Ryan Noda homers twice in Oklahoma City win

The Dodgers minor league affiliates made a complete sweep of the four games Friday night, with three of the four wins coming by one run and the other in extra innings.

Player of the day

Ryan Noda connected for two homers Friday night in Oklahoma City, including the final and decisive run of the game in the seventh.

The big first baseman now has three multi-hit efforts in his last five games (6-for-16) and Friday was his second time in 2022 with two homers (April 10).

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers got behind 2-0 early but deployed the picket fence strategy with exactly one run in each of the fourth through seventh innings to pull off a 4-3 win over Round Rock (Rangers).

Four of the seven runs in the game came by way of the home run. Sam Huff went deep for the Express in the second inning and Elier Hernandez followed that up with a solo shot in the third.

Former top-100 prospect Kolby Allard faced the minimum the first time through the OKC lineup. But that would change in the fourth when Drew Avans stroked a leadoff double. Avans moved to third on a wild pitch and with two outs, Allard made a bad throw in an attempted pickoff that allowed Avans to score and cut the deficit to 2-1.

After Noda tied the game with his first homer of the night, the Express took the lead once again in the sixth when former Dodger Zach Reks scored on a wild pitch.

The Dodgers bounced right back with a run in the home half when Miguel Vargas singled, moved to second on a passed ball and came in to score on an Andy Burns single. That set the stage for Noda to hit what would prove to be the game-winner over the Round Rock bullpen in right.

Sam Gaviglio and Carson Fulmer combined to retire 16 of the game’s final 18 Express batters with Fulmer picking up his team-leading seventh save of the season.

Notes from OKC: Miguel Vargas went 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored and is now 11-for-27 during a seven-game hitting streak with six RBI, six walks and five runs scored. In 16 games against Round Rock this season, Vargas has 24 hits and 18 RBI.

Double-A Tulsa

Gavin Stone continued putting up zeroes on the scoreboard and the Drillers held on late for a 3-2 win over Midland (Athletics).

The rolling Stone scattered four hits and two walks over five scoreless innings of work, striking out only one of the 19 batters he faced. The right-hander now owns a 1.25 ERA in seven Double-A starts and Friday was the seventh time in 13 starts overall in 2022 that he has gone at least five innings without allowing a run.

Catcher Chris Betts helped his pitcher with a two-run double in the second inning to give Tulsa a 2-0 lead that would stay the same until the eighth inning.

James Outman doubled to leadoff the eighth and moved to third on a wild pitch. Ryan Ward would ground the ball to the right side two batters later to bring Outman home for a 3-0 lead.

The bottom of the eighth was the best chance for Midland to climb back in the game after starting the inning with two singles and a walk sandwiched in there to load the bases with no outs.

A walk and a double play ground ball immediately followed to cut Tulsa’s lead to 3-2 but that would be it for the RockHounds as the Drillers held on with a 1-2-3 ninth.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons squandered a 5-0 lead by giving up three in the eighth and two in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. But they more than made up for it with five runs in their half of the 10th to come away with a 10-6 victory over Fort Wayne (Padres)

The first five batters of the 10th reached for Great Lakes, including three straight run-scoring singles. Jose Ramos and Jonny DeLuca singled with the bases loaded for the 7-5 advantage and after a wild pitch brought one more home, Imanol Vargas brought both of them home to take the commanding 10-5 lead.

The TinCaps also loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th when the first two batters walked. But the next three batters made out and they were only able to score one run.

DeLuca had initially given Great Lakes a 5-0 lead with a two-run homer in the eighth. The outfielder has been on a tear lately, hitting .440 (11-for-25) with four homers, 10 RBI and five walks in his last eight games.

Right-hander Kendall Williams started the game for Great Lakes and held Fort Wayne without a run through five innings. Williams walked four but only gave up two hits while striking out three.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

Rancho and Lake Elsinore (Padres) each traded five run innings in the final two frames to make for an exciting 11-10 finish that went the Quakes way.

After Rancho scored five runs in the top of the eighth to take an 11-5 lead, the Storm were able to come right back and nearly complete the comeback. A walk and a ground out with the bases loaded cut the lead to 11-7 and a Marcos Castanon three-run blast made it 11-10 in a hurry.

But there were two outs and Reinaldo De Paula was able to strike out the final batter of the game to seal it for the Quakes.

The first four runs of the game for the Quakes came via the long ball. First baseman Griffin Lockwood-Powell hit a two-run shot in the second and Austin Gauthier hit one of the solo variety in the third. Julio Carrion added a solo homer in the fourth for a 4-2 lead before a two-run triple and a run-scoring balk gave the Storm a 5-4 lead after five.

A run on the sixth and seventh inning for the Quakes gave them a 6-5 lead a set up the fun in the final two innings.

Both Carrion and Yeiner Fernandez ended the night 3-for-4 with a walk and Damon Keith was 2-for-4 with a three-run double in the eighth.

Transactions

Triple-A: Los Angeles Dodgers recalled RHP Reyes Moronta from Oklahoma City Dodgers.

Low-A: C Griffin Lockwood-Powell assigned to Rancho Cucamonga Quakes from ACL Dodgers. RHP Jhan Zambrano assigned to Rancho Cucamonga Quakes from ACL Dodgers.

Friday scores

• Oklahoma City 4, Round Rock 3
• Tulsa 3, Midland 2
• Great Lakes 10, Fort Wayne 6
• Rancho Cucamonga 11, Lake Elsinore 10

Saturday Schedule

• 3:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Ben Casparius) at Fort Wayne (Robert Gasser)
• 5:00 p.m.: Tulsa (TBD) at Midland (David Leal)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Beau Burrows) vs Round Rock (Spencer Howard)
• 5:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Benony Robles) at Lake Elsinore (Ruben Galindo)