It was a busy night last night “Down on the farm” as OKC and Tulsa pulled out exciting victories, while at the same time Great Lakes and Rancho are ready to move on the next game.
OKC Dodgers
The AAA OKC Dodgers easily won the most exciting game of the day as it looked like the game was over when Sugarland misplayed a fly ball in the 9th, then threw a wild pitch to score the winning run in the 10th to give OKC a 5-4 victory over the AAA affiliate of the Houston Astros. The crowd of 4305 at the Bricktown Ballpark went home happy as any time the Dodgers get the chance to beat the Astros at anything it’s always fun.
Ryan Pepiot had maybe his best outing as a professional last night as he went 7 innings, got every leadoff hitter out, retired 12 of the last 14 hitters he faced, & gave up just 1 earned run. After this performance, his WHIP is at 1.05 & his ERA is at 2.24.
It didn’t take Drew Avans long to extend his on-base streak to 33 games as he nailed the 2nd pitch of the game into center field for a leadoff basehit. His on-base streak is still the longest of the year for OKC and still the longest active streak in the PCL.
If you’re like many other Dodgers fans, you might be curious how Michael Busch looks at 2nd base. Well, you’re in luck as all you have to do is click on his picture to watch the UNC alum make a great play in and to his right.
Hanser Robles made his first appearance in the Dodgers organization and it didn’t quite go the way he had hoped. He hasn’t pitched in over 3 weeks, so nothing to be concerned with, in my opinion, and on the positive side, watch the ride he gets on the 2nd pitch in the video, then the sink on his change-up later on in the sequence.
Ryan Noda hit his 14th Big Fly of 2022 and it came off the bat at 103.7 and traveled 418 very happy feet! Noda now has 4 home runs and 15 RBIs this month, and with his two hits, he now has 5 multi-hit games in July. The big man can rake!
I know it’s just the Minor Leagues, but watching the AAA Dodgers come back and beat the AAA Astros was a helluva lot of fun last night, and now you can watch OKC beat Sugarland for yourself! No, on second thought, what you’re going to watch is Sugarland lose to OKC!
AA Tulsa Drillers
The Drillers also won an exciting game last night as, for the 2nd night in a row, the offense did just enough and the pitching brought them home to a 2-1 win over Arkansas in front of 3320 happy fans at beautiful OneOk in downtown Tulsa.
Gavin Stone might be the best starting pitcher in all of the Minor Leagues. Last night he went 6 innings, gave up just 1 run, and struck out 6. His ERA on the year is 1.50, his WHIP is 1.10, he has 112 K’s on the year to just 28 walks (4 to 1), & his average against is just .209. The dude is Legit!
On the same topic of the best pitchers in the Minor Leagues, Jordan Leasure has given up a grand total of 1 earned run in his last 19 appearances. During that 18.2 inning span, he has 21 strikeouts and just 5 walks! Wow!
Justin Yurchak is a great reminder that hitters need all 500 at-bats to show how great they are. After hitting .207 in April & .213 in June, he now leads Tulsa in batting average. He went 2-4 last night, and, in July, has 7 multi-hit games & is .393 in with an OPS of 1.029.
Guillermo Zuniga picked up his 10th save of the year for Tulsa & stayed perfect in save opportunities this year. His fastball is big (100), his slider is as big, and so is his competitive nature. He backs down to no one! The pride of Cartagena, Colombia!
We all know how well Ryan Ward hits, now watch how he throws! He gunned down the tying run in the 9th at the plate! It was Ironic that he threw it to Carson Taylor because those 2 have always been great offensive players, but both might be the most improved defensive players in the organization as well.
High A Great Lakes
When you play as many games as Minor League clubs do each year, there are just going to be nights where things don’t work out, and last night was one of them for Great Lakes. The Loons got shutout 6-0 by the Lansing Lugnuts and moved to 54-37 on the year in front of 2888 fans at Dow Diamond.
Adam Scoggins turned in a clean inning for the Loons. Check out the back-to-back cutter, then splitter combo on the 2nd and 3rd pitches of the video for the 2nd out! One cuts, the other sinks! That combo is legit!
Congratulations to Luis Diaz for getting his first hit in High A with Great Lakes. Diaz was hitting .277 with an OPS of .805 with Rancho when he got promoted on the 22nd.
Antonio Knowles was absolutely spot on last night for the Loons. Check out the back-to-back sliders, the back-to-back cutters then the sinker. Knowles struck out the side & made it look easy! Check it out for yourself!
Since coming off the disabled list earlier this month, Aldry Acosta has been nails. He has yet to give up a run in all 3 performances and he has 5 k’s and no walks. He also didn’t allow a run in his last performance before going on the IL so that makes 4 in a row!
Low A Rancho Cucamonga
Although the Quakes took it on the chin last night, 18-4, there were some good moments, then also some fun moments as well in front of 1107 fans at Excite Ballpark in San Jose.
Yunior Garcia had 2 more hits last night for Rancho, and he now has 5 multi-hit games in his last 6 and is 13 for his last 23 with a home run, 3 doubles, 11 RBIs, and 22 total bases. Wow, what a stretch!
Damon Keith got a double in his last at-bat last night, and, amongst leading the Quakes in just about every offensive category, he also extended his hit streak to 10 games.
Baseball is Awesome Alert: Check out the 41 mph Eephus pitch from Kenneth Betancourt! He retired the 1 hitter he faced with the 2 pitches you’re about to watch.
