
Rancho Cucamonga clinches Cal League playoff spot
Daniel Hudson may very well join Oklahoma City soon on his minor league rehab assignment, but it won’t be until next week at the earliest. But he continues to ramp up, and on Saturday Hudson pitched his fifth game in the Arizona Complex League, allowing a two-out triple and struck out two in a scoreless inning against the Padres in Peoria.
The most promising sign is that Hudson’s last two outings (Thursday and Saturday) came with only one day of rest, getting him closer and closer to rejoining the Dodgers.
“With a guy like Huddy, I don’t think we need to do things just to check boxes,” Roberts said Thursday. “With his experience, just knowing he’s healthy, we can sort of check boxes while he’s here.”
Player of the day
Peter Heubeck had his best start of the year with five scoreless, hitless innings in what was a playoff-clinching win for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. Heubeck allowed three walks and hit a batter but also struck out five.
No. 30 #Dodgers prospect Peter Heubeck was on tonight!
Five hitless innings with five strikeouts helped pave the way to @RCQuakes‘ clinching: pic.twitter.com/k4ZDj9RatF
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) June 18, 2023
Five innings are a career high for the 20-year-old right-hander, who was drafted by the Dodgers out of high school in the third round in 2021. He has a 4.86 ERA on the season with 65 strikeouts (32.8-percent rate) and 27 walks (13.6 percent) in 46⅓ innings
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Devin Mann homered twice and drove in five in Oklahoma City’s comeback win over the Salt Lake City Bees (Angels).
Two home runs and long plate appearances shortened Landon Knack’s Triple-A debut to just 2⅔ innings, as he was pulled after 33 pitches in the third inning alone. He allowed three runs. But it was all Oklahoma City after that.
Ryan Ward, Kole Calhoun, Hunter Feduccia, and Justin Yurchak each drove in two runs. Jahmai Jones singled to extend his hitting streak to 21 games, and also walked three times, scoring three runs.
Ryan Brasier struck out five of his six batters faced in two perfect innings of relief. Gus Varland followed with two scoreless innings of his own, with three strikeouts.
Double-A Tulsa
The Drillers erased an early 3-0 deficit to outlast the Springfield Cardinals in 12 innings.
Starter Kyle Hurt allowed single runs in each of his three innings to put Tulsa behind, though the right-hander also struck out six. Six relievers followed to cover the final nine innings, allowing only two runs, one earned.
Jorbit Vivas homered and drove in four runs in his three-hit effort. That included the go-ahead single in a two-run 12th inning that delivered the win for Tulsa.
Imanol Vargas also homered for the Drillers in his two-hit game.
High-A Great Lakes
Great Lakes bunched three of their five hits together in a three-run fifth inning, then held on to beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers). The Loons also walked twice in the inning, and got RBI singles by Damon Keith and Ismael Alcantara, plus a double by Yeiner Fernandez, who played second base on Saturday.
Frank Rodriguez homered for Great Lakes, his third of the season.
Kendall Williams made his first start at a full-season affiliate in 2023, allowing only two hits in his four innings. One of those hits was a solo home run with two outs in the fourth inning for the only run against Williams, who struck out three.
The right-hander, who was acquired from Toronto in the Ross Stripling trade in 2020, pitched in only one other game this season, a wild start in the Arizona Complex League in which he hit three batters and allowed four runs in three innings. On Saturday, Williams hit nobody and walked none in a nearly spotless effort.
The Loons got relief outings of two scoreless innings from both Adolfo Ramirez, who got the win, and Benony Robles, who picked up the save.
Low-A Rancho Cucamonga
While Heubeck kept San Jose off the board, the Quakes offense scored in six different innings in a rout of the Giants.
Kyle Nevin homered, one of his three hits, and scored four runs. Josue De Paula doubled twice and drove in three. Catcher Jorge Puerta had three hits, including a double, with three runs scored and two RBI. Nick Biddison homered. Rayne Doncon tripled and doubled, driving in two.
The win ensured the Quakes (36-26) would finish ahead of both Lake Elsinore (30-29) and Inland Empire (30-29) in South Division of the California League the first half, with only four games remaining in the half.
FIRST HALF SOUTH TITLE: CLINCHED ✅ pic.twitter.com/VY76Q49vox
— Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (@RCQuakes) June 18, 2023
Rancho Cucamonga is the third Dodgers affiliate to clinch a playoff berth in 2023, joining High-A Great Lakes and Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Transactions
Triple-A: Landon Knack was promoted to Oklahoma City. Bryan Hudson was called up to the Dodgers.
Double-A: Catcher Carson Taylor was placed on the temporary inactive list. Catcher Hamlet Marte, who’s been on the developmental list all season in Triple-A, was activated by Tulsa, and scored the winning run as the free runner in the 12th inning. Right-hander Trevor Bettencourt was sent back to Tulsa after three and a half weeks with Oklahoma City.
Saturday scores
- Oklahoma City 14, Salt Lake 5
- Tulsa 7, Springfield 5 (12 innings)
- Great Lakes 5, Wisconsin 4
- Rancho Cucamonga 15, San Jose 2
Sunday schedule
- 10:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Hyun-il Choi) vs. Wisconsin (Edwin Jimenez)
- 11:35 a.m.: Tulsa (Nick Nastrini) at Springfield (Wilfredo Pereira)
- 12:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Matt Andriese) vs. Salt Lake (Luis Ledo)
- 1 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Gabe Emmett) at San Jose (Jack Choate)