Dodgers minors: Mike Sirota’s exciting start to Double-A career

First-inning runs, playing a role in wins across three different levels in the Dodgers’ minor-league system. Player of the day Mike Sirota’s addition to the Double-A roster makes for one of the more exciting outfields across minor-league baseball as a whole, and his 3-for-5 performance in center wit

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What is the story about?

First-inning runs, playing a role in wins across three different levels in the Dodgers’ minor-league system.

Player of the day

Mike Sirota’s addition to the Double-A roster makes for one of the more exciting outfields across minor-league baseball as a whole, and his 3-for-5 performance in center with a pair of doubles as Tulsa beat Wichita 6-0 only increased the buzz.

If Sirota remains in the

three-hole, where he hit in each of his first two games in Double-A, he’ll get more than his fair share of opportunities batting in front of the likes of Kendall George and Josue De Paula.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Despite retiring the first two hitters he faced, Aces starter Tommy Henry had a first inning to forget, allowing three runs to help the Comets take control of this one, eventually winning it 6-4. Two-out walks set up the table for Ryan Fitzgerald to hit a two-run single in the first, while Christian Romero delivered a good outing, allowing one run in five innings with seven strikeouts.

Even though they were able to handle Alex Fitzgerald, something virtually no team has been able to do since his demotion, the Aces struggled with the depth of this Comets lineup, whose every hitter with the exception of Kike Hernández currently has an OPS above .800. Getting a rest from the outfield, James Tibbs III was the DH for the Comets, going 1 for 3 with a walk. Noah Miller homered for the third straight game.

Double-A Tulsa

Running wild, Kendall George and Josue De Paula got on and stole bases in the first inning, eventually scoring without the benefit of hits to drive them in as the Drillers shut out the Wind Surge in a 6-0 win, one that didn’t necessarily have the dominant pitching you’d expect. Drillers’ starter Wyatt Crowell kept his opponent silent for 5.2 innings but was in constant danger, conceding five free passes.

After DH-ing in his Double-A debut, Mike Sirota played the field for the first time since his promotion and delivered quite the performance as the center fielder and three-hole hitter. Sirota recorded three of the Drillers’ eight hits with a couple of RBI.

High-A Great Lakes

Much like the Comets and Drillers, the Loons also did the groundwork for their win in the first, scoring a pair of runs en route to beating the Timber Rattlers 4-3. Charles Davalan hit a leadoff bomb, and later on in the frame, Jose Meza drove in Eduardo Quintero, who had walked and stolen second.

In a similar pattern to the Drillers’ win, the Loons’ pitchers, starters, and bullpen, but particularly Davis Chastain, overcame very spotty command to limit their opponent to just those three runs. Loons pitchers as a whole combined to walk 11 Timber Rattlers.

After surrendering the lead in the sixth, the Loons quickly answered without the benefit of a hit. The 3-3 run came on an error as Nico Perez was stealing third base, and the go-ahead run was scored by Jose Meza on a balk.

Single-A Ontario

Two games, 33 runs, a split. That was the doubleheader action between the Tower Buzzers and 66ers. In the first of these two games, despite Ching-Hsien Ko’s grand slam, the Tower Buzzers couldn’t overcome allowing a dozen runs in a 12-8 defeat, as reliever Jholbran Herder was responsible for seven without even completing one full inning in relief. Two-thirds of Ontario’s nine hits in that one were split between Ko and Austin Shelton—the rest of the offense didn’t quite click, even if it did score eight runs.

Putting up five runs in the last two innings, the Tower Buzzers overcame a large deficit to split this doubleheader in game 2. Funny enough, it was the second go-ahead run a Dodgers minor league affiliate scored yesterday on a balk. Before that, though, Ontario had a four-run seventh capped off by Easton Shelton’s RBI single, his fifth hit in eight at-bats in this doubleheader. Shelton even stole a base for good measure, his first of the year.