Jason Martin homers again for OKC, Luis Diaz walks it off for Quakes

The Dodgers minors on Wednesday saw a postponement and a win in two of the three games played, including a walk-off winner.

Player of the day

Outfielder Jason Martin and infielder Luis Diaz both deserve mention in this category for Friday’s games.

Martin only had one hit but it was a home run for the second consecutive night. The 26-year-old has hit eight homers in his last 15 games, nine homers in his last 17 games and he leads OKC with 19 home runs this season.

As for Diaz, the Quakes third baseman drove in five runs with a 3-for-6 night at the plate, including the game-winning infield single as the Quakes walked it off in a high-scoring affair.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

A pair of three-run innings proved too much for the Dodgers to overcome, eventually falling 7-3 to Tacoma (Mariners) for their ninth loss in their last 13 games.

Martin’s two-run shot in the first put OKC up 2-0 early but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

The Rainiers scored three runs in each of the third and fourth to take a 6-2 lead. Kyle Lewis launched a three-run homer in the third and Tacoma strung together three hits and a sacrifice fly to score three more in the fourth.

Each team tacked on a single run in the later innings but the four-run deficit remained.

Double-A Tulsa

Tulsa scored all six runs by the end of the third inning Friday and were able to hang on for a 6-4 win over Springfield (Cardinals).

Ryan Ward singled in the game’s first run after Jonny DeLuca tripled to leadoff the game. Carson Taylor would bring Ward home on a two-single to give Tulsa the 3-0 lead in the first.

Tulsa would start to pull away when Ward clubbed a two-run homer in the second for his 21s home run of the season. The 24-year-old finished his night going 2-for-4 with a walk to go with the three RBI.

Springfield responded within two runs in the bottom of the third and closed the gap to two when they plated a pair in the seventh but Tulsa relievers held the line for the final two frames to seal the win for the Drillers.

High-A Great Lakes

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

It was a wild one in Rancho Cucamonga Friday with the two teams combining for 29 runs and 36 hits. When the dust had settled, the Quakes came out on top 15-14 thanks to a walk-off single in the ninth to defeat Fresno (Rockies).

After scoring two runs in the eighth to tie the game at 14 apiece, Rancho loaded the bases on three walks to bring Diaz to the plate with two outs and the game on the line. Having already driven in four runs on the night, Diaz grounded a ball up the middle that was kept on the infield but with no play to bring the winning run across.

With the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the third, both teams scored in bunches over the next four innings and there were five different lead changes in total.

Rancho had a 3-1 lead heading to the fifth and gave up four, only to score six runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead back. The teams traded three runs each in the sixth before the Grizzlies scored five in the seventh to take the 13-12 lead.

As hard as it is to believe with all the scoring in the game, both sides only had one home run each among all those hits. A solo homer for Rancho’s Gaige Howard in the fourth and a two-run blast from Bryant Quijada in the seventh for Fresno was all.

Every hitter in the lineup had at least one hit for Rancho, including the three hits for Diaz and a 4-for-6 night for outfielder Jake Vogel. Outfielder Damon Keith drove in four runs on the night, bringing in three on a double in the six-run fifth.

Quakes’ starter River Ryan gave up just one run over four innings before things got wild out of the bullpen for both teams.

Friday scores

• Tacoma 7, Oklahoma City 3
• Tulsa 6, Springfield 4
• Rancho Cucamonga 15, Fresno 14

Saturday schedule

• 3:00p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Lael Lockhart) at Quad Cities (Adrian Alcantara)
• Game 2: Great Lakes (Nick Nastrini) at Quad Cities (Rylan Kaufman)
• 4:35p.m.: Tulsa (TBA) at Springfield (Edgar Escobar)
• 6:30p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Andrew Heaney) vs. Fresno (Victor Juarez)
• 7:05p.m.: Oklahoma City (Andre Jackson) at Tacoma (George Kirby)