If you are one of the many Dodger fans who follow the team’s minor league affiliates then seeing Dodgers top pitching prospect Jose De Leon win a game is nothing new to you. After all, the 22-year-old Isabela, Puerto Rico native was 4-1 with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes this season with a 1.67 ERA, good enough to be named to the 2015 Cal League All-Star team. And after Monday night’s exciting 4-3 win over the Springfield Cardinals, De Leon is now 2-2 with a 4.24 ERA since his promotion to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers on May 17.

But on Monday night Drillers fans got to see something that Quakes fans never had an opportunity to see. Not only did they get to see De Leon pick up his second win with the Drillers and sixth overall win for the season, they also got to witness his first-ever professional hit and his first two professional RBIs which led to that second Double-A win.

With two outs in the top of the third inning, De Leon lined a sharp single to Cardinals right fielder (and former Dodger farmhand) Jeremy Hazelbaker to drive in Drillers left fielder Jeremy Rathjen from second base to collect his first professional hit and RBI. Unlike the Advanced Single-A California League, Double-A and Triple-A teams do not use the designated hitter when National League affiliates square off against one another.

Dominating hitters is nothing new for Dodgers top pitching prospect Jose De Leon, but being a dominating hitter (okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch) is something new for the 22-year-old right-hander. (Image courtesy of MiLB.com)

Springfield tied the game 1-1 in their half of the third inning but with runners at the corners and one out in the top of the fourth, De Leon laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt fielded by Cardinals pitcher Kyle Hald to score Drillers center fielder Adam Law and advance catcher Ali Solis to second base. But once again, Springfield tied the game in the bottom of the fourth.

The Drillers reclaimed the lead 3-2 in top half of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Jarek Cunningham but the Cardinal yet again tied it at 3-3 in their half of the fifth.

After De Leon pitched a scoreless sixth for the Drillers, Tulsa added a run in the top of the seventh on a two-out double by right fielder Yadir Drake followed by an RBI single by first baseman Shawn Zarraga to give Tulsa a 4-3 lead and lining De Leon up for the win.

The Drillers bullpen came through as left-hander Ryan Dennick, right-hander Ralston Cash and left-hander Jeremy Horst held the Cardinals scoreless in the final three frames to secure the win for De Leon and earning Horst his sixth save of the season.

Although De Leon pitched great in his winning effort allowing three runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts, it was his 1 for 2 with a single, a sacrifice bunt and two RBIs at the plate that allowed the Drillers to win their final game of the first half.

Watch out Zack Greinke – it’s looking like Jose De Leon may be after your Silver Slugger award.