Several one-run affairs and a blowout loss for the Tower Buzzers made up a day of baseball in the Dodgers’ minor league system.
Sometimes one hit is all you need. Through nine innings, James Tibbs III hadn’t done anything, but then, with one out in the tenth and the Comets trailing 4-3, Tibbs was at the plate with a runner on base and homered to the opposite field for the win.
It hasn’t been the best of months for Tibbs, far from it, as the left-handed hitter now has a .200 average with three home runs in June. On the plus side, he still is getting on base rather consistently with a .362 OBP despite that batting average at the Mendoza line.
James Tibbs III is now up to 20 homers on the season, none bigger than last night’s two-run shot, which came when the Comets were two outs away from losing the game in the 10th inning. Tibbs drove in Ryan Fitzgerald, who also only had one hit the whole game.
Considering Tibbs’ homer was the Comets’ only extra-base hit in the entire game, and Hyesong Kim was their only hitter with a multi-hit game, the bullpen deserves a ton of praise. Led by Evan Phillips, Comets’ relievers tossed five innings without allowing an earned run after Christian Romero’s solid but unspectacular start. The only run conceded when relievers were on the mound was the ghost runner in the 10th.
The Drillers started off hot with four runs in the second, but quickly faded in a 6-5 loss against the Naturals. Just like in the Comets game, the whole lineup only had one hitter with a multihit game; here it was catcher and ninth-hole hitter Hayden Gilliland. It also only had one home run, here belonging to Josue De Paula.
Unable to score more than one run after that second inning, the Drillers’ offense allowed the Naturals the chance to get back into this one, and after a couple of blown saves from Lucas Wepf and Kelvin Ramírez, the veteran Nick Robertson suffered his first loss on the year. Robertson now moves to a 6-1 record, allowing only his fourth run (two earned) in 29.2 innings.
Playing a couple of closely contested games, both decided by a single run, the Loons split the doubleheader with the Captains. The bullpen tried to let their win slip, allowing the Naturals to tie the game at four-all after Aidan Foeller left them leading 4-0 thanks to 4.2 scoreless innings. However, the Loons caught a break, earning a walk-off win thanks to a defensive error from the Naturals, allowing DH Jose Meza to cross the plate.
Christian Zazueta’s five scoreless innings in the Loons loss meant that, combined, the Loons starters tossed 9.2 innings without allowing a run. This time around, reliever Isaac Ayon didn’t have it out of the bullpen, and not only did he blow the save in the sixth, but he also allowed a walk-off loss an inning later, coughing up a solo homer. The two runs the Loons had scored in this game, thanks to Emil Morales and Jose Meza, which looked like enough for most of it, fell short.
Unlike the other four games, all decided by one run, the Tower Buzzers fell at the hands of the Quakes by a score of 11-2 in a game with a forgettable defensive performance. Four different players committed an error for the Loons, ultimately accumulating more defensive errors than hits (.3).
The only reliever out of the five from the Tower Buzzers to not give up a run was the veteran Brock Stewart, continuing to work his way back. Starter Brady Smith is now up to a 0-4 record.
Unable to drive forward a competitive effort by himself, designated hitter Eason Shelton at least upped his individual numbers, responsible for both RBI of his team, now sitting at 62 on the season.
Oklahoma City 5, Sacramento 4NW Arkansas 6, Tulsa 5Great Lakes 5, Lake County 4Lake County 3, Great Lakes 2Ontario 2, Rancho Cucamonga 114:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Brooks Auger) vs. Lake County (Michael Kennedy)5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Charlie Barnes) vs. Sacramento (Joe Whitman)5:05 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Roque Gutierrez) at NW Arkansas (Hunter Owen)6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBA) vs. Rancho Cucamonga (Alton Davis II)