Dodgers Unravel In The Rain

I have no idea as to who should be blamed for playing that game.  Stopping the game multiple time to apply quick dry soil.  Slipping trying to get out of the box.  Fielding ground balls in puddles/mud.  The game was finally halted when Miggy Ro fielded a ground ball 5 fathoms underwater and threw to first with 5 pounds of mud.  Unfortunately, Freddie could not make the play.   Miggy did not take kindly to the game being played in those conditions.

What do you think Miggy Ro was saying to Laz Díaz?

Díaz was bad behind the plate as he normally is.  But he did not cost the Dodgers.  The Dodgers cost the Dodgers.  Although I am sure James Outman is a little upset with Díaz on his called 3rd strike.

If the umpires are directed by MLB to push through these conditions to get the game in because of scheduling problems, the MLBPA should lodge a formal complaint.   Both teams are lucky nobody got hurt.

They finally got the game in, but the game was lost in the first inning on a bases clearing double by Michael Busch. Busch had a good series against his former team.  3-11, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 4 RBI.

I am very impressed with Shōta Imanaga.  He has now pitched 10.0 MLB scoreless innings, 4 hits, 0 BB, and 12 K.  He appears to be legit.

I continue to maintain that there are two parts to the game…run scoring and run prevention-n.  The Cubs won both aspects in this weekend.  The Cubs outscored the Dodgers 18-12.  The Cubs defense saved Game 1 for Chicago, and the Dodgers defense was largely responsible for the Sunday outcome.  Plus Nico Hoerner and Mike Tauchman made a couple of excellent plays.

Gavin Stone did not have his full command.  He left too many of his pitches over the plate.  The lack of command led to an average 95.2 MPH exit velo. Was it the rain?  Was it the cold?  Was it the stress of extra pitches because of poor defense?  Regardless, he could not get the outs when he needed them.  He could not get the chase.

Imanaga’s average exit velo was 90.1, which is not surprising since he relied almost exclusively on his 4-seamer (34 – 79%).  He threw 7 splitters, and 2 sweepers.

Ryan Yarbrough was outstanding in being able to come out after the delay and finish the game.  4.2 IP.  55 pitches/42 strikes.  One run on a Cody Bellinger HR.  Only 2 hits and 0 BB, 3 K.

No reason to get overly exasperated about this one.  These games happen.  Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone were not good this weekend. But there will be other weekends when they are.  Yoshinobu Yamamoto was good.  Walker Buehler is getting closer.

What we did see was another short series when the Dodgers big bats (Mookie and Freddie) do not produce and the starters (except for Yamamoto) did not cover.  Mookie was 1-11 with 3 BB.  Freeman 2-10 with 3 BB.

Time to move on.  Next up Minnesota.

• Monday – James Paxton vs Baily Ober (R)
• Tuesday – Tyler Glasnow vs Louie Varland (R)
• Wednesday – Bobby Miller vs Chris Paddack (R)

MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS

Dodger Affiliates broke out that bats for OKC, Tulsa, and Rancho Cucamonga.  The three teams scored 37 runs on 38 hits.  Great Lakes?  They were shut out on 1 hit obtained with one out in the 9^th.

OKC Baseball Club 11 – Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies) 3

OKC loaded the bases three batters into its first at-bat before Miguel Vargas hit a two-run single into left field. Ryan Ward followed with a three-run home run for a 5-0 advantage.

The Isotopes hit a solo HR off OKC starting pitcher, Elieser Hernández in the 2nd.  In the bottom of the 2nd  OKC put up 5 more, including a two-run home run by Andy Pages, RBI single by Ward and a RBI double by Jonathan Araúz.  They also got a sac fly from Kevin Padlo.

Hernández took the hill in the top of the 4^th with an 10-1 lead.  He walked the leadoff hitter, and was relieved by LHRP John Rooney.  Rooney gave up a run scoring double and a run scoring single in the 4^th.  OKC got one of those runs back with Ryan Ward opening the inning with a double.  He moved to 3^rd on a WP and scored on a Kevin Padlo single.

Four OKC pitchers finished the game with 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits and no walks.  They also registered 5 Ks combined.

• Drew Avans – 2-5, double (4), 2 runs
• Andy Pages – 3-5, HR (1), 2 runs, 2 RBI
• Trey Sweeney – 2-3, double (1), 2 BB, 2 runs
• Miguel Vargas – 1-3, 2 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI
• Ryan Ward – 3-5, HR (2), 3 runs, 4 RBI
• Kevin Padlo – 3-4, double (3), 2 RBI
• Jonathan Araúz – 1-4, double (2)

Pages’ HR was his first AAA HR.  Today was his best AAA game thus far.

Andy Pages hurts this one!

The @Dodgers' No. 3 prospect sends his first Triple-A homer 397 feet at 110.1 mph. pic.twitter.com/tbvAz9ypAA

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 7, 2024

OKC is now 6-3 on the season, after beating the Isotopes 5 out of 6 at home.  OKC travels to Round Rock for their 6 game series against the Rangers AAA affiliate on Tuesday.

Box Score

Tulsa Drillers 12 – NW Arkansas Naturals (KC) 9

Tulsa jumped out to a 9-1 lead after 3.5 innings, and had to hold on.  The lead narrowed to 10-9 after 7.0 innings, but Tulsa scored a pair of insurance runs in the 9^th.  Tulsa slugged 17 hits in this one, including 3 doubles and 3 HRs.

Orlando Ortiz-Mayr gave up a 2 out solo HR in the 1^st.  He pitched a scoreless 2^nd and 3^rd, and got the first two batters in the 4^th, and then the floor caved in.  Double, single, back to back HRs, and NWA put up 4 runs.

In the 5^th, Ortiz-Mayr allowed a leadoff single and then a 2-run HR, and his day was done.  Overall, in 3.0 innings, Ortiz-Mayr allowed 7 runs on 8 hits, including 4 HRs.

Ryan Sublette settled down the Naturals’ offense for 2.0 perfect innings.

Jack Little relieved Sublette.  He allowed a walk, single, WP, and two runs scored on a fielders choice and single.  The score is now 10-9.

Michael Flynn closed out the final 2.0 innings to get the save.

The Drillers tacked on a couple of extra runs in the 9^th.  Brendon Davis singled.  After one out, Austin Beck doubled, and Lolo Sanchez got his 4^th hit of the day, a 2-run single.

• Dalton Rushing – 2-6, 2 doubles (2), 1 run, 1 RBI
• José Ramos – 2-5, 1 BB, HR (1), 2 runs, 2 RBI
• Brendon Davis – 3-4, HBP, double (1), HR (1), 3 runs, 1 RBI
• Brandon Lewis – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI
• Austin Beck – 2-5, double (1), HR (1), 2 runs, 3 RBI
• Lolo Sanchez – 4-5, 1 run, 3 RBI

Tulsa is now 3-0 on the season.  They will host the Arkansas Travelers (Seattle) in a 6 game series at home beginning Tuesday.

Box Score

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Padres) 2 – Great Lakes Loons 0

At the beginning of the season, I thought the pitching would be good, but the offense would be questionable.

Well the pitching has been outstanding except for one inning, and the offense has not been barely good enough in the two wins earlier this weekend.  On Sunday, Peter Heubeck was okay in his 3.2 IP.  He allowed one run on two hits and three walks to go with his 5 Ks.  Livan Reinoso also allowed a single run on 2 hits, 0 walks to go with his 2 Ks.

Three relievers pitched 1 hit scoreless ball over the final three innings.

The Loons got to face one of the top prospect pitchers in all of MiLB, 20 year old Dylan Lesko.  The Padres like to push their prospects, so I expect Lesko to be pushed this year.  Lesko and 3 other pitchers no hit the Loons for 8 innings.  Ryan Och, the 5^th TinCaps pitcher got Thayron Liranzo on a strikeout to start the 9^th.  On a 2-2 pitch, Kyle Nevin singled on a ground ball into CF, and the no-no was broken after 8.1 IP.  Och struck out Chris Newell and Dylan Campbell to end the game on a one-hit shutout.

Another one of the young phenoms in the Padres system is 17 year old catcher Ethan Salas (will be 18 in June).  He is the overall #1 catcher prospect in MiLB.  In the opening series, Salas was 4-14, 2 BB, 3 K.  He also threw out 1 of 3 would be base stealers, while being 2 for 2 in stolen base attempts.

One of the LAD three prized catcher prospects, Thayron Liranzo, did not fare as well.  He was  0-5, 3 BB, 3 K, and all 7 base stealing attempts against were successful.

The pitchers allowed only 6 earned runs in 29 innings.  That is good pitching all weekend, but with questionable offense.

Great Lakes is now 2-1 and will travel to Lansing to take on the Lugnuts (A’s) beginning Tuesday.

Box Score

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 14 – Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) 7

Kendall George was not in the opening lineup.  He was removed from Saturday night’s game with an apparent slight injury to his leg. He was walking with a noticeable limp after chasing after one of the HRs given up by Roque Gutierrez.  Manager John Shoemaker and the trainer went out to look at him, but he remained in the game.  However, he was removed from the lineup in the 6^th.  If Kendall is not in the lineup on Tuesday, there could be an issue.  But until then, we will just stick with precautionary.

RC down 1-0 put up 7 in the 3^rd, thanks to a pair of 3-run HRs; one by Zyhir Hope, and another by Oswaldo Osorio.  Hope hit his 2^nd HR of the day and 3^rd of the season in the 4^th.

Anyway, speaking of the prospects the Dodgers got back for Busch, 19 year old outfielder Zyhir Hope just hit a 3 run shot over the 36 foot tall fence in right, it's his second homer in three games pic.twitter.com/Us0Uo21JhL

— Josh Thomas (@jokeylocomotive) April 7, 2024

Zyhir Hope just hit his second homer of the game for Rancho, this one was absolutely murdered 🥵 pic.twitter.com/kWvR4ePclT

— Josh Thomas (@jokeylocomotive) April 7, 2024

After 4.0 innings the Quakes were up 8-2.  In the 5^th, RC put up another 4.  4 BB, WP, E6, and 2 singles plated 4 runs.  Jake Gelof singled home a pair with the bases loaded for the big hit.

RC scored a pair of single runs in the 6^th and 7^th to conclude their scoring.  They scored a run in the 6^th on a bases loaded walk, and a run in the 7^th on a Jesus Galiz long ball.

Carlos Duran started for RC and completed 2.0 innings in his 1^st game back after TJ surgery.  He allowed an unearned run on 3 BB.  He also had 3 K.

Jose Rodriguez followed as the bulk reliever with 3.1 IP.  He allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits, 2 BB and 6 K.

Three other Quake pitchers completed the final 3.2 innings. Combined, 1 run, 2 hits, 4 BB, 6 K.

The big star for the day and weekend was Zyhir Hope.  He went 5-12 with 3 HRs, 5 RBI, 1 SB, 3 BB, 3 K, and one OF assist.  His slash line for the 3 game series is .417/.533/1.250/1.783.

• Zyhir Hope – 2-5, 1 BB, 2 HR (3), 3 runs, 4 RBI
• Jesus Galiz – 2-4, 2 BB, HR (1), double (1), 2 runs, 3 RBI
• Oswaldo Osorio – 2-3, 2 BB, HR (1), 2 runs, 3 RBI

Box Score