Tightly contested games across the board, including disappointing defensive efforts from both the Loons and Tower Buzzers, stood out on the first day of September.
Player of the day
It’s not every day you see a pitcher covering eight innings in the minor leagues; it’s not every day you see that anywhere, and Adam Serwinowski accomplished that feat in a close win for Tulsa at home over Wichita, helping this dominant Drillers team to go 31 games over .500 and secure their most wins ever (79).
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Shortly after setting a career high in innings pitched as a professional, Serwinowski momentarily put behind what has been a disappointing campaign with an ERA north of 5.00 to toss an outstanding start. Serwinowski allowed just two runs in eight innings, dominating in a game in which the Drillers needed no less than that, narrowly beating out the Wind Surge.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Neither starting pitcher was on his game, with Christian Romero and David Davalillo both allowing four runs, but the Comets’ bullpen was as dominant as you’d want by covering 5.2 frames and conceding just a single hit in a 7-4 win. Involved in that great effort from the bullpen, Kris Bubic impressed in his first appearance on a rehab assignment, punching out two.
Matt Gorski and Ryan Fitzgerald hit solo shots in the second and ninth, respectively, but what really made the day for the Comets was a five-run fifth with contributions from all over the order—it included a Fitzgerald then game-tying two-run double, while the go-ahead hit came from Hyeseong Kim, also an RBI double.
Double-A Tulsa
Much like Eric Lauer in the majors, Adam Seriwnowski also allowed a pair of solo shots, but the similarities in these two outings end there, as Seriwnowski otherwise dominated the Wind Surge across eight two-run innings. Serwinowski had been more dominant in a pair of seven-inning outings, but by length, this was his best performance. Serwinowski allowed the Drillers to come from behind and win this game while recording only four hits to score their three runs.
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Offensively, Logan Wagner was the big factor for Tulsa, first putting them on the scoreboard with a solo shot in the second and then securing the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth.
Responsible for scoring one of Tulsa’s runs, Kole Wagner didn’t record a hit but caused a lot of problems by drawing three walks in the game.
High-A Great Lakes
When you commit as many errors as you score runs, the chances of winning are rather slim, as it was on display in a Loons 4-3 loss against the Captains. Mairo Martinus, who has had such a nice start to his Great Lakes career, encountered some problems on the field, committing two of those three errors, and in the end, the only earned run allowed by the Loons staff came against the losing pitcher of record, Robby Porco.
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Ninth-hole hitter Victor Rodriguez, who came into this game with one home run this season in over 250 at-bats, was responsible for two of the Loons’ three runs, hitting a two-run bomb in the seventh. For a brief moment, that gave the Loons the lead before handing it right back by allowing runs in the seventh and ninth.
Class-A Ontario
Much like the Loons, the Tower Buzzers also didn’t play clean defense and surrendered a late lead en route to a loss, beaten 8 to 6 by the Quakes, who scored all of their runs from the sixth inning onwards. This bullpen collapse, which included three separate blown saves from Camden Wimbish, Accibias Morales, and Devin Bell, meant that Jack O’Connor left his start empty-handed despite tossing five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.
Relying almost exclusively on the long ball to make something happen, the Tower Buzzers scored four of their six runs via homers, including a Caleb Johnson two-run bomb and solo shots from Joendry Vargas and Jose Gonzalez. Meanwhile, Bryan Gonzalez Garcia and Easton Shelton struggled heavily, with 3 strikeouts each.
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Outfielders Kyeler Thompson and Jose Gonzalez were assigned to Ontario. The Comets were assigned Alek Thomas as Alex Freeland received a call-up to the bigs, and lastly, Kris Bubic began a rehab assignment with the Comets.
Tuesday’s scores
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Round Rock 4, Oklahoma City 7
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Lake County 4, Great Lakes 3
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Ontario 6, Rancho Cucamonga 8
Wednesday’s schedule
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10:05 a.m. PT: Tulsa (Wyatt Crowell) vs. Wichita (Chris Vallimont)
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3:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Will Gagnon) at Lake County (Joey Oakie)
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4:45 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Cole Irvin) at Round Rock (Winston Santos)
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6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Rancho Cucamonga (Trey Gregory-Alford)
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