The success of leadoff hitters across the board and a terrible loss in Single-A marked this past Saturday in the Dodgers’ minor league system.
While cleanup hitter Ryan Fitzgerald came within a home run of a cycle, it was Zach Ehrhard leading the charge in a Comets 11-7 win with not one, but two long balls.
Ehrhard, who had only three home runs before the start of this month, has now hit six of them in their last nine games, including not one but two multi-homer performances. If he keeps this up, we might have to start calling him Zach Hom-Ehrhard before long.
Conceding five runs in the first inning put the Comets in the position of chasing this game from a very early moment, something they did so terrifically, scoring on five of their first seven innings to build this 11-7 comeback win on the road against the Knights.
James Tibbs III, who had only a single homer in the month of June, made the most out of his only hit as the Knights definitely pitched around him with three walks—the Comets’ first baseman hit a two-run shot in the fifth, one that left the stadium
The biggest threat, though, was leadoff bat Zach Ehrhard, who is in the middle of his finest stretch this season, now up to nine homers on the year, responsible for half of his team’s four long balls.
The culprit in that first-inning blowout that could’ve cost the Comets the game, Cole Irvin, only recorded two outs. Reliever Garrett McDaniels earned the win with two scoreless frames, moving to a 5-1 record on the season.
Efficiency with runners in scoring position allowed the Drillers a chance to maximize their opportunities, scoring eight runs in what turned out to be a walk-off win over the Wind Surge. The Dillers earned this win despite only recording a single extra-base hit, a double from Kyle Nevin.
With six of the eight runs coming in just one inning, only two Drillers finished the game with multi-hit performances, the aforementioned Nevin and leadoff bat Josue De Paula.
Wyatt Crowell delivered four scoreless innings in relief and was in line for the win, but after Nick Robertson blew the save in the ninth, Zyhir Hope got the sac fly to send everyone home in the bottom of the ninth.
Both teams combined to go 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position, leaving 75% of the scoring to solo home runs, and the Loons won that battle, taking this game 3-1.
Continuing the trend of leadoff bats thriving in the Dodgers’ minor league system, Charles Davalan hit one of his team’s two long balls, his eighth of the year—the other one came from center fielder Eduardo Quintero, his third.
Reliever Isaac Ayon was well on his way to a four-inning save before being thrown out of the game with two outs in the ninth after a tussle with Timber Rattlers’ hitter Marco Dinges.
The good news is that they all count the same, good or bad, no matter how big the score was. The Tower Buzzers suffered their worst loss of the year, beaten 17-1 by the Storm in a game in which their opponent had a whopping 21 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
While Hyun-Seok Jang had his worst game and was forced to stay there for longer than he normally would’ve, allowing 10 of the opposition’s 17 runs, nine of them earned, the Storm’s pitcher flourished with 11 strikeouts in six innings.
The Ontario Tower Buzzers placed outfielder AJ Soldra on the injured list, and they were also assigned shortstop Osswaldo Osorio.
Charlotte 7, Oklahoma City 11Tulsa 8, Wichita 7Wisconsin 1, Great Lakes 3Lake Elsinore 17, Ontario 111:00 a.m. PT: Tulsa (Adam Serwinowski) vs. Wichita (Jose Olivares)11:10 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Sean Patick) at Wisconsin (Jayden Dubanewicz)2:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Jackson Ferris) at Charlotte (David Sandlin)2:05 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Lake Elsinore (Carlos Medina)