Top prospects Josue De Paula, Zyhir Hope, Emil Morales shine Friday

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Comets added three runs in the seventh inning and three more in the ninth to pull away from the Round Rock Express (Rangers).

Jack Suwinski’s two hits drove in the first two runs for the Comets, with a second-inning double and fourth-inning single. The outfielder has a seven-game hitting streak, including an extra-base hit in each of those seven contests. His last three games have been two-hit affairs.

Suwinski also walked to open up a three-run seventh, during which Oklahoma City benefitted from a no-out fielder’s choice, an error, and a wild pitch by old friend Alexis Díaz.

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Jerming Rosario struck out five in two scoreless innings of relief, but after the Comets widened their lead to 8-1, he was not brought back out for the ninth, robbing us of a potential three-inning save.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers outfield was productive in a win over the San Antonio Missions (Padres). In addition to De Paula, Hope had two hits as well and drove in Tulsa’s first run of the night. Kendall George drove in the go-ahead run by getting hit by a pitch in the seventh, also singled, and scored twice. The outfielders combined for five hits, five RBI, and four runs scored.

After a one of his two blow-up starts this season last Friday, Payton Martin matched his season high with five innings with deuces wild against San Antonio, allowing two runs with two walks and two strikeouts.

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Shortstop Elijah Hainline was hit by a pitch in the right hand in the fourth inning and was examined by a team trainer, but remained in the game and played the rest of the way.

High-A Great Lakes

Great Lakes in April set franchise records for both wins (16) and home runs (28) while averaging 5.92 runs per game, and started off May with a shutout loss to the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals). The game was tight nearly the whole way, 1-0 until Peoria piled on with five runs in the top of the ninth inning. It’s the first time the Loons were shut out in 2026.

Starter Logan Tabeling pitched a career-high six innings, and struck out six with only one walk, and allowed a run on four hits in a tough-luck loss. The 24-year-old right-hander has a 2.37 ERA with a 19.2-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate in his 19 innings this year.

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The Loons had only five hits in the game, including a double and single by center fielder Eduardo Quintero.

Class-A Ontario

Ricardo Montero and Jecsua Liborius combined to allow five runs in a busy seventh inning in Ontario’s home loss to the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres).

Morales homered, tripled, walked, drove in two runs, and scored two. He leads the Tower Buzzers in hits (32), extra-base hits (16), and runs batted in (27) in his 23 games.

Mairo Martinus had a two-run triple. He played right field on Friday, for the fourth time this season, to go with 13 starts at second base and two games in center field. Last year he started games at second, third, shortstop, and all three outfield positions.

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Isaac Ayon struck out four and walked one with one unearned run allowed in his four-inning start.

Transaction

Class-A: Nineteen-year-old catcher Francisco Espinoza joined Ontario from Arizona, filling in for Anson Aroz, the switch-hitter drafted in the 19th round last year out of Oregon who is still active but last played on Sunday.

Friday scores

Saturday schedule

• 3:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Christian Zazueta) vs. Peoria (Nate Dohm)

• 5 p.m.: Tulsa (Wyatt Crowell) vs. San Antonio (Ian Koenig)

• 6:05 p.m.: Ontario (TBA) vs. Lake Elsinore (Tyler Schmitt)