In Dodgers minor league games played on Tuesday, September 9th, Roki Sasaki’s talent was on display, a homer for a third consecutive game for a Double-A outfield prospect, and Rancho Cucamonga will have two elimination games to win to avoid an abrupt end to their season.
Player of the day
Roki Sasaki started for Oklahoma City, and, like his other rehab starts, the results were mixed. The good news was four innings of vintage Sasaki. The bad news was that things fell apart for him in the fifth inning,
leading to a mediocre pitching line of three runs on three hits and four walks in four and two-thirds innings. Almost all of that damage came in the fifth inning.
The first inning included three pitches thrown over 100 mph, and the side retired in order, with two groundouts and a strikeout, all on fastballs. In the second inning, Sasaki struck out the side, with one walk. He threw two 99.3 mph fastballs for called strikes, then got a swing and miss on his splitter. The second strikeout went similarly. A called strike on a fastball, a called strike on a cutter, and then the splitter in the dirt for a swinging strike three. In the third inning, Sasaki struck out two more hitters, one on a called strike on the splitter, the other on a called strike on a fastball. In the fourth inning, Sasaki struck out the first two hitters on 7 pitches. The first hitter took a called strike one on a splitter, then swung and missed at two splitters in the dirt. The second hitter stood there like a house on the side of the road as Sasaki threw all fastballs, three for called strikes. The last batter in the inning swung and missed at two pitches, then grounded out to second, for a ten-pitch inning.
At this point in the game, Sasaki looked like the dominant pitcher the Dodgers hoped for, all his pitches were working, his velocity was 98-100 mph, he was getting called strikes on all his pitches, and chases on his splitter in the dirt.
The fifth inning started with a walk, a single, and a walk, and after a couple of outs, a double, and a hit batter ended Sasaki’s night after 90 pitches (52 strikes).
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Bobby Miller couldn’t hold a one-run ninth inning lead, and the Sacramento River Cats (Giants) defeated the Oklahoma City Comets 6-4. Roki Sasaki started for the Comets and gave up three runs in four and two-thirds innings, striking out eight. The Comets jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Esteury Ruiz had a four-hit game, and Jose Ramos and Luken Baker homered for the Comets. The Comets had great middle relief as Nick Frasso, Kyle Hurt, and Will Klein got ten outs, collectively giving up only one hit and one walk, while striking out eight. But Miller blew the save by giving up three runs on three hits and two walks.
Double-A Tulsa
The Tulsa Drillers won their game against the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners) in 13 innings, 4-3. The Drillers needed to tie the game in the eighth inning, the ninth inning, and the twelfth inning, before pushing across the winning run in the thirteenth. James Tibbs lll homered for the third game in a row. Tulsa used nine different pitchers.
Low-A Rancho Cucamonga
The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes lost their Game 1 Division series contest to the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels), 5-4. The Quakes scored all four of the runs on a grand slam home run by second baseman Nico Perez. The winning run came home in the bottom of the seventh inning on an infield hit.
Scores of games played on Tuesday, September 9th
Inland Empire 5, Rancho Cucamonga 4
Up next: games scheduled for Wednesday, September 10th
Sacramento (Trevor McDonald) at Oklahoma City (Andrew Heaney), 10:05 AM PST
Arkansas (Michael Morales) at Tulsa (Jackson Ferris), 10:05 AM PST
