With the Loons getting rained out at home and three other losses across the minor leagues, there was little to salvage on the day in the minors, but, if nothing else, we can take solace in individual standout performances.
Having cooled off a bit after that scorching hot start to his season, James Tibbs III got back on the board with another home run, his ninth of the season.
Despite out-homering the Isotopes 2 to 1, the Comets came out on the losing end of a 9-5 effort, stranding 10 runners with an offensive effort that fell silent after scoring four runs in the first. In fact, if it wasn’t for Tibbs’ home run in the seventh, the Comets would not have scored a single run after the first inning.
Strikeouts continue to be a problem, as in his two-for-four game, Tibbs was punched out the two times he didn’t get on base, but as long as the power comes at an absurd level, no one really minds.
This game couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for the Comets, with Ryan Ward leading it off with a solo blast—the offense would go on to score four runs in the top of the first, but after that period it was all Isotopes for the rest of this one, scoring nine of the game’s final 10 runs on their way to a win at home.
Christian Romero managed that early lead reasonably well and pitched into the sixth inning, ultimately leaving with 5.1 innings and two runs allowed. The problem was a bullpen right after his exit. Combining for two innings, Jordan Weems, Jake Eder, and Antoine Kelly allowed seven runs.
On top of Tibbs III, another Comets hitter who had a nice game was Zach Ehrhard, reaching base in three of his five plate appearances with a walk and a pair of singles.
It was nearly over before it had a chance to start for Adam Serwinowski and the Drillers, blown out at home by the Travellers, who managed to score seven off Serwinowski with the benefit of a single extra-base hit. They did so by accumulating singles against the southpaw, who now has a 0-2 record this season.
Failing to score a single run against starter Ryan Hawks didn’t help the Drillers’ attempts at making this a close affair. Their only runs in this 13-3 defeat came on a Kyle Nevin three-run bomb in the eighth, his third of the season.
As if the Drillers pitchers didn’t have enough problems, this was a particularly poor display of fielding behind them, with four throwing errors, two of them by the catcher Nelson Quiroz.
The game between the Great Lakes and Dayton was postponed. It’ll quickly be made up as the two teams are scheduled for a doubleheader this Friday, the first game starting at 2:05 p.m. PT.
The team that came the closest to a win on Thursday, the Tower Buzzers, took a low-scoring game into extras at home but couldn’t hold serve, and one run was all the Grizzlies needed to win it 3-2 in the 10th.
Considering how the first nine innings went, it wasn’t particularly surprising that the Tower Buzzers didn’t bring in the runner from the second, as they finished the game going 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position—striking out 14 times, doubling the number of the opposition.
The first two runs the Grizzlies scored came on solo shots against starter Hyun-Seok Jung, those being the only two hits he allowed in five innings of work. All of the Tower Buzzers’ scoring, meanwhile, came on a two-run double from Emil Morales, tying up the score in the fifth.
The Dodgers optioned right-handed pitcher Chayce McDermott to the Oklahoma City Comets. Another right-handed pitcher, Hyun-Seok Jang, was assigned to the Ontario Tower Buzzers.
Oklahoma City 5, Albuquerque 9Arkansas 13, Tulsa 3High-A game postponedFresno 3, Ontario 22:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Sterling Patick) vs. Dayton (Luke Hayden)game 2: Great Lakes (Logan Tabeling) vs. Dayton (Cole Schoenwetter)5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Patrick Copen) vs. Arkansas (Kade Anderson)5:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (River Ryan) at Albuquerque (TBD)6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Fresno (Austin Newton)