All four Dodgers minor league affiliates won on Saturday, with offense driving the show.
Player of the day
Zyhir Hope hit a pair of two-run home runs in Tulsa’s win, giving him three home runs over the last two days.
It’s the third career two-homer game for Hope, who this week in MLB Pipeline’s updated top-100 list was ranked as the No. 20 prospect in the sport, up from 27th in January. Hope also homered
twice on April 7, 2024 for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and April 18, 2025 for High-A Great Lakes.
This was Hope’s first career multi-homer game while wearing a Ranch Dippers jersey.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Chuckie Robinson was one of many Comets feasting offensively in a blowout of the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies). The catcher had a career day with five hits and six RBI, including two doubles and a home run.
Games in Albuquerque sometimes feel like a different sport, with early Coors Field levels of high-scoring games at high elevation. After losing the first two games of the series, Oklahoma City scored 59 runs in winning the final four games. The Comets were 7-5 in Isotopes Park this season, with a composite score of 102-87 over the dozen contests.
Noah Miller homered twice. Alex Freeland tripled twice after hitting three home runs in his previous two games. James Tibbs III reached base five times with two doubles, two walks, a single, four RBI, and four runs scored.
Offense was so prevalent early that Kiké Hernández only needed to play four innings at second base before he got his four at-bats in. He doubled on Sunday in his eighth rehab game for the Comets.
Double-A Tulsa
Two four-run innings provided more than enough in the Drillers’ win over the Springfield Cardinals.
Hope drove in four of Tulsa’s nine total runs. First baseman Joe Vetrano doubled and drove in two. So did third baseman Kyle Nevin, who drove in seven runs over the final four games of the series.
Roque Gutierrez pitched five scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and allowed only one single and one walk.
High-A Great Lakes
Loons pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts in blanking the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers). It’s the third shutout of the season for Great Lakes, along with April 14 vs. Dayton and April 24 at Beloit.
Brooks Auger missed the first three weeks of the season with a groin strain, but had been lights out ever since, including six strikeouts in four scoreless innings on Sunday. Auger allowed only a walk and single on Sunday, and in four games since getting activated has allowed only one run in 11 2/3 innings, with 20 strikeouts against only three walks. Auger’s 37.8-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate is tops in the Dodgers minors among pitchers with at least 10 innings.
Jacob Frost followed Auger on the mound struck out seven in his 3 2/3 innings, and allowed two walks and one single. Right-hander Nicolas Cruz got the final four outs for his first save of the season.
Left fielder Jose Meza had three hits, including a home run, and scored two of the Loons’ four runs.
Class-A Ontario
The left side of the Tower Buzzers infield did most of the heavy lifting in a win over the San Jose Giants. Emil Morales, playing third base, had three hits, including a home run. Joendry Vargas at shortstop also had three hits, including a double, and stole a base. Those two combined for four RBI and three runs scored.
For Morales, Sunday was a nice send off, as he’s reportedly getting promoted to High-A Great Lakes.
First baseman Easton Shelton also homered for Ontario.
Mason Estrada, last year’s seventh-round draft pick out of MIT, has been very wild to start his career, with a 24.2-percent walk rate through his first seven games. But he’s been improving, including four scoreless innings on Sunday with four strikeouts. Over his last three outings, the 6-foot right-hander has allowed one run in 11 innings, and over his last two starts has four walks and 10 strikeouts, compared to 22 walks and 12 strikeouts in his first five games.
Transactions
Triple-A: Relievers Chayce McDermott and Paul Gervase were called up to the Dodgers, and left-hander Charlie Barnes was optioned back to Oklahoma City.
Sunday scores
- Oklahoma City 20, Albuquerque 8
- Tulsa 9, Springfield 3
- Great Lakes 4, West Michigan 0
- Ontario 11, San Jose 5
The week ahead
- Oklahoma City vs. Reno (D-backs)
- Tulsa at Wichita (Twins)
- Great Lakes vs. Wisconsin (Brewers)
- Ontario at Inland Empire (Mariners)
