Verdugo's bat sparks Oklahoma City

Dodgers' top-ranked prospect falls just triple short of cycle

Alex Verdugo stands third in the Pacific Coast League in hitting with a .346 average. (Ben Sandstrom/MiLB.com)

By Vincent Lara-Cinisomo

July 3, 2018

Alex Verdugo hit for the cycle once before. He nearly did it again Tuesday.The Dodgers' top prospect homered, doubled, singled and walked, drove in two runs and scored another in Triple-A Oklahoma City's 4-0 blanking of New Orleans at Shrine on Airline.

Alex Verdugo hit for the cycle once before. He nearly did it again Tuesday.
The Dodgers' top prospect homered, doubled, singled and walked, drove in two runs and scored another in Triple-A Oklahoma City's 4-0 blanking of New Orleans at Shrine on Airline.

The left-handed hitter hit for the cycle on Aug. 27, 2015 while with Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga.
Verdugo walked in the second inning against big league veteran Jarlin García (0-2) and put Oklahoma City ahead in the fourth. He doubled Breyvic Valera in with a double beyond the reach of center fielder Magneuris Sierra, the Marlins No. 6 prospect.
Gameday box score
In the sixth, the No. 27 overall prospect doubled the lead with his seventh homer, a blast to right-center off Garcia. Kyle Farmer followed with a double to left and Henry Ramos delivered a blast over the wall in left.

Verdugo capped his night by beating out a grounder to second in the eighth.
The Tucson, Arizona native's perfect night at the plate was more than enough to back former Blue Jays and Pirates big league right-hander Drew Hutchison (2-1). Hutchison allowed just two hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out four.

Vince Lara-Cinisomo is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincelara.