Busch notches three hits, four RBIs for OKC

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Busch notches three hits, four RBIs for OKC (Sept. 17)
Michael Busch recorded his second three-hit performance in the past three games, with a pair of doubles, a single and four RBIs to help lift Triple-A Oklahoma City to an 11-8 victory over Albuquerque at Isotopes Park.

The No. 4 Dodgers prospect laced an RBI double to center in the third, drove in a run with an RBI fielder's choice in the sixth, hit a two-RBI single back up the middle with the bases loaded in the seventh and led off the ninth with another two-bagger.

MLB's No. 45 overall prospect has eight hits over his past four games and is sporting a .351/.431/.561 slash line with a pair of homers, six doubles, 14 runs scored and 11 RBIs in September. -- Rob Terranova

Pages belts two home runs for Tulsa (Sept. 14)
After going hitless in his first three trips to the plate, Andy Pages left the yard in each of his last two at-bats, including a grand slam, in Double-A Tulsa’s 12-6 loss to Springfield.

The 21-year-old led off the bottom of the eighth and smacked the fifth pitch he saw over the wall in left field for his 25th long ball of the year. Pages was firmly in home run mode at that point, so when he stepped up to the plate with one out and the bases loaded in the following frame, he fouled off four straight pitches before connecting on the eighth offering of the at-bat for a grand slam.

The Dodgers’ No. 5 prospect (MLB No. 69) is hitting .324/.366/.706 over his past 10 games with three dingers, four doubles and 14 RBIs. --Stephanie Sheehan

Amaya crushes another grand slam at Triple-A (Sept. 11)
Jacob Amaya played his part in Triple-A Oklahoma City's blowout win.

The Dodgers' No. 15 prospect made sure his fingerprints were left on the Dodgers' 20-5 win over Tacoma.

The 11th-round (340th overall) selection in the 2017 Draft began the night in a big way with a grand slam to left-center field in the second inning. This was his second grand slam with Oklahoma City. He followed that with a ground-rule double over the right-center wall in the third. His third and final hit of the day came on a single to left in the fifth. The 24-year-old finished his performance 3-for-4 with four RBIs, four runs and a walk after taking his free base in the eighth. -- Ethan Sands

Miller sets career high with 14 strikeouts (Sept. 1)Bobby Miller makes a point of telling himself to "stay where his feet are" while not looking into the future.

His feet were firmly planted on the mound at Dell Diamond, where baseball's No. 27 overall prospect put together one of the best pitching performances of the season.

Making just his third Triple-A start, Miller struck out a career-high 14 over six innings, including the final eight batters he faced, in Triple-A Oklahoma City's 2-0 rain-shortened loss to Round Rock. It was the most strikeouts by an Oklahoma City hurler since Wilmer Font established a club record with 15 in 2017.

The 23-year-old eclipsed his previous high of 11 strikeouts, done twice this season with Double-A Tulsa.

For Miller, the reemergence of a key pitch made all the difference between a good outing and a great one.

"It's been a goal of mine to get my changeup back in play," the No. 2 Dodgers prospect explained. Full story ?

Outman hits for 2nd cycle in four games (Aug. 30)
Triple-A Oklahoma City won't go another 11 years between cycles. In fact, it didn't even go one week.

James Outman saw to that ... again.

In a season that is shaping up to be magical, the No. 13 Dodgers prospect hit for the cycle for the second time in four games and drove in five runs to power Oklahoma City past Round Rock, 17-8, at Dell Diamond. Outman completed his first cycle last Friday with a walk-off homer against El Paso.

Outman's milestone may not have been quite as thrilling as his initial foray in the world of cycles, but it was no less historic. With the hardest parts of his endeavor out of the way, it appeared the 25-year-old might fall short after he walked in consecutive plate appearances in the seventh and eighth innings, however a rally in the ninth provided him the opportunity. Full story ?

Outman completes cycle with walk-off homer (Aug. 26)
The 2022 season has been nothing short of a whirlwind for James Outman. He started the year in Double-A, made his Major League debut with the Dodgers in July, homered in his first at-bat and was optioned back to Triple-A six games later.

But in a season full of firsts, Los Angeles’ No. 13 prospect still had two feats he had yet to accomplish: a cycle and a walk-off home run. With one swing of the bat, he achieved both.

“I had chills running around the bases,” Outman said after sealing his first professional cycle and Oklahoma City’s 7-4 win over El Paso with a three-run blast. “Seeing the whole team standing there, getting doused with the whole bucket of freezing water, it’s really fun. There are a lot of emotions going through your head, and it’s just really fun celebrating with the team.” Full story ?

Busch can't be stopped with four knocks at Triple-A (Aug. 24)
It's always valuable when your leadoff batter gets on base, even better when he gets on in every plate appearance.

Michael Busch was the man to kick things off in Oklahoma City's 13-8 victory over El Paso.

The Dodgers' No. 4 prospect walked to start the game for the Dodgers and tallied his first hit on a single to left field in the third inning. He followed with a leadoff single to center in the fourth and tacked on another RBI single on a bases-loaded infield knock. The first round (31st overall) selection in the 2019 Draft added a double to right in the seventh for his final hit of the evening.

August has been fruitful for Busch, slashing .274/.337/.452 for the month with four homers, 18 RBIs, nine walks and six multihit games. -- Ethan Sands

Stone impresses with four no-hit innings (Aug. 19)
Hitters in Triple-A had a tough first go at Gavin Stone.

The Dodgers’ No. 7 prospect was called up after posting a 1.60 ERA and striking out 107 in 73 1/3 innings in Double-A. The 23-year-old made a strong first impression as he struck out four in four no-hit innings in Triple-A Oklahoma City’s 4-1 win to Sugar Land.

The righty was dealing throughout his start, as he retired 12 of the 15 batters he faced. Stone finished the night with 63 pitches – 36 of them strikes – in his start.

He lowered his ERA to 1.50 and brought his K tally to 139 in the 102 1/3 innings he has pitched this season. -- Edwin Perez

Garcia cranks three roundtrippers for Quakes (Aug. 19)
If there were an offensive performance worthy of a curtain call, Yunior Garcia certainly cleared the bar during Rancho Cucamonga’s 12-8 victory over Modesto.

Five hits, three of which were home runs. Six RBIs. Four runs scored. Garcia delivered the textbook definition of what a manager envisions when he pencils a name into the cleanup spot.

“I had never seen a Minor League curtain call before,” hitting coach O’Koyea Dickson said. “[It was] a special night for him.” Full story ?

Nastrini fans eight in Double-A debut (Aug. 18)
A promotion that Nick Nastrini will find hard to forget.

The Dodgers' No. 12 prospect made his Double-A debut in Tulsa's 7-3 win over Wichita.

Ahead of his first outing with his new club, the fourth-round (131st overall) selection in the 2021 Draft made 21 appearances with High-A Great Lakes. He garnered a 5-3 record with a 3.86 ERA over 86 1/3 innings while ranking second in strikeouts (127) in the Midwest League.

His first performance with the Drillers was sensational. The 22-year-old tossed six no-hit innings before allowing his first hit in the seventh inning. He finished with 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on one hit and two walks while fanning eight batters.

In just his second professional season, the right-hander has an incredibly high ceiling if his performances mimic the way he started. -- Ethan Sands

Rushing continues hot start to pro career with multihomer game (Aug. 18)
Dalton Rushing is having little difficulty with the transition to professional baseball.

The Dodgers' No. 9 prospect and 40th overall selection in last month's Draft continued a raging hot start to his career with a four-hit game that included a pair of home run for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. Rushing drove in half of the Quakes' runs in an 11-6 loss to Modesto.

The backstop out of Louisville is slashing an impressive .452/.579/.881 in 13 games between the California and Arizona Complex Leagues. His most recent home runs were his fourth and fifth since joining the Quakes and gave him three RBIs in three straight games. -- Jacob Resnick

Busch breaks out with five-hit game (Aug. 14)
Even though he was struggling at the plate, Michael Busch didn’t let the noise get to him.

Baseball’s No. 39 overall prospect broke out of an 0-11 slump, with a five-hit, five-RBI game en route to Triple-A Oklahoma City’s 20-3 victory over Round Rock.

“I struggled the past few days,” said Busch. “ So I just tried to keep things simple and get a good pitch and just try to put a good swing on it.

“That's the fun part about baseball. You can go 0-for-5 one day and then have five hits the next day.” Full story >>

Miller K's 9 in sensational start, Pages reaches 21 homers (Aug. 14)
Bobby Miller had arguably his best outing of the season in Double-A Tulsa's 7-0 win over Midland.

The Dodgers' second-ranked prospect had struggled in his first two starts in August, allowing three or more earned runs in back-to-back appearances, and a bounce-back game was much needed.

The 29th overall selection in the 2020 Draft handled business with his longest start in 2022, tossing 7 1/3 scoreless innings while giving up four hits and two walks but sending nine batters back to the bench via strikeout.

The Drillers offense did its part, with Andy Pages, the Dodgers' fourth-ranked prospect, clobbering his 21st homer of the season on a solo shot to left field in the eighth to begin a four-run inning that gave Miller insurance after exiting in the seventh. Pages' 21 jacks has him tied for fourth in the Texas League. -- Ethan Sands