Sunday in the Dodgers minor leagues featured two standout pitching performances, a Josue De Paula home run, and a huge ninth inning for Ontario.
Player of the day
Jackson Ferris has gotten his head kicked in for most of 2025 but he had his best start of the year on Sunday night for Triple-A Oklahoma City, striking out nine in five scoreless innings, working around four singles and a walk.
In his last
seven outings, Ferris has a 28.5-percent strikeout rate and 8.9-percent walk rate to go with his 5.30 ERA, compared to 17 percent, 14.6 percent, and 7.87 in his first 12 outings through the end of June.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Ryan Ward hit a two-run home run in the Comets win over the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies).
Ferris wasn’t the only stellar pitcher on Sunday for Oklahoma City. Bobby Miller followed with three scoreless innings and three strikeouts, and fellow rehabber Ben Casparius pitched a scoreless ninth to finish out the win.
Double-A Tulsa
Patrick Copen struck out 10 in 6 2/3 innings in the Drillers’ win over the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners). Copen allowed only one run on five hits and a walk.
Josue De Paula homered, as did Joe Vetrano (for a third straight game) and Jake Gelof.
High-A Great Lakes
Tyler Gough pitched the first six innings scoreless but the South Bend Cubs scored seven runs over the final three innings to take the series finale.
Gough struck out six in his six-plus innings. He began the seventh inning as well — Gough’s first time pitching into the seventh inning in three years as a professional — but allowed a double and walk to end his day. Both runners scored after he left.
Designated hitter Jose Meza doubled, singled, walked, and drove in a pair of runs for Great Lakes.
Class-A Ontario
The Tower Buzzers scored a whopping nine runs in the ninth inning to stun the the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Angels).
Caleb Johnson, the Dodgers’ 13th-round draft pick in July, hit a grand slam in the ninth for his first professional home run. Catcher Conner O’Neal homered earlier, in the seventh inning.
Jecsua Liborius struck out four in two scoreless innings to earn and close out the win.
Sunday scores
- Oklahoma City 5, Albuquerque 0
- Tulsa 6, Arkansas 1
- South Bend 7, Great Lakes 4
- Ontario 10, Rancho Cucamonga 5
The week ahead
- Oklahoma City at Sugar Land (Astros)
- Tulsa vs. Amarillo (Diamondbacks)
- Great Lakes at Fort Wayne (Padres)
- Ontario vs. Inland Empire (Mariners)
This week provides a fun quirk of minor league scheduling in the Midwest League. Great Lakes had their home game against Fort Wayne on August 2 suspended by rain after the fourth inning, with the TinCaps leading 6-2. On Tuesday, before the six-game series at Fort Wayne begins, the two teams will complete that game from over two weeks ago, with the Loons as the home team for that one game only.
