Michael Busch hits go-ahead homer for Oklahoma City

The Dodgers minor league Thursday consisted of winning late, losing big, a shutout and a solid pitching effort from one staff.

Player of the day

Michael Busch hit his fourth home run in the last eight games Thursday, his sixth since being promoted to Oklahoma City in May and the 17th of the season overall.

The 24-year-old has now hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, going 18-for-59 (.305) with nine extra-base hits and 13 RBI.

Kenneth Betancourt stayed hot for Rancho with a 3-for-4 performance in a losing effort Thursday. The first baseman drove in four with a three-run double and RBI-single while trying to bring the Quakes back from a large deficit.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Busch’s two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh pushed the Dodgers past Round Rock (Rangers) by the final score of 6-5.

After trading runs in the first inning, OKC took a 3-1 lead in the second when Miguel Vargas doubled in a run and came around to score on a Jake Lamb sac fly.

Dodger starter Robbie Erlin gave up the lead in the fourth inning when Nash Knight launched a three-run homer for the Express. Trading a run in the fifth and sixth, Round Rock had a one-run advantage as the game moved into the seventh.

Lamb led the frame with a single to put a runner out in front of Busch. The OKC second baseman crushed a 2-2 breaking ball into the home bullpen in left center to give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead and eventually the win after the bullpen locked down the final two innings.

Double-A Tulsa

A pair of two-run innings and a 16-strikeout performance from the pitching staff, Tulsa took care of Midland (Athletics) 4-1 on the road.

Clayton Beeter opened with four scoreless on three hits and a walk, striking out six in total before handing the ball to the bullpen. The only run allowed by Tulsa pitching was thanks to a wild pitch.

After Alec Gamboa put the first two hitters on with a walk and single, he was able to get the next three batters. But a wild pitch allowed the runners to move up and a one-out ground ball scored the run from third.

The Drillers opened the scoring in the third inning when Ryan Ward tripled to score Devin Mann and would later score on a Carson Taylor single. Hunter Feduccia would provide the insurance runs in the seventh with a two-run double.

High-A Great Lakes

Though they worked eight walks Thursday, Great Lakes could only muster four hits all night and never got on the scoreboard, dropping the contest 3-0 to Fort Wayne (Padres).

The Loons had runners on throughout the night but couldn’t come up with a timely hit, grounding into four different double plays in total. They had multiple runners on in three different innings — including the ninth — but two of those ended with the twin killing.

The TinCaps came up with a winning strategy of scoring a run on an RBI-single in each of the third, fourth and seventh innings to cruise easily.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

After getting behind big early, the Quakes brought themselves within one in the sixth. That momentum was short-lived however, with Lake Elsinore taking control with a five-run sixth that eventually sent Rancho to a 13-8 loss.

The Storm scored three in the second and four in the third to take a commanding 7-0 lead, But the Quakes would not go quietly into the night,

Betancourt smacked a three-run double in the fourth to quickly get Rancho back into the game. The 22-year-old’s RBI-single in the sixth, followed by a two-run single off the bat of Hector Martinez, brought the Quakes within a run. That would be as close as they got as they climbed back into the game.

Lake Elsinore pulled away again with five runs in the home half of the sixth, capped by an Albert Fabian two-run job to right, as the Storm won going away.

Transactions

Double-A: Tulsa Drillers transferred RHP Tanner Dodson to the Development List. Pitcher Keegan Curtis assigned to Tulsa

Thursday scores

• Oklahoma City 6, Round Rock 5
• Tulsa 4, Midland 1
• Fort Wayne 3, Great Lakes 0
• Lake Elsinore 13, Rancho Cucamonga 8

Friday Schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Kendall Williams) at Fort Wayne (Efrain Contreras)
• 5:00 p.m.: Tulsa (Gavin Stone) at Midland (TBD)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Jon Duplantier) vs Round Rock (Kolby Allard)
• 7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Ronan Kopp) at Lake Elsinore (Garrett Hawkins)