Chris Taylor rehabs with Rancho Cucamonga, Gavin Stone scoreless for Oklahoma City

Chris Taylor played seven innings at shortstop and homered and walked in his four plate appearances on Sunday for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga as he nears a return from the injured list and a sore right knee.

On Saturday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Taylor, who also played left field in the Arizona Complex League on Friday, would likely be activated on Friday when the Dodgers open a series against the Mets at Citi Field in New York.

A roster spot was opened Sunday when second baseman Miguel Vargas was optioned.

Taylor last played for the Dodgers on June 21, missing the last 15 games, and has been on the injured list since June 25.

Player of the day

Gavin Stone had his best start of the year, capping off a busy week that also including a major league relief appearance. On Sunday the right-hander pitched six scoreless innings, tying his longest outing of the year with his first scoreless outing in over five weeks.

This was the third walk-less start for Stone this season, and the second lasting at least five innings. Stone struck out eight on Sunday and got 18 swinging strikes, 10 on the changeup.

Stone’s start came on four days rest after his two innings of relief for the Dodgers on Tuesday, allowing one run against the Pirates while throwing 50 pitches.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Sure, Stone’s outing was great, but some might say Justin Hagenman was the star of Oklahoma City’s shutout win over the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies) with a three-inning save. Hagenman has been a reliever most of his career but was stretched out in the last month in both starting and bulk relief. Sunday’s three-inning save came on four days rest following a career-high five innings on Tuesday. Hagenman, a 23rd-round pick out of Penn State in 2018, has a 2.82 ERA in 51 innings this season, with 56 strikeouts and 11 walks.

Between Stone (eight strikeouts) and Hagenman (four), Oklahoma City struck out 12 and walked none on Sunday, a dominant pitching day heading into the four-day break.

Michael Busch homered for Oklahoma City, and David Dahl scored twice with a double and single.

Double-A Tulsa

Ismael Alcantara singled home free runner Hamlet Marte in the 11th inning to give Tulsa a walk-off win over the Wichita Wind Surge (Twins).

Yusniel Díaz homered for the second straight day and also doubled twice, scoring three runs. First baseman Brandon Lewis had three hits, including a double, and drove in four runs. Austin Gauthier joined the three-hit crew, and also walked.

River Ryan struck out four in three scoreless innings. Ben Casparius followed with five strikeouts in 3⅔ innings, but allowed five runs.

Tulsa and Wichita have an actual trophy for the winner of their season series, which is very college football-like in the best possible way. The Propeller Trophy — named for both cities’ roles in aviation — started in 2021, and Sunday’s win gave Tulsa a 13-5 record over Wichita with six games remaining against them, clinching the season series.

High-A Great Lakes

Starter Ronan Kopp allowed five runs and was done after one inning in Great Lakes’ loss to the Dayton Dragons (Reds). That marred an otherwise solid first half-plus for the 20-year-old, who has a 3.11 ERA and 33.7-percent strikeout rate.

Justin Wrobleski struck out seven in four innings of relief, allowing three runs. He heads into the break with a 3.27 ERA and leads the Loons in innings (71⅔) and strikeouts (79).

Taylor Young, playing shortstop on Sunday, homered, as did left fielder Chris Alleyne.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

A seven-run fifth inning rattled the Quakes in Sunday’s loss to the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels). Reynaldo Yean, a 19-year-old promoted from the Complex League on June 29, continued his learning curve, retiring only one of his six batters faced, allowing the first five of those seven runs.

Eighteen-year-old right fielder Josue De Paula had three hits, and over his last nine games is 14-for-37, hitting .378/.410/.486.

Transactions

Triple-A: Second baseman Miguel Vargas and left-hander Bryan Hudson were optioned to Oklahoma City.

Low-A: Chris Taylor moved his very brief minor league rehab to Rancho Cucamonga.

Sunday scores

• Oklahoma City 3, Albuquerque 0
• Tulsa 9, Wichita 8 (11 innings)
• Dayton 8, Great Lakes 3
• Inland Empire 12, Rancho Cucamonga 6

The week ahead

• Oklahoma City at Sacramento (Giants)
• Tulsa at Midland (A’s)
• Great Lakes vs. Fort Wayne (Padres)
• Rancho Cucamonga vs. Modesto (Mariners)

The top four affiliates are off for four days, with three-game series starting on Friday night.