A busy Sunday in the Dodgers minor leagues.
Player of the day
Ontario first baseman Easton Shelton continued to run roughshod through the California League, with another three-run home run on Sunday, to go along with two walks and a single.
Shelton leads the Cal League with 32 home runs, tied for second-most among all minor leaguers and 15 more home runs than any other player in the Cal League.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Three runs in the
second inning was all the Comets needed to beat the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s), behind Christian Romero and four relievers. Noah Miller singled home the first run.
Romero struck out five in five scoreless innings in Oklahoma City’s home shutout win over Las Vegas. That snapped a string in which the right-hander allowed 13 runs in 13 1/3 innings over his last three starts.
Ronan Kopp got the final four outs, including two strikeouts, for the save.
Double-A Tulsa
Giving up eight runs in an inning is almost never good, but giving up two eight-run innings in a row is, well, hopeless. The Drillers scored the first six runs on Sunday but the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals) scored the next nineteen in a romp over Tulsa.
Josue De Paula hit his third home run in two days, and his 20th of the season. Combined with his 28 stolen bases this year, this is De Paula’s first 20-20 season.
High-A Great Lakes
Weather wreaked havoc over the weekend for the Loons, who completed one suspended game on Sunday and then had another game suspended against the Fort Wayne TinCaps (Padres) due to wet grounds.
The Loons were already down 7-0 after an inning and a half in the game that was resumed from Saturday, so that was kind of a lost cause. Great Lakes lost the game by seven, with each team adding five more runs on Sunday. Logan Wagner homered and doubled in the loss.
In the planned seven-inning nightcap, Fort Wayne led 6-2 after four innings when the game was suspended. It’s unclear if or when the game might be completed.
Class-A Ontario
Shelton and second baseman Javier Herrera led a Tower Buzzers offensive onslaught to beat the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies).
Herrera hit a three-run home run of his own, walked twice, singled, and scored three times.
Transactions
Triple-A: Pitcher River Ryan was traded to the Tigers in the Tarik Skubal deal. Ryan will remain on the injured list, now with Toledo in the International League. Charlie Barnes is back for his third go-around with the Dodgers this season, signing a minor league deal, and he got two outs in relief for Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Double-A: Outfielder Zyhir Hope was traded to the Tigers, and is now with Erie in the Eastern League. Pitcher Roque Gutierrez was activated after five days on the temporary inactive list, and allowed seven runs while recording two outs.
High-A: Pitcher Brady Smith was traded to the Tigers, and remains in the Midwest League with West Michigan.
Class-A: Pitchers Spencer Green and Wuillians Herrera joined Ontario from the Arizona Complex League.
Sunday scores
- Oklahoma City 3, Las Vegas 0
- Northwest Arkansas 19, Tulsa 7
- Fort Wayne 12, Great Lakes 5 (resumption of suspended game)
- Fort Wayne 6, Great Lakes 2 (suspended, top 5th)
- Ontario 15, Fresno 6
The week ahead
- Oklahoma City at Salt Lakes (Angels)
- Tulsa at Corpus Christi (Astros)
- Great Lakes at Dayton (Reds)
- Ontario at Lake Elsinore (San Diego)
