Six run rally keys 10th straight OKC win

Big innings for Oklahoma City and Tulsa while Great Lakes won on their last swing of a game. Meanwhile, Rancho Cucamonga scored three runs in the ninth but fell five runs short.

Player of the day

Kyle Hurt was dominant in his four innings of work for Tulsa on Friday night. Hurt, who is now averaging 17.2 strikeouts per nine innings, struck out ten in four innings pitched. In four appearances in May, Hurt has pitched 13⅓ innings and struck out 26 and walked two.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City were down by five runs going to the bottom of the fourth. Then the Dodgers scored six runs and held on to defeat the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros) 7-6 on Friday night.

The rally meant Oklahoma City has now won ten straight games, their longest winning streak since 2013 when they had a 12-game winning streak.

In that fourth inning, Oklahoma City had scored twice to make it 6-3. Then Michael Busch singled to put runners on first and second and two out. Luke Williams walked to load the bases.

Ryan Ward singled home two runs and that was followed by a Johnny DeLuca base hit to tie the game 6-6. After a hit by pitch to load the bases again, Justin Yurchak got an infield single to score the go-ahead run.

Robbie Erlin got the win for his five-inning effort. Alex Vesia pitched one scoreless inning, walking one and striking out two. Nick Robertson earned his sixth save of the season for his scoreless ninth inning.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers had taken an early one-run lead in the first inning but then a five-run second would ultimately lead to a 10-1 win over the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros).

In the second inning, the Drillers had two on and two out when Jorbit Vivas singled to load the bases. A wild pitch led to first run of the inning.

After Jose Ramos walked to load bases, Imanol Vargas singled home two runs. Yusniel Diaz drove in the last two runs on a double.

A leadoff home run in the third inning gave the Drillers a 7-0 lead. The Drillers eighth run came courtesy of a balk in that same third inning.

The Drillers would score two more runs to take a 10-0 lead before ceding a run for the final nine-run win.

The Tulsa arms were nearly as impressive as the bats on Friday. The four pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts and one walk. Kyle Hurt has already been named player of the day for his effort. Kevin Gowdy pitched a scoreless fifth inning. Alec Gamboa pitched three scoreless innings and earned the win for his efforts.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons had been behind since the fourth inning and they were down to their last two outs when a walkoff home run defeated West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers) by a run.

In the ninth inning, Damon Keith led off with a walk. After a fly out, Chris Alleyne also drew a walk. With the tying runs on, Ismael Alcantara hit an opposite field three run shot to give the Loons the win.

Benony Robles pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win for the Loons.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes were stymied at the plate as they trailed early and it wasn’t until the ninth inning when the Quakes were able to score some runs but it wasn’t enough in their 8-3 loss to the Visalia Rawhide (D-backs).

Kenneth Betancourt had two hits including a double.

Visalia pitchers Jose Cabrera and Logan Clayton combined to pitch eight scoreless innings, combined to give up three hits and strike out ten with two walks.

Transactions

Triple-A: The Dodgers selected right-handed pitcher Tyler Cyr’s contract and optioned right-handed pitcher Andre Jackson to Oklahoma City.

Friday scores

• Oklahoma City 7, Sugar Land 6
• Tulsa 10, Corpus Christi 1
• Great Lakes 3, West Michigan 2
• Visalia 8, Rancho Cucamonga 3

Saturday schedule

• 3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jerming Rosario) vs. West Michigan (Jack O’Loughlin)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Wiliam Cuevas) vs. Sugar Land (TBD)
• 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Nastrini) at Corpus Christi (Franny Cobos)
• 6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (TBD) at Visalia (TBD)