Brandon Lewis provides grand comeback for Tulsa

Friday’s trip around the Dodgers minors includes a blowout win, a grand comeback and a pair of losses.

Player of the day

Brandon Lewis came up big for the Drillers Friday night on the road in Arkansas. Having already driven in two runs earlier in the game, Lewis stepped to the plate with his team down one and the bases loaded.

The big corner infielder hit a rocket line drive down the left field line over the bullpen to bring everybody home with the event game-winner. Lewis finished 2-for-5 with six runs driven in, accounting for half of Tulsa’s runs on the evening.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City scored early and often behind homers from Jason Martin and James Outman Friday in a 13-0 rout of Salt Lake (Angels).

Martin put OKC up by four in the first when he followed a Michel Busch RBI-double with a three-run homer. Martin and James Outman went back-to-back with solo shots in the third and the Dodgers were well on their way.

The Dodgers came up with 14 hits in total, with half going for extra bases. Martin finished the night having reached base five times, going 4-for-5 with the two homers, a double, single and a walk to drive in four.

Ryan Noda went 3-for-6 with three singles to drive in two runs while Drew Avans reached four times, going 2-for-4 with two walks to extend his on-base streak to 42 games. That’s now the longest streak for a player since the Dodgers were affiliated with OKC starting in 2015.

Seven different pitchers combined for the shutout as they scattered seven hits and eight walks.

Double-A Tulsa

Tulsa needed a big comeback after they found themselves down 7-0 after two innings. They roared back with eight runs over the next three innings to take the lead before Northwest Arkansas (Royals) scored a pair in the sixth to take the lead back.

That’s when Lewis sent the game in the right direction for good with the grand slam to give the Drillers a 12-9 win

The road to victory started with a five-run third for Tulsa. Buddy Reed hit a solo homer and Lewis doubled in a pair, followed by run-scoring hits for Leonel Valera and Abiatal Avelino. Andy Pages tied it at seven when he hit a two-run homer in the fourth, his 19th of the year.

Short on pitching, Tulsa handed the ball to Avelino for the second consecutive night and the infielder delivered, recording the final six outs to make the grand slam stand up. Avelino registered his first professional save by giving up just one hit and one walk over the final two frames.

High-A Great Lakes

Great Lakes and Lake County (Guardians) needed extra innings for the second straight night in Ohio. The Loons failed to score over their last six innings on offense and the Captains took advantage, scoring a run in the 10th to send the Loons to a 6-5 loss.

An intentional walk and a single loaded the bases with one out for Lake County in the 10th, setting the stage for a sacrifice fly that sent everyone home.

The Loons had a 5-0 lead as the game headed to the bottom of the fourth but they couldn’t hold on. The three runs Great Lakes scored in the fourth were immediately answered with three from the Captains in the home half. Lake County went on to hit a solo homer in each of the seventh and ninth innings to force extras and keep Great Lakes off the board in the 10th.

Eddys Leonard hit a first inning homer for Great Lakes to start the scoring and another came in the top of the second on a ball hit to the outfield with the bases loaded. The ball hit by Harold Restituyo dropped in front of the center fielder who was able to get the force at second but not before the run came across.

Austin Gauthier doubled home a run in the fourth for his first hit since being promoted to High-A earlier this week. After a passed ball brought another run in, Restituyo brought Gauthier home with a double to stretch the lead to 5-0.

Including the placed runner, Great Lakes only had three baserunners after the fifth inning.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

Speaking of teams that scored five runs in the first four innings, had a lead and never scored again, I give you the Quakes. A 5-3 advantage wouldn’t hold as Inland Empire would tie the game with two in the sixth and three in the eighth to hand Rancho an 8-5 loss at home.

It was the Yunior Garcia show for Rancho early on. The 21-year-old hit a two-run homer in the first to tie the game at that point and after the 66ers took a 3-2 lead, Garcia doubled in two in the third to give Rancho a lead.

2022 fifth-rounder Sean McLain got the first hit of his career when he smacked a solo homer in the fourth to extend the lead to 5-3.

Rancho had opportunities to score more when they had multiple runners on in each of the fifth and seventh innings but double plays would end each threat. After the Quakes put runners on first and third to start the seventh, the 66ers bullpen recorded the next nine outs without another runner.

Transactions

Triple-A: Los Angeles Dodgers recalled pitcher Reyes Moronta and optioned outfielder James Outman to Oklahoma City.

Double-A: Tulsa Drillers placed catcher Carson Taylor and outfielder Jeren Kendall on the 7-day injured list and activated catchers Chris Betts and Wladimir Chalo.

Friday scores

• Oklahoma City 13, Salt Lake 0
• Tulsa 12, NW Arkansas 9
• Lake County 6, Great Lakes 5 (10)
• Inland Empire 8, Rancho Cucamonga 5

Saturday schedule

• 4:00 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Ben Casparius) at Lake County (Jack Leftwich)
• 4:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Gavin Stone) at NW Arkansas (Alec Marsh)
• 5:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Michael Grove) at Salt Lake (Mike Mayers)
• 6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Peter Heubeck) vs. Inland Empire (Chase Chaney)