Andrew Heaney makes rehab start with Rancho Cucamonga

There was plenty going on around the Dodgers minors Saturday, including a split doubleheader and some top prospects on display at Dodger Stadium for the Futures Game.

Andrew Heaney took his first step towards returning to the Dodgers after the All-Star break, making a rehab start with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. The lefty gave up four runs in two and two-thirds innings on six hits.

Another injured pitcher made progress Saturday towards making their way back to the big club. Dustin May pitched two scoreless innings out at the team’s facility in Arizona, striking out three. Here is video evidence of May on the mound:

Player of the day

Nick Nastrini took the ball for Great Lakes in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday and was excellent for five scoreless innings. The right-hander struck out eight while allowing just two hits and two walks.

Nastrini has allowed two or less runs and gone at least five innings in four of his last five starts after getting through five innings just once this season previously. The Dodgers fourth-round pick last season out of UCLA hasn’t allowed a run over 11 innings combined in his last two starts.

Zach Buchanan of The Athletic had an interesting story on Nastrini last month.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

OKC scored the bulk of their runs early and kept the Tacoma (Mariners) offense at bay to secure a series split with an 8-4 win.

Jason Martin kept it rolling at the plate for the Dodgers, driving in three of the first four runs scored. The outfielder singled in the first to bring home Drew Avans and later scored on a James Outman single to give OKC a 2-0 lead after one.

Oklahoma City loaded the bases with two outs in the second for their hottest hitter to get another opportunity. Martin singled to center to bring in two more runs and give OKC a 4-0 advantage.

After the Rainiers cut the lead in half with a solo homer in second and a run-scoring balk in the third, the Dodgers put three doubles to good use in the fourth to score three more and extend their lead to 7-2.

Carson Fulmer came on in the eighth with two on and one out and shut the door, getting the final two outs of the inning and striking out the side in the ninth.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning but it was all Springfield (Cardinals) from there. Tulsa gave up four runs in each of the first, second and fourth innings as the Cardinals went on to send the Drillers to a 15-5 loss.

Landon Knack was activated from the 7-day injured list to make Saturday’s start and it didn’t go well. The right-hander recorded just one out and was charged with all four runs in the first inning after he allowed two hits and two walks.

Every single pitcher the Drillers used gave up runs and despite 10 hits in the game, Tulsa scored only twice more after the first inning.

Ryan Ward hit a solo homer in the ninth for his second consecutive game with a long ball, the fifth in the last seven games and the seventh of the month. The outfielder reached base four times with two hits and two walks, leaving him at .362 (21-for-58) for the month of July.

Justin Yurchak and Devin Mann were both 2-for-4 with two runs driven in.

High-A Great Lakes

Great Lakes had a combined five hits between the two games of the doubleheader with Quad Cities (Royals) Saturday. Interestingly enough, that was enough to earn a split.

On the strength of Nastrini’s strong outing mentioned at the top, the Loons needed just one run to all off the victory. Jose Ramos launched a solo homer in the fourth and it would be the only run for either side, giving Great Lakes a 1-0 win.

The second game was more of the same for the offense but two hits would yield no runs for Great Lakes. In fact, River Bandits’ starter Adrian Alcantara had a no-hitter going until one out in the seventh. Alex De Jesus and Ramos put together back-to-back singles to spoil the no-hitter but the Loons still fell 7-0.

Three separate two-run doubles in the third inning is really what iced it for Quad Cities but the near no-hitter returned the favor with the shutout.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes trailed 4-1 heading to the bottom of the second thanks to the rehabbing Heaney giving up a pair of homers and four runs in his first two innings of work. But that wouldn’t deter Rancho’s offense from scoring nine more runs to win 10-5 going away over Fresno (Colorado).

Shortstop Austin Gauthier homered in the first inning to get Rancho on the scoreboard and walked with the bases loaded to bring the second run in during a two-run bottom of the second.

Julio Carrion blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the third to put the Quakes on top 6-3 and the game was put on ice when Yunior Garcia smacked a three-run double to left in the sixth. It was the third double of the night for Garcia.

The win gives Rancho five wins in their last six games and clinches the series win over the Grizzlies.

Transactions

Double-A: Tulsa placed pitcher Bobby Miller on the temporary inactive list and activated Landon Knack from the 7-day injured list.

High-A: Great Lakes placed catcher Diego Cartaya on the temporary inactive list and activated catcher Max Hewitt.

Low-A: Los Angeles Dodgers sent LHP Andrew Heaney on a rehab assignment to Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

Saturday scores

• Oklahoma City 8, Tacoma 4
• Springfield 15, Tulsa 5
• Great Lakes 1, Quad Cities 0
• Quad Cities 7, Great Lakes 0 (Game 2)
• Rancho Cucamonga 10, Fresno 5

Sunday schedule

• 11:00a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Robbie Peto) at Quad Cities (Charlie Neuweiler)
• 1:35p.m.: Oklahoma City (Ryan Pepiot) at Tacoma (Konner Wade)
• 4:05p.m.: Tulsa (Kyle Hurt) at Springfield (Michael McGreevy)
• 5:00p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Maddux Bruns) vs. Fresno (Jarrod Cande)