Wins and losses were somewhat overshadowed by a couple of memorable individual performances in the Dodgers’ minor league system.
Player of the day
It was a toss-up between Zyhir Hope’s six-RBI effort in Double-A and the fabulous start by Zach Root in High-A. Between the two, we’ll go with Root, who shattered his season-high mark in length, which had been the four innings covered in his previous start, delivering seven one-hit innings in a 4-0 win for the Loons.
For the second game in a row, Root struck out nine hitters, earning his first win of the season, hardly a surprise since he hadn’t yet pitched deep enough into a game to qualify for one.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
The Comets were out-hit nine to three and thus unable to overcome the three runs allowed by starter Christian Romero in a 3-2 loss. Despite their bullpen wrapping up this game with 4.1 scoreless innings, they saw a somewhat familiar face wrap up the save for the Express in Alexis Díaz, his first of the year.
Responsible for scoring one of the Comets’ two runs, Tommy Edman continued his fine form in Triple-A, working his way back, currently with a .375 batting average after going one for three. Edman was defensively replaced at the top of the eighth. Now, for the visiting Express, two of their three runs came on solo shots from their sixth-hole hitter, John Taylor.
Double-A Tulsa
It’s not too often you see a game with three errors from each team, but that set the stage for a high-scoring win by the Drillers over the Sod Poodles on the road. Starter Evan Shaw couldn’t pitch past the first inning after allowing four runs, but the Drillers countered with seven in the fifth and were able to hold onto that lead.
Second baseman Taylor Young started the scoring for the Drillers and would go on to reach base safely in four of his five plate appearances with a couple of walks and a pair of hits, but the big star was Hope, responsible for six of the Drillers’ 13 RBI. Hope went deep twice in back-to-back innings, homering in the fifth and sixth frames.
High-A Great Lakes
There was no stopping Zach Root as the twenty-two-year-old delivered seven magnificent scoreless innings to lead the Loons to a 4-0 victory—Root was efficient and deadly, needing just 88 pitches to do so, and striking out more than a batter per inning in the process. Relievers Robby Porco and Dilan Figueiredo tripled the number of baserunners the Loons had allowed by letting one reach in both the eighth and ninth innings, but they kept the zeroes on the board.
Offensively, the Loons did the most out of a slow day, managing to scrape together those four runs on just three hits. Leadoff man Charles Davalan began the scoring with a sac fly, and a couple of innings later, Eduardo Quintero had the big hit with a two-run double to triple the lead.
Single-A Ontario
What looked to be a high-scoring win for the Tower Buzzers as they led 7-6 heading into the eighth turned into a blowout defeat in a matter of a couple of innings, with the Ports jumping on relievers Jecsua Liborius and Jose Cabrera to run away with this one by a score of 16-8, leaving Ontario with a .500 record at 26-26.
Although leadoff hitter Kellon Lindsey managed a couple of RBI, the Tower Buzzers concentrated their production in the bottom of the order, with the eighth and ninth-hole hitters responsible for six of the team’s 11 hits. Catcher Conner O’Neal had himself an outstanding game with a homer and three singles, not only his first four-hit affair of the year but just his second multihit performance.
Transactions
The Tulsa Drillers activated second baseman Taylor Young from the injured list. Catcher Anson Aroz was also activated from the injured list by the Ontario Tower Buzzers and sent to the Great Lakes Loons.
Wednesday’s scores
- Oklahoma City 2, Round Rock 3
- Amarillo 9, Tulsa 13
- Great Lakes 4, Lansing 0
- Ontario 8, Stockton 16
Thursday’s schedule
- 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Aiden Foeller) vs. Lansing (Samuel Dutton)
- 5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Jackson Ferris) vs. Round Rock (TBD)
- 5:05 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Adam Serwinowski) at Amarillo (Avery Short)
- 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Stockton (Jackson Nove)