Leonel Valera hits walk-off home run for Tulsa

Wednesday night around the Dodgers minors saw three wins of the four main affiliates, while all the games were close.

Player of the day

Leonel Valera came up with the big hit for the Drillers, going opposite field into the bullpen in right center to give Tulsa a 4-2 walk-off win. It was Valera’s only hit of the night (1-for-4) but it was the most important.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City had a 3-2 lead after six innings but couldn’t hang on. Round Rock (Rangers) tied it in the seventh and took a 5-3 lead in the ninth they wouldn’t relenquish, sending OKC to their fourth straight loss.

The Express jumped out to an early lead thanks to a two-run homer for Sam Huff. Michael Busch cut the deficit in half with an RBI sac fly in the bottom of the first.

The runner who scored that run was Drew Avans, who walked to start the inning to extend his on-base streak to 46 games. With the longest streak in the minors this season, Avans now has the longest streak by an OKC player since before MLB Advanced Media was formed in 2005.

Still down 2-1 in the sixth, Miguel Vargas walked and Busch singled him to third to put runners on the corners for Jason Martin and Ryan Noda with no out. Martin brought Vargas home on a double play and Noda hit a solo homer to give OKC their first lead.

Nick Solak made sure it didn’t last long, bringing in the tying run on a single in the seventh.

OKC closer Carson Fulmer was lucky to only give up two runs in the ninth when he loaded the bases on two walks and a single with nobody out. Even more so after J.P. Martinez stroked a two-run single to give Round Rock the advantage.

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the home half of the ninth but couldn’t push anything across.

Edwin Ríos went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to eight games as he continues his rehab stint.

Double-A Tulsa

Alec Gamboa had a career night on the mound, holding Midland (Athletics) to two runs in seven innings. Valera’s homer did the rest as the Drillers came away 4-2 winners Wednesday.

Gamboa had never completed even six innings since the Dodgers drafted him in 2019 and four innings was his season-high entering the night. The lefty scattered five hits and three walks while striking out three. Two solo homers in the fifth would be the only damage against Gamboa.

The Drillers tied it at two apiece when Andy Pages and Justin Yurchak started the sixth with back-to-back doubles, followed by a Brandon Lewis single.

Pages has reached base in nine consecutive games and has a .324 batting average and a 1.276 OPS during the streak.

The RockHounds had the bases loaded in the ninth but came up empty, setting the stage for the Valera walk-off shot.

Midland will send J.T. Ginn to the mound Thursday, who you may remember from when the Dodgers drafted him in the first round. Ginn was drafted by the Mets in 2020 and was traded to the A’s in the Chris Bassitt deal.

High-A Great Lakes

Diego Cartaya hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to tie the game at 2-2, eventually forcing extra innings Wednesday. In the 10th, Great Lakes didn’t waste any time, scoring the winning run on the first play of the inning for the walk-off win 3-2 over Peoria (Cardinals).

Luis Diaz was attempting to bunt the placed runner over to third but Peoria first baseman Osvaldo Tovalin tried to get Harold Restituyo running to third. The throw got past third base allowing Restituyo to score the winning run.

Cartaya had an outstanding night, going 3-for-3 with a walk to reach all four times at the plate. He also saved the game in the top of the tenth when the Chiefs had runners at second and third and one out. A ground ball in the infield led to a play at the plate when Tommy Jew tried to score the go-ahead run. Cartaya picked a bad throw to tag the runner out and preserve the tie.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes scored seven times over the first four innings and survived a six-run inning by Lake Elsinore (Padres) to win 9-7 on the road.

Nick Biddison hit a two-run homer in the second to give Rancho a 3-0 lead after two. The Quakes scored three in the third on back-to-back doubles by Luis Rodriguez and Kyle Nevin, with a bases loaded hit by pitch later in the inning to give Rancho a 6-0 lead early on.

By the time Lake Elsinore launched their comeback, Rancho was up 8-1. Eight of the first nine hitters reached for the storm in the sixth, including a leadoff homer for Marcos Castanon.

The saving grace for the Quakes was a double play on a sacrifice fly late in the inning. Outfielder Chris Alleyne threw home and although the run scored, catcher Yeiner Fernandez was able to nab the runner trying to advance to third.

Yunior Garcia added an RBI-double in the seventh to give the Quakes an insurance run and it was plenty to come away with the win.

Transactions

Triple-A: Los Angeles Dodgers recalled pitcher Ryan Pepiot and optioned pitcher Andre Jackson to Oklahoma City. Andre Jackson was activated by OKC.

Double-A: CF Ismael Alcantara assigned to Tulsa Drillers from Great Lakes Loons.

High-A: Great Lakes Loons released LHP Adam Scoggins.

Low-A: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes released RHP Huei-Sheng Lin. RHP Yamil Castillo assigned to Rancho Cucamonga Quakes from ACL Dodgers.

Wednesday scores

• Round Rock 5, Oklahoma City 3
• Tulsa 4, Midland 2
• Great Lakes 3, Peoria 2 (10)
• Rancho Cucamonga 9, Lake Elsinore 7

Thursday schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Nick Nastrini) vs. Peoria (Zane Milles)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Michael Grove) vs. Round Rock (Kolby Allard)
• 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Lael Lockhart) vs. Midland (J.T. Ginn)
• 6:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Ronan Kopp) at Lake Elsinore (Jairo Iriarte)