Blake Snell sharp in four-inning rehab start

Snell has 17 strikeouts and one walk in 9 innings in his 3 minor league rehab starts to date. Dave Roberts said Sunday Snell will make at least one more rehab start in Triple-A before returning to LA. Blake Treinen added a perfect inning in his 5th rehab appearance.

In Dodgers minor league action, a loss was turned into a win when the right fielder missed the ball, and a Sunday stroll around the bases was enjoyed by an entire team.

Player of the day

Austin Gauthier became interesting when he had consecutive seasons with 100 walks and eye-popping on-base percentages of .441 and .435. As he advanced to Triple-A, against pitchers with better control, his on-base percentage has dropped to a still good, but more pedestrian, .360, while his batting average has hovered around .240. Now in his age-26 season, Gauthier, who can play both middle infield positions, is fighting for his dream of playing in the major leagues, hitting .230/.363/.323 for Triple-A Oklahoma City, and singled home a run in the eighth inning to begin the Comets’ comeback.

He has a case as a utility bench player who can get on base. Additionally, Gauthier has good base-running instincts as evidenced by a high stolen base success rate (49/61) and a run scored for less than every five at-bats over 459 games.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Comets scored two runs in the eighth inning, and two more in the ninth to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 5-4 victory over the Sacramento River Cats (Giants). Blake Snell pitched four innings, giving up one run on four hits, striking out six, and walking one. Blake Treinen (no relation) followed Snell and pitched a perfect inning for the second time in three days.

Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday in Los Angeles that Snell would make at least one more rehab start before returning to the Dodgers rotation, per Sonja Chen at MLB.com.

Landon Knack followed with three innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks. Knack’s 6.67 ERA in Triple-A sheds light on his struggles this season.

The game was won when Gauthier came up with two outs in the ninth with runners on second and third and hit a line drive to right field that Jerar Encarnacion muffed. The error allowed the tying and winning runs to score. Jack Little pitched a perfect ninth to seal the deal with his 13th save.

Double-A Tulsa

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals) defeated the Drillers 5-4 in ten innings. Chris Campos lasted seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Drillers tied the game on a clutch two-out double by Ezequiel Pagan. In the top of the tenth inning, Brett Squires singled home Rudy Martin for the winning run.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons’ finally in Dayton was canceled by rain. The two teams don’t play again this season, so this contest will not be made up.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes used a five-run inning and a six-run inning to overwhelm the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) 11-2. Every hitter scored at least one run for the Quakes, and five different players drove in at least two runs in a balanced offensive attack. Sterling Patick started for the Quakes and pitched four scoreless innings, striking out six.

Sunday scores

• Oklahoma City 5, Sacramento 4
• Northwest Arkansas 5, Tulsa 4
• Rancho Cucamonga 11, Lake Elsinore 2

The week ahead

• Oklahoma City at Reno (D-backs)
• Tulsa vs. Springfield (Cardinals)
• Great Lakes vs. Beloit (Marlins)
• Rancho Cucamonga vs. Visalia (D-backs)