For the second day in a row, it was a clean sweep for the Dodgers affiliates. There was a pattern to the games for the lower three affiliates. The starter pitched five innings, giving up one run in each game, and the bullpen finished the game with four scoreless relief innings.
The career of 24-year-old Jose Ramos seemed to be stalling out since he hit 25 home runs and drove in 97 runs in Single-A ball in 2022. He has dropped off of MLB Pipeline’s top-30 Dodgers prospect list, and this year repeated Double-A for the second time. However, Ramos has been enjoying hitting in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, which is a much more offense-oriented league. In 11 games since he was promoted to Oklahoma City, he has gone 13 for 39 with eight extra-base hits.
On Saturday, batting clean-up in the Comets lineup, Ramos had two hits and four RBIs. For Ramos to progress to the next step, he is going to have to find a way to cut down on his strikeouts. This season, he has struck out 91 times in 288 plate appearances, a 31.6-percent strikeout rate, which matches his mark from the previous two years in Tulsa.
The Comets scored four runs in the first inning on their way to an 11-3 victory over the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres). A five-run fourth inning sealed the game, and the 9-0 lead mirrored the major league Dodgers, who also scored the first nine runs in their game.
Big offensive games were had by Ryan Ward, with two hits and three more RBIs; CJ Alexander, who was on base five times with two hits and three walks; Ramos, with four RBIs, and Noah Miller, with three hits and two RBIs. Starter Kyle Funkhouser was taken out of the game in the second inning after an injury delay. Paul Gervase, recently acquired in the Hunter Feduccia trade, pitched two shutout innings, striking out three. Bobby Miller continued his success pitching in relief, throwing a perfect ninth inning.
The Drillers won their game against the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros) 5-1. Zach Ehrhard had two hits and two RBIs, adding to his hot start since being acquired by the Dodgers. He now has 10 hits in his first 24 at-bats with only one strikeout and three walks. Another new Dodger acquisition, James Tibbs III, had a hit and an RBI, and also threw a runner out at home for an outfield assist. Roque Gutierrez, coming off a seven-inning one-hitter, pitched five innings, surrendering just one run, and notching the win, as the Tulsa bullpen closed out the game with four scoreless innings.
Maddux Bruns pitched five solid innings for the win, as the Loons defeated the Lansing Lugnuts 6-1. Bruns gave up just one run on two hits and two walks. Nicolas Cruz and Evan Shaw pitched two scoreless innings each to close out the game. Joe Vetrano had three hits, and Kendall George added two more.
The Quakes beat the Lake Elsinore Storm 4-1. Marlon Nieves gave up one run in five innings for the win. Nieves has been excellent in his first 18 2/3 innings of Low-A ball, having given up only three runs on ten hits with 20 strikeouts and six walks. Joendry Vargas hit his fourth home run, and Emil Morales added an RBI hit.