Miller has frustrating start, Sirota promoted to High-A

Dalton Rushing and Ryan Ward continue to bash. Here’s a recap of Tuesday in the Dodgers minor leagues

In Dodgers minor league play, Bobby Miller endured another frustrating start, while Rancho Cucamonga scored a team-record 25 runs.

Player of the day

Patrick Copen pitched a seven-inning gem for the Great Lakes Loons, striking out seven, and giving up one run, three hits, and no walks. After seven starts, the 23-year-old Copen is showing dramatic improvement over last year.

Copen 2024 High-A, 38 innings, 36 hits, 38 strikeouts

Copen 2025 High-A, 33 innings, 15 hits, 52 strikeouts

While his strikeout totals and 2.48 ERA are impressive, Copen will need to reduce his walks, which at 24 in 33 innings are too high.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Comets defeated the Round Rock Express (Rangers) 8-5 on Tuesday. Bobby Miller started for the Comets, looking to get himself on track from struggles that extend back to last year. He pitched a spotless first inning and retired the first two batters in the second inning on seven pitches. Unfortunately, it would take him a whopping 38 pitches to get the third out, a walk, a homer, a double, and a single plated three runs for the Express, and ended Miller’s day with another frustrating meltdown.

It took the Comets exactly three batters to get the three runs back. A walk to Esteury Ruiz, a double by Alex Freeland, and a home run by Dalton Rushing tied the score. Two pitches later, Ryan Ward launched a curveball 417 feet for a 4-3 lead,

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And the Comets weren’t finished. Ruiz, leading off and playing centerfield, came up again and knocked in two runs with a double, making it a six-run inning. The Comets would add two more runs in the fourth, and five relievers would make the lead hold up.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers lost to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 10-8 in eleven innings. Drillers second baseman Taylor Young hit a three-run homer in the second, giving Tulsa a 5-1 lead. Chris Campos pitched five innings, giving up just two runs. But the Naturals began to hack away at the lead, and were able to tie the game in the ninth on a walk, a stolen base, and a single. Both teams scored three runs in the tenth inning. Taylor Young got the clutch hit, a two-out double that tied the score again. Two unanswered runs in the eleventh inning sealed the fate of the Drillers.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons defeated the Lake County Captains (Indians) 3-1. Patrick Copen pitched seven innings and got credit for the win. Mike Sirota, in his first game in High-A after getting promoted from the California League, went three-for-three with a walk.

Josue De Paula added two hits, which lifted his batting average above .300. The game-winning hit was a two-run homer by Joe Vetrano in the fourth inning.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The game at Rancho Cucamonga went out of control as the Quakes added thirteen runs in the eighth inning on top of what was already a 12-7 lead, and won 25-8. Mairoshendrick Martinus had five RBIs, Samuel Munoz had four hits, and the fast-rising Eduardo Quintero had three hits, including a double and a home run. Christian Zazueta pitched five innings, and it was threes wild, giving up three hits, three runs, three homers, three strikeouts, and leaving him with three wins and a 3.03 ERA.

Tuesday scores

• Oklahoma City 8, Round Rock 5
• Northwest Arkansas 10, Tulsa 8
• Great Lakes 3, Lake County 1
• Rancho Cucamonga 25, Inland Empire 8

Wednesday schedule

• Northwest Arkansas (Ben Kudrna) at Tulsa (Jared Karros), 9:00 AM PST
• Lake County (Josh Hartle) at Great Lakes (Wyatt Crowell), 3:05 PM PST
• Oklahoma City (Justin Jarvis) at Round Rock (Adrian Houser), 5:05 PM PST
• Inland Empire (Yeferson Vargas) at Rancho Cucamonga (Sterling Patick), 6:30 PM PST