Cam Leiter helps Great Lakes clinch playoff berth

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 3: The glove and ball of David Peralta #6 of the Los Angeles Dodgers lay on the grass as he warms up for the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium on July 3, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images The G

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What is the story about?

The Great Lakes Loons are the third Dodgers affiliate to clinch a postseason spot in 2026, along with Double-A Tulsa and Class-A Ontario.

Player of the day

Three starts into his Midwest League experience, and Cam Leiter has yet to allow an earned run. The right-hander pitched five scoreless innings on Saturday night to help Great Lakes clinch a postseason berth, with three strikeouts, no walks, and only three singles allowed.

Leiter, drafted in the second round in 2025 out of Florida State, has allowed only one unearned

run 11 1/3 innings, with 14 strikeouts. Between Class-A and High-A this season, Leiter has a 2.45 ERA and 30.9-percent strikeout rate in 55 innings in his professional debut.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Comets won a low-scoring game in extra innings for a second straight day, this time besting the Round Rock Express (Rangers) in 11 innings. Ryan Fitzgerald’s sacrifice fly drove home the game-winner.

Charlie Barnes pitched five scoreless innings in his start. Rehabber Jake Cousins allowed the only Round Rock run in his inning of work.

Ben Casparius started a new rehab assignment with a scoreless inning of work, his first appearance in 17 days after getting shut down with arm fatigue.

Paul Gervase pitched the final two innings in scoreless fashion, stranding the free runner in both frames to close out the win.

Chris Newell, who was promoted from Tulsa on Friday, played in his first Triple-A game on Saturday, and made an immediate impact with this game-ending gem.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers had big innings in the sixth and seventh, then held on to beat the Wichita Wind Surge (Twins). With 814 runs scored on the season, Tulsa set a record for the 50-year-old franchise, surpassing the 2000 team, a Texas Rangers affiliate that scored 806 runs in 140 games.

Jake Gelof already homered three times in this series, and on Saturday drove in three more runs with a double and single, giving him nine RBI through the first five games against Wichita. What a way to make a living.

Logan Wagner and Sean McLain homered in the win.

Patrick Copen allowed three runs in his six innings, all three runs coming in the final frame. That briefly had Tulsa behind, but they rallied for three runs in the sixth and four runs in the seventh to put the game to bed.

High-A Great Lakes

Great pitching and patience allowed the Loons to beat the Lake County Captains (Guardians), and clinch the second half of the Midwest League East Division. Great Lakes is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2023.

Charles Davalan singled then stolen second base, and took third on a flyball single by Nico Perez. Then four Loons walked in the frame, with free passes to Eduardo Guerrero, Mairo Martinus, and Victor Rodrigues all bringing home runs.

After Leiter’s five frames, Great Lakes got scoreless innings from Maddux Bruns and Matt Lanzendorfer before Dilan Figueredo entered with two runners on with nobody out in the eighth and pitched two scoreless innings to close out the clincher.

Class-A Ontario

The Tower Buzzers scored seven runs in the fourth inning, allowed six runs in the seventh and two in the eighth, but then rallied for three runs with two outs in the ninth inning to stun the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Angels).

Down two runs and down to their last out, Ontario had two runners on base in the ninth. Francisco Espinoza singled to pull the Tower Buzzers within a run, the a hit by pitch and walk tied things up. Ching-Hsien Ko delivered the walk-off single, his second hit of the game.

Easton Shelton hit his California League-leading 37th home run in that fourth inning, a grand slam.

Kellon Lindsey and Oswaldo Osorio homered for Ontario on Saturday. Osorio also walked twice and doubled, reaching base four times.

Charlie West, seventh-round draft pick this year out of UConn, struck out six and walked none in his four-inning start with two runs allowed.

Transactions

Triple-A: Bobby Miller ended his rehab and was activated by the Dodgers. Reliever Kyle Hurt was optioned to Oklahoma City. Outfielder Alek Thomas was designated for assignment.

Double-A: Right-hander Angel Cruz was added to Tulsa’s roster from the Arizona Complex League as an extra arm.