Leonel Valera drives in five in Tulsa’s blowout win

Friday’s trip around the four Dodgers affiliates results in a blowout win, a pair of losses and a suspended game due to rain.

Player of the day

Leonel Valera was 3-for-6 with a double and two singles to drive in five of his teams 14 runs Friday. The 23-year-old has been solid over the last 25 games, driving in 25 runs while going 27-for-95 (.284) with six homers, two triples and two doubles.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City starter Michael Grove was touched up for five runs in the first four innings and despite the bullpen allowing just one run the rest of the way, the deficit was too much to overcome. OKC could only get halfway, falling 6-3 to Tacoma (Mariners).

The loss drops the Dodgers into a tie for first place in the PCL East, with El Paso (Padres) winning Friday night. Round Rock (Rangers) lost their game and remains a game behind the pair in a race that has really tightened over the last two weeks.

Amazingly, the Dodgers were 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position but only one of those hits brought in a run. After OKC loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh, Devin Mann grounded into a double play to score a run.

The first two runners reached in the eighth when Andy Burns singled home a run and brought Edwin Ríos to the plate with a chance to get OKC back in the game. Ríos collected a run batted in but on a sac fly and they wouldn’t score again.

Rehabbing pitcher Danny Duffy pitched another scoreless inning Friday, stranding a one-out double. Friday was the fifth scoreless effort in the past six appearances on this rehab assignment.

Double-A Tulsa

Tulsa was already up by a pair when they unleashed a six-run seventh and five-run ninth to win 14-2 over Frisco (Rangers).

The Drillers loaded the bases with nobody out to start the seventh, setting the table for the top of the order to do some damage. Valera grounded out to second to bring in the first run of the inning, followed by a two-run single for Justin Yurchak. Three batters later, Andy Pages singled home two more and Kody Hoese capped it off with a single to drive in Pages.

Yurchak’s seventh-inning single allowed him to up his on-base streak to 22 consecutive games. Since July 1, Yurchak has hit for a .346 average.

A total of four batters turned in multi-hit efforts for Tulsa, including Jeren Kendall who had a solid night at the plate. The former first rounder went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI-single in the big ninth inning. Pages finished 3-for-5 with the pair of RBI and Ryan Ward went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored.

Combining with Valera’s big night, the quartet accounted for 11 of the team’s 15 hits.

Tulsa pitching was outstanding Friday, holding the RoughRiders to two runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks while striking out 11. Starter Lael Lockhart was lifted one out away from completing five innings on one-run ball, striking out five in the process.

High-A Great Lakes

For the third time in this series, the game ended in a shutout. Unfortunately for the Loons, it’s the second time it’s fallen in the L column for them, dropping a 4-0 game to West Michigan (Tigers) Friday.

All four runs of the game were scored in the first inning on a run-scoring single for Jake Holton, immediately followed by a three-run blast for Izaac Pacheco. Both teams managed only three hits the rest of the eight scoreless innings.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

Rancho has a 6-2 lead over Lake Elsinore (Padres) in the home half of the third when the game is resumed Saturday.

Transactions

Low-A: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes activated OF Kyle Nevin from the 7-day injured list. LHP Benony Robles and RHP Chris Campos assigned to ACL Dodgers from Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

Friday Scores

• Tacoma 6, Oklahoma City 3
• Tulsa 14, Frisco 2
• West Michigan 4, Great Lakes 0
• Rancho Cucamonga 6, Lake Elsinore 2 (Suspended until Saturday)

Saturday Schedule

• 3:35 p.m.: Great Lakes (Kendall Williams) at West Michigan (Jackson Jobe)
• 4:35 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Nastrini) at Frisco (Avery Weems)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Ryan Pepiot) vs. Tacoma (Austin Warner)
• Continuation of Suspended game (Rancho 6, Lake Elsinore 2, B3)
• Game 2: Rancho Cucamonga (Peter Heubeck) vs. Lake Elsinore (Fernando Sanchez)