Jake Gelof keeps putting his name in places Tulsa Drillers fans haven’t seen in a long time.
On Thursday, the infielder homered for the 33rd time this season, and that blast was enough to etch him into the club’s record book. Gelof finished 2 for 3 with a walk in Tulsa’s road win, becoming the first Drillers hitter to reach 33 home runs since Tim Wheeler did it in 2011.
That was the headliner in a busy day across the Dodgers’ minor league system, where Oklahoma City rolled to a shutout, Tulsa won a tight one, and both Great Lakes and Ontario came up short in playoff action.
At Triple-A, Oklahoma City put together an 8-0 win over Sugar Land behind production throughout the lineup. James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard each reached base three times, while Chadwick Tromp did the most damage late, launching a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth once the game was already in hand.
The pitching side was just as clean. Knack handled five innings to earn the win, Edwin Díaz worked around a hit and a walk for a scoreless frame, Kris Bubic made his second straight appearance, and Kyle Hurt finished things off in the ninth.
Tulsa didn’t need much offense to beat NW Arkansas, either. Taylor Young drove in one run with an RBI single in the second, and Gelof supplied the rest with his timely homer. That was all the Drillers needed in a game where six of their nine hitters failed to record a hit.
The pitching staff carried the load. Myles Caba gave Tulsa four innings and struck out five, with the only damage against him coming on a solo homer by Spencer Nivens in the fourth. Payton Martin followed with two scoreless innings to pick up the win out of the bullpen.
Great Lakes had a tougher night in a 3-1 loss to Dayton. The Loons only managed one extra-base hit, and that wasn’t enough to overcome the Dragons, who scored all three of their runs against Brooks Auger early in the game.
Will Gagnon did his part to keep Great Lakes close, covering four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out five. The Loons finally got on the board when Gio Cueto singled in a run in the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate.
Eduardo Quintero got that chance, but he struck out swinging to end it. Quintero finished 0 for 3 with a walk.
Ontario’s playoff series got away from it quickly in Game 2. After dropping the opener 10-9, the Tower Buzzers fell behind by four runs in the first two innings and never recovered in a 6-1 loss to Lake Elsinore, leaving them down 2-0 in the series.
It was a rough day for two of Ontario’s bigger bats. Ching-Hsien Ko and Easton Shelton combined for seven strikeouts, with Ko taking a golden sombrero. Shelton did account for the team’s only RBI.
The Tower Buzzers also made life harder on themselves with walks and errors. Ontario allowed more free passes, eight, than hits, six, and two unearned runs crossed the plate. None of the first four pitchers, including starter Luis Gamez, recorded a strikeout, though Charlie West later supplied five of Ontario’s six punchouts over four scoreless innings.
Before the day wrapped, the Dodgers’ system also saw a handful of roster moves. Aidan Foeller went on the injured list with Tulsa, which activated Payton Martin. Agustin Acosta was assigned to Tulsa after Josue De Paula was called up to the big leagues, and Oklahoma City activated Bobby Miller.
Thursday’s results: Oklahoma City 8, Sugar Land 0
NW Arkansas 2, Tulsa 3 Dayton 3, Great Lakes 1
Lake Elsinore 6, Ontario 1
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