Dodgers minors: Kendall George leads Tulsa in 12-run effort

April 3, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; The bat and helmet of Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp (27) on the grass during the spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images For the second game in a row, the Tulsa Driller

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For the second game in a row, the Tulsa Drillers got to double digits in runs scored, this time needing every bit of it to take the 12-9 win over the Springfield Cardinals with some late game drama—one of three wins on Thursday from the Dodgers’ top four minor league teams.

Player of the day

As one would imagine with the amount of runs they’ve been scoring as of late, the Tulsa Drillers are getting outstanding production from their best players, and that starts with Kendall George at the top of the batting order. Getting

the day off from the field, George was the DH and managed to reach base safely in four out of six plate appearances, responsible for a quarter of the runs that the Drillers scored.

Getting good pitches to hit, considering most pitchers didn’t want to have to deal with Josue De Paula behind him, George went 3 for 5 with a double and also walked once—the highlight of his performance was a go-ahead single in the ninth, then giving the Drillers a 10-9 lead.

A massive threat on the basepaths, George would also steal a base in that 10th inning, his fifth one this season, in which he has yet to be caught.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

River Ryan did his best to keep the Express off the scoreboard in a game in which he clearly didn’t have it, allowing eight hitters to reach safely in 4.1 innings of work with just two earned runs. However, the Comets ultimately fell on the losing end of a tightly contested affair, dropping it 6-5.

Both teams finished the game with the same 13 hits, but while walks weren’t that much of a problem for Ryan, every reliever who came out of the Comets’ bullpen suffered with them—the Comets’ relievers combined to put eight men on, while the opposing team only allowed three free passes.

One of the stars of these first few games of the minor league season, James Tibbs III struggled heavily, going 0 for 4 with a Golden Sombrero—one of the responsible parties for the Comets going 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and not capitalizing on a four-hit game from leadoff bat Ryan Fitzgerald.

Double-A Tulsa

Ten walks and five stolen bases allowed, it wasn’t a favorable performance for Tulsa pitching, with starter Adam Serwinowski failing to complete two full innings. Still, in the end, their star hitters were too much for the Springfield Cardinals to handle, outhitting the opposition 15 to 7.

Interestingly, the bulk of that damage came on singles, 12 of the Drillers’ 15 hits to be exact—the exceptions being a couple of doubles from George and De Paula, and a two-run bomb from center fielder Harry Newell in the third inning.

One important note about this game is that, evidently, facing the switch-pitching effects of Jurrangelo Cijntje didn’t really affect the Drillers, with 11 men reaching in the three innings of work from the Cardinals’ starting pitcher.

High-A Great Lakes

Southpaw Sterling Patrick was one out short of earning the win, but that shouldn’t minimize a solid performance, allowing all of one hit in 4.2 innings of work against the Whitecaps with seven strikeouts. Unfortunately for Patrick, the walks proved to be a bit of an issue, allowing four of them, thus preventing a longer outing as the Loons won the game 5-2.

The big hit of the game for the Great Lakes came right in the first inning when Logan Wagner hit a two-run bomb. In fact, the Loons really didn’t need much offense after the opening frame, one in which they secured three of their total five hits in the game.

Class-A Ontario

Relentless attack with at least one run scored in each of the first five innings. That’s how the Tower Buzzers secured an 8-3 victory away from home. Luis Carias’ work out of the bullpen was also very important, covering 3.2 innings, as starter Brady Smith once again delivered a short start, a regular occurrence since he joined the Dodger organization last season.

Offensively, designated hitter Jaron Elkins was the standout performer, securing a four-hit game with three runs batted in, including a solo shot, one of three from the Tower Buzzers in the game—joined by Landyn Vidourek and Anson Aroz.