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Miguel Vargas, Jonny DeLuca hit walk-off homers for Oklahoma City and Tulsa

Imanol Vargas hit two homers for Great Lakes

Cleveland Guardians v Los Angeles Dodgers Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

Friday’s trip around the Dodgers minors resulted in wins for all four affiliates, with two coming on the final swing of the game.

Player(s) of the day

Miguel Vargas and Jonny DeLuca both sent the home crowd home happy in their respective ballparks, hitting walk-off homers to provide wins for Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

DeLuca’s came in the ninth inning of a 5-5 game and just snuck over the fence down the right field line. The outfielder now has 24 homers on the year and six of them have come since his promotion to Tulsa earlier this month. DeLuca is 32-for-92 (.348) overall in July.

Vargas provided the rare two-run leadoff homer for Oklahoma City after they gave up a run in the top half of the 10th. The 22-year-old finished 2-for-5 with his 15th homer and has now hit safely in 14 of the last 15, leading the Pacific Coast League with 108 hits and 80 runs scored.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City and Sugar Land (Astros) were locked in a 1-1 battle as the game moved into extra innings. The Space Cowboys scored their extra runner in the top of the 10th on a two-out single from Marty Costes. OKC would need only one batter on their side of the extra frame.

Vargas crushed a 2-1 pitch into the home bullpen in left-center to score two and give OKC a 3-2 win in 10 innings.

The home run in the 10th provided the first runs for the Dodgers since Jason Martin knocked in one on an RBI-single all the way back in the first inning. Lewis Brinson immediately tied it on a solo homer in the top of the second and the score remained the same until the deciding extra inning.

Outfielder Drew Avans continued his tear, going 2-for-5, with a double in his first at-bat of the night, to extend his on-base streak to 36 games — the longest streak by a PCL player this season.

Friday was the Dodgers sixth walk-off this season and it was the fourth against Sugar Land in 2022.

Double-A Tulsa

Tulsa needed two in the sixth to tie the game and they got two in the ninth on DeLuca’s homer to win it 7-5 over Arkansas (Mariners).

Down 5-3 in the sixth, the Drillers sent Buddy Reed to the plate as a pinch-hitter for his first at-bat since joining Tulsa Thursday. Reed deposited the second pitch he saw into the left field stands to tie it. It was Reed who singled in his second plate appearance to leadoff the ninth and set the stage for DeLuca’s blast.

Tulsa had jumped out to a 3-0 lead with two in the first on a wild pitch and a Devin Mann sacrifice fly and one in the third when Mann doubled home Kody Hoese. But a grand slam for the Travelers in the fifth helped Arkansas to a 5-3 lead,

DeLuca and Brandon Lewis each extended their on-base streaks. DeLuca has now reached in 12 straight games with his walk in the first inning, and Lewis has now reached in 11 consecutive games.

High-A Great Lakes

Great Lakes hit a pair of homers during a three-run sixth to take a 4-2 lead they would not relinquish, defeating Lansing (Athletics) 4-2 Friday.

It was a good night for those those with the last name of Vargas. It was Imanol Vargas that hit two solo homers for the Loons to bookend the scoring for Great Lakes. Vargas hit his first in the second inning to give the Loons an early advantage.

After the Lugnuts took the lead with one in the fifth and one in the sixth on a Tyler Soderstrom solo shot, the Loons responded in the home half. Jose Ramos hit a two-run home run to take the lead back and Vargas provided the insurance with his second homer of the night.

Nick Nastrini had a solid night on the mound for Great Lakes, allowing the two runs in six innings of work. The right-hander struck out six while giving up four hits and two walks.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

Rancho scored three in the seventh inning that proved to be plenty on their way to a 4-1 win over San Jose (Giants).

The Quakes took advantage of several errors in a repeat of Thursday, allowing the first two runs to come in with ease. Kyle Froemke reached on an error in right field that allowed him to move to second. That mistake was immediately cashed in by a Javier Armas single to score Froemke.

After Armas moved to second on a groundout, the combination of a wild pitch and a throwing error on the same play brought him around to give Rancho a 2-0 lead. Jake Vogel continued the inning with a walk and stole second to set up a Yunior Garcia RBI-singe two batters later to extend the lead to 3-0.

San Jose would load the bases in the eighth inning in what would be their best opportunity to get back in the game. But a sacrifice fly was all they could muster to make it 3-1. Kenneth Betancourt singled in a run for the Quakes in the ninth to get that run back and Joan Valdez closed it down in the ninth for his third save of the season.

River Ryan — the pitcher acquired in the Matt Beaty trade with the Padres in March — had his best start in the Dodger organization. The right-hander tossed five scoreless inning, striking out four while allowing just one walk and three hits.

Friday scores

Saturday schedule

  • 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Carlos Duran) vs. Lansing (Jack Owen)
  • 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Beau Burrows) vs. Sugar Land (Peter Solomon)
  • 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Kyle Hurt) vs. Arkansas (Taylor Dollard)
  • 6:00 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Peter Heubeck) at San Jose (Eric Silva)