The three primary minor league teams for the Dodger organization took care of business on Tuesday by winning close matchups; meanwhile, the Ontario Tower Buzzers had a forgetful game against Fresno, committing four errors and twice allowing eight runs in a half inning en route to a blowout defeat.
Player of the day
A couple of starting pitchers, Aidan Foeller and Luke Fox, had a solid case for earning this honor—the pair combined for 11.2 scoreless innings. The vote goes to Zach Ehrhard out in Triple-A, playing a key
role in the Oklahoma City Comets’ win over the Albuquerque Isotopes.
Somewhat overlooked in a sea of promising outfield prospects the Dodgers have in the upper minors, Ehrhard has clear strikeout problems that were evidenced even in this outstanding performance on Tuesday—striking out three times—but when he connects, good things happen. Leading off for the Comets, Ehrhard was responsible for two of the team’s five extra-base hits, including a grand slam in the second inning, and it was no ordinary grand slam, if there is such a thing; it was an inside-the-parker.
Across just 13 games, Ehrhard has accumulated 20 runs + runs batted in, one of several hitters with a batting average over .300 for the Oklahoma City Comets in the early goings of this campaign, the star of this 9-6 victory on the road.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Scoring five runs in the second inning, catapulted by Ehrahrd’s grand slam that took advantage of the bottom of the lineup getting on, the Comets gave the veteran Cole Irvin an ideal platform to attack the opposing lineup. Irvin made use of that to earn his first win of the season down in the minors.
It wasn’t a particularly dominant outing from Irvin, as he managed to allow nine base runners in six innings—including as many walks (3) as he had strikeouts (3)—but the savviness to pitch through traffic prevailed, with the Isotopes only scoring a pair of runs against the Comets starter.
The final score of 9-6 gives the impression of a closer game than it actually was since four of those runs from the Isotopes came when they trailed 9-2 in the bottom of the seventh. Quickly after, relievers Antoine Kelly and Jerming Rosario shut the door on any potential comeback in the final two frames.
Double-A Tulsa
In a game marked by a whopping 10 combined stolen bases, four for the Drillers and six for the Travelers, Tulsa’s eighth-inning surge helped them take this one by a score of 4-3, capitalizing on an outstanding start from the lefty Luke Fox, who allowed only a hit in 5.2 innings of work. In fact, the whole pitching staff outside of Maddux Bruns did incredibly well; Bruns was responsible for all three runs conceded by Tulsa, ambushed at the top of the seventh inning.
The winning hit came from Zyhir Hope in the eighth, when, after a Kyle Nevin sacrifice fly tied the score, the standout outfield prospect singled to center. Hope drove in another exciting Dodger outfield prospect in Josue De Paula, scoring his eighth run in nine games.
Surprisingly, the Drillers’ biggest threat on the basepaths in this win was Joe Vetrano, who stole a couple of bags, reaching base twice, going one for three with a walk. After stealing 21 bags last year, these were the first two swiped by the twenty-three-year-old first baseman.
High-A Great Lakes
Carrying on the theme of excellent pitching performances, Aidan Foeller made it possible for the Loons to win a game they didn’t score in until the eighth inning, holding down the Dragons for six scoreless frames.
Albeit with far more traffic on the basepaths, Reynardo Cruz matched him on the other side of this pitching matchup through five scoreless innings. After the relievers came in, the Loons jumped on Jacob Edwards for a pair of runs in the eighth, more than enough to take care of this one. A two-run single from the Loons’ ninth-hole hitter, Eduardo Guerrero, proved to be the deciding hit.
Delivering a clean performance, the Loons staff as a whole struck out 12 batters and walked none in this shutout win at home. Davis Chastain was the winning pitcher of record with 1.2 scoreless frames following Foeller on the hill.
Class-A Ontario
Unfortunately, Brock Stewart, who was down there with the Tower Buzzers beginning a rehab assignment, couldn’t pitch more than the one perfect inning he provided in the third, striking out all three batters he faced. It was an otherwise horrendous performance from this pitching staff, allowing 18 runs in a blowout defeat at home.
Wildly, the bulk of the Grizzlies’ scoring came in a pair of innings, as they jumped on starter Mason Estrada to put up eight in the second inning, highlighted by a Tanner Thach grand slam. Then the Tower Buzzers had enough strength to chip away at this lead and make it a 9-6 game in the seventh, when once again the floodgates opened. This time Wuillians Herrera was the main victim, allowing six earned runs without recording an out.
Replacing Brendan Tunink early in this game, A.J. Toldra had one of the better performances amongst Tower Buzzers’ hitters, scoring three of the team’s seven runs.
Transactions
The Oklahoma City Comets activated Jordan Weems and Griff McGarry. Brock Stewart was sent to Class-A Ontario for a rehab assignment.
Tuesday’s scores
- Oklahoma City, Albuquerque 6
- Arkansas 3, Tulsa 4
- Dayton 0, Great Lakes 2
- Fresno 18, Ontario 7
Wednesday’s schedule
- 3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jakob Wright) vs. Dayton (JeanPierre Ortíz)
- 5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Adam Serwinowski) vs. Arkansas (Nico Tellache)
- 5:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (River Ryan) at Albuquerque (Gabriel Hughes)
- 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at Fresno (Marcos Herrera)
