Oklahoma City Comets (Triple-A) — W, 5-1 vs Sugar Land

A clean, well-played win for our guys in OKC, and the headliner is James Tibbs III. The DH went 2-for-3 with a homer, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch — reaching base in four of his five plate appearances. Tibbs has been squaring the ball up consistently, and this kind of patient, productive day is exactly what you want to see from a young bat getting reps at the highest minor league level. He’s making loud contact and not chasing. Keep an eye on this one.

Tommy Edman added a two-run homer of his own, going 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. Obviously Edman is up in OKC on a rehab or assignment — the homer is a good sign, though the two punchouts are worth noting. Hyeseong Kim went 0-for-3 at the plate but drew two walks and scored a run. Kim continuing to work counts and get on base matters more than the hitless line suggests. Jack Suwinski (2-for-5) and Zach Ehrhard (2-for-4) each collected a pair of hits and a run scored, and Noah Miller drove in two with a 1-for-3 night from the shortstop spot.

On the mound, Cole Irvin earned the win to move to 5-5 on the year: five innings, five strikeouts, one walk, one earned run. Nothing flashy, but that’s kind of the point with Irvin. He gives you innings, limits traffic, and lets the offense do its thing. A solid veteran outing that set the tone.

Tulsa Drillers (Double-A) — W, 10-9 vs Northwest Arkansas

Where do we even start? How about Josue De Paula going 4-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI, and four runs scored. That’s not a typo — four hits, four runs. De Paula was the entire engine of this offense. When a guy reaches base in every plate appearance and does damage every time up, you just sit back and appreciate it. This was one of the best individual performances we’ve seen in the system all year.

Mike Sirota wasn’t far behind, going 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, a walk, three RBI, and two runs scored. He and De Paula combined for six RBI and six runs. That’ll play. Zyhir Hope added a triple and drove in three of his own on a 2-for-5 night — so the middle of this lineup was absolutely punishing the ball. Jake Gelof chipped in with two doubles and an RBI (2-for-5), though he struck out twice. Elijah Hainline drew four walks in five plate appearances and scored a run. The eye at the plate is real — four free passes is elite-level discipline regardless of level. He was caught stealing, which takes a little shine off, but the approach is legit. Chris Newell also worked two walks in an otherwise quiet 0-for-3 night.

You need all that offense when the final is 10-9. Wyatt Crowell got the start and gave Tulsa four innings — two strikeouts, three walks, and one earned run. The walks are something to monitor, but he limited the damage. Roque Gutierrez picked up the win (5-0!) with three innings of work: four strikeouts, no walks, two earned runs. That record is obviously a team stat, but Gutierrez has been consistently putting his team in position to win, which counts for something. Nick Robertson locked it down for the save — one clean inning, one strikeout, no drama. That’s exactly what you need after a game like this.

Great Lakes Loons (High-A) — L, 2-3 vs Dayton

A tough one-run loss for the Loons, and the story here is really on the pitching side. Sterling Patick was excellent: five innings, seven strikeouts, just one earned run. He walked three, which kept the pitch count elevated and probably limited his outing to five frames, but seven K’s against one earned run is a quality start at any level. Patick did his job. The offense just didn’t hold up its end.

The bats were quiet. Eduardo Quintero led the way, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base. Jose Meza went 2-for-4 with a run scored, and Kole Myers added a hit and a steal. But two runs on a night where your starter gives up just one earned? That’s a missed opportunity. Sometimes the bats just don’t show up. It happens, especially in High-A. Nothing to overreact to, but frustrating all the same.

Ontario Tower Buzzers (Single-A) — W, 9-8 vs Visalia

Another high-scoring affair, another win. The Buzzers put up nine runs on a night where just about everyone in the lineup contributed. Let’s start with Mairoshendrick Martinus (and yes, that is a name to remember) — the shortstop went 1-for-5, but that one hit was a three-run homer. Two runs scored on top of that. Martinus didn’t do a ton else, but when your one hit clears the bases, you’ve done your job.

AJ Soldra had the best all-around night at the plate: 3-for-5 with a homer, two RBI, and a run scored. Three hits out of the left field spot at Single-A is a productive day by any measure. Easton Shelton added a solo homer of his own, drew two walks, but also struck out twice — the kind of mixed bag you see from power-first guys still refining their approach at this level. Chase Harlan went 2-for-3 with two walks and an RBI, showing a really mature plate approach. Javier Herrera (2-for-4, walk, two runs) and Francisco Espinoza (2-for-4, walk, RBI, run) both had productive multi-hit nights from the middle infield and catching spots respectively. This was a full-lineup effort.

Brady Smith started and gave the Buzzers four solid innings — six strikeouts, one walk, one earned run. That’s a good K-to-BB ratio and exactly what you want from a Single-A arm: attack the zone and miss bats. Accimias Morales picked up the win (1-1) with a clean inning of relief — no runs, no walks, no drama. In a 9-8 game, every zero on the board matters.