Tulsa Drillers (Double-A) — W, 14-7 vs Northwest Arkansas

The Drillers absolutely unloaded tonight, and we need to start with Zyhir Hope. The designated hitter went 3-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI, and two runs scored. Hope has power that plays at any level, and nights like this are the ones that remind you why the organization believes in the bat. He did strike out twice, which is part of the deal with his swing — but when he connects, the ball goes a long way. Two homers in a game at Double-A is worth paying attention to.

Josue De Paula kept rolling with a 3-for-4 night that included a homer, a double, a walk, three RBI, and three runs scored. De Paula is doing everything you want to see from a corner outfielder moving through the system — hitting for average, driving the ball with authority, and drawing walks. He’s been one of our more consistent bats in Tulsa, and the production just keeps stacking up.

Elijah Hainline added a homer and a double of his own, going 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI, and two runs scored. Mike Sirota went 2-for-5 with a solo homer, two RBI, and three runs scored. Chris Newell chipped in with a 2-for-5 line that included a double, an RBI, a stolen base, and two runs. When five guys in your lineup all have extra-base hits, the opposing pitching staff is just surviving innings. This was one of those games.

On the mound, Myles Caba picked up the win in relief, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings with a strikeout and no walks. Clean, efficient work. The final line doesn’t scream dominance, but he did his job — kept the game in hand and let the offense do the talking.

Oklahoma City Comets (Triple-A) — W, 7-5 vs Las Vegas

James Tibbs III was the best hitter on the field tonight. He went 3-for-5 with a triple, a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. Tibbs has a knack for barreling the ball to all fields, and a triple-double combo in the same game shows the kind of gap power that plays up at the Triple-A level. He’s putting together a really solid stretch.

Alek Thomas provided the big swing — a home run as part of a 2-for-5 night with three RBI, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Thomas continues to show he can impact the game in multiple ways. The power-speed combination is valuable, and he’s doing it consistently enough at this level to stay in the conversation. Austin Gauthier quietly had one of his best games, going 3-for-4 with a double. That’s the kind of at-bat quality you want from your middle infielders — putting the ball in play, not giving away plate appearances.

Alex Freeland went 2-for-4 with a walk, a run, and a stolen base. He struck out once, but the walk and the stolen base tell you he’s being patient and aggressive at the right times. Zach Ehrhard added a hit, a walk, a stolen base, and a run. Our guys ran the bases well tonight — the aggressiveness on the basepaths created pressure that showed up in the final score.

The pitching story here is Garrett McDaniels, who struck out all three batters he faced in a scoreless inning of work to earn the win and improve to 6-1. That’s a dominant appearance, plain and simple. Jonathan Hernández locked it down in the ninth with a scoreless save — one strikeout, no walks. Clean finish to a good team win.

Great Lakes Loons (High-A) — L, 2-5 vs Fort Wayne

This one stings because Brady Smith gave the Loons every chance to win. He threw 5.1 innings, struck out five, didn’t walk a single batter, and allowed just one earned run. That’s a quality start by any measure, and exactly the kind of outing you want from a developing arm — pounding the zone, limiting free passes, and keeping his team in the game. He deserved better.

Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn’t hold it. Jakob Wright entered and was charged with four earned runs over 1.1 innings while walking three batters. The blown save drops him to 4-5 on the season. Three walks in that short of an outing is going to burn you almost every time, and it did tonight. Command was simply not there.

The offense didn’t do much to help, either. Jaron Elkins was the only Loon with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4. A two-run output isn’t going to overcome a bullpen meltdown. Some nights the bats just go quiet — this was one of them.

Ontario Tower Buzzers (Single-A) — L, 2-17 vs Fresno

There’s not a lot of sugarcoating to do here. A 2-17 loss is a rough night at any level, and Fresno was all over our pitching from the start. Luis Gamez gave up four earned runs over four innings and walked four batters. The free passes kept extending innings, and Fresno made him pay. When you’re at Single-A and issuing that many walks, you’re going to get buried — and that’s exactly what happened.

On the bright side — and yes, there are bright sides even in a 17-run loss — a few bats showed some fight. Francisco Espinoza went 3-for-4 behind the plate. That’s a nice night for a young catcher who’s still developing his offensive game. Ching-Hsien Ko went 2-for-3 with a walk and drove in both of Ontario’s runs. Kellon Lindsey added a 2-for-4 night with a double and a run, and Joendry Vargas went 2-for-4 at short. Individual at-bats still matter on nights like this — you want to see guys competing even when the scoreboard is ugly.

DSL Dodgers (Rookie) — Two Games

Both DSL Dodgers squads were in action today, but neither game produced a result — the contest against DSL Tampa Bay and the game against DSL Rojos both ended 0-0. No box score data was available at the time of writing. We’ll update if more information comes in. Even at the DSL level, we track these games because this is where the pipeline starts.