In Dodgers minor league games, Adam Serwinowski made a fantastic first impression, Austin Gauthier is restoring his on-base machine reputation, and Chase Harlan homered.
21-year-old left-handed pitcher Adam Serwinowski was part of the booty the Dodgers received in the recent Hunter Feduccia trade. Looking at his record, he has some interesting characteristics (251 strikeouts in 195 lower minor league innings), but he wasn’t killing it at High-A ball this season, with a 4.84 ERA in 17 starts. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the 14th best-Dodgers prospect and the third-ranked Dodgers pitcher, so that is quite a return for the not-top- 30-ranked Hunter Feduccia, especially since he wasn’t even the primary piece in the trade.
This is what MLB Pipeline has to say about Serwinowski: “As if his fastball/slider combination wasn’t tough enough to deal with, Serwinowski also provides plenty of deception with an extremely short arm action and natural extension in his delivery. He has No. 3 starter upside.”
He couldn’t have gotten off to a better start to his Dodger career, pitching six and one-third innings of scoreless, one-hit ball, with nine strikeouts.
The El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres) scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Oklahoma City Comets 8-7. The Comets scored six runs in the first two innings to take an early 6-2 lead. Justin Dean hit the third pitch of the game for a solo home run, then got the key hit in the four-run second inning, an RBI double with two runners on. First baseman CJ Alexander, batting third in the lineup, went three-for-three. Austin Gauthier was on base five times with two hits and three walks, and has started to show his penchant for getting on base that opened eyes when he was in the lower minor leagues. After a slow start, his on-base percentage since July 1st is .409. Matt Sauer (11 hits allowed in four innings) and Ronan Kopp (a hit and three walks in one-third inning) had rough outings. On the good side, Bobby Miller pitched a perfect inning.
Jackson Ferris threw away a bunt with two runners on, allowing both runners to score, a key play in a Tulsa Drillers 7-5 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros). For the game, Ferris pitched five innings, giving up four runs (two earned), six hits, and one walk, while striking out seven. Tulsa centerfielder Kole Myers had a big game with a home run, three hits, two runs, and two RBIs, and Chris Newell had three hits for the Drillers.
A one-hit gem by new Dodgers prospect Serwinowski went to waste, as the Lansing Lugnuts (Athletics) got their first run with two outs in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings. They then exploded for five runs in the tenth, ultimately winning their game with the Great Lakes Loons 6-3. The Loons took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a home run by Logan Wagner. For a very tight game in regulation, the loss can be attributed to a disaster on the bases. Two pick-offs and another caught stealing eliminated a third of the Loons’ baserunners. Two errors in the tenth inning leading to four unearned runs didn’t help either.
Five Rancho Cucamonga Quakes pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts, yielding only a first-inning run and four singles in beating the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) 6-1. When Christian Zazueta needed 33 pitches to get out of the first inning (one run, two hits, two strikeouts), this turned into a bullpen game for the Quakes.
Chase Harlan provided all of the necessary offense with hissecond home run in Single-A, a two-run shot. Jaron Elkins, whose last name is short for elk-inspired, stole his 58th and 59th bases.