coming back with a 4-3 win in Game 2.

The Drillers had a 2-1 lead entering the fifth inning but the Wind Surge would tie it on a solo shot in the fifth and ran away with the game when they scored three in the sixth and two in the seventh.

A two run-shot from James Outman in the bottom of the seventh wouldn’t be nearly enough for the Drillers. Outman ended the opener with three hits in four trips to the plate, scoring three of the four runs for his team and driving in the other.

Game 2 started with a bang thanks to Andy Pages crushing a two-run bomb in the first inning to give the Drillers a 2-0 lead on the third hitter of the game.

Tulsa scored two more to give themselves a 4-1 lead heading to the sixth inning but it got a little dicey in the home half of the inning. Reliever Tanner Dodson walked the first three hitters of the inning before getting the next two outs.

After Jordan Leasure replaced Dodson with two outs and the bases juiced, DaShawn Keirsey Jr pulled Wichita within a run with a two-run single. But the Drillers were able to slam the door closed for the final four outs to earn the split.

High-A Great Lakes

Great Lakes went wire-to-wire with an early lead and dominant pitching to cruise to a 5-0 win over the Timber Rattlers.

The Loons would take a 2-0 lead before there was even an out in the first. Jorbit Vivas singled and Diego Cartaya was hit by a pitch to set the table. A throwing error and a Eddys Leonard single brought the runs home.

A solo shot for Vivas in the second extended the lead to 3-0 and they would get one more in each of the third and fifth innings. Vivas ended the night 2-for-4 with the homer and a walk, while Leonard was 3-for-5 with two singles and a triple.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes hit three home runs and scored in six of the eight innings they hit in Wednesday to come away with an 8-3 win over Inland Empire (Angels).

Julio Carrion hit a solo home run in the fourth and Damon Keith hit one of his own in the fifth to help Rancho to a 3-1 lead. The Quakes scored two in the sixth and lengthened their lead with a Luis Yanel Diaz two-run job in the seventh.

Yunior Garcia bookended the scoring with an RBI-double in the second and a run-scoring single in the eighth.

Starter Jerming Rosario held the 66ers to one run on three hits and two walks in 4 ²⁄₃ innings, striking out four in the process. The only hiccup for the bullpen was a two-run homer off Orlando Ortiz-Mayr in the seventh and Kelvin Bautista would nail down the win with two scoreless innings to close it.

Transactions

High-A: Pitcher Carlos Duran assigned to Great Lakes from ACL Dodgers.

Low-A: Quakes activated pitcher Orlando Ortiz-Mayr from the 7-day injured list. Pitcher Roque Gutierrez assigned to ACL Dodgers from Rancho Cucamonga.

Wednesday scores

• Oklahoma City 8, Reno 3
• Wichita 7, Tulsa 4
• Tulsa 4, Wichita 3 (Game 2)
• Great Lakes 5, Wisconsin 0
• Rancho Cucamonga 8, Inland Empire 3

Thursday scores

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Nick Nastrini) vs Wisconsin (Zach Mort)
• 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Bobby Miller) vs Wichita (Sawyer Gipson-Long)
• 6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (River Ryan) vs Inland Empire (Connor Van Scoyoc)
• 6:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Michael Grove) at Reno (Ryne Nelson)