It took a while for the Oklahoma City Comets to find their offense, but they did. Alek Thomas hit a three-run double in the 10th inning, giving the Dodgers’ Triple-A team a 5-3 win over the Rochester Red Wings, a Washington Nationals affiliate, on Saturday night in the Triple-A championship game in Las Vegas.
James Tibbs III (108) and Mike Sirota (100) led Dodgers minor leaguers in walks this season, so it’s only right that they walked to open the 10th inning, joining free runner Josue De Paula to load the bases with nobody out against Clayton Beeter, who was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round in 2020.
Thomas then drove a ball 99.5 mph to the wall in left center, clearing the bases for Oklahoma City’s first lead of the game.
Thomas in four games this postseason had a .500 on-base percentage in 21 plate appearances, including two hits and a hit by pitch on Saturday.
Seth Halvorsen inherited two runners on base with one out in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, and escaped the jam, getting the game to extras. Then he got the final three outs in the 10th to close out the win, allowing the free runner to score but nobody else.
Halvorsen, named a Pacific Coast League All-Star earlier on Saturday, struck out Leandro Pineda for the final out, securing Oklahoma City’s win over the International League champs.
The Triple-A championship game has been played since 2006. This is the first time a Dodgers affiliate has won it.
Long road coming
Oklahoma City didn’t score for the first seven innings and were hitless in their first seven at-bat with runners in scoring position, and were down 2-0 entering the eighth inning.
Mike Sirota, playing in just his sixth game in Triple-A, singled home James Tibbs III, who walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Third baseman Ryan Fitzgerald, who led all of the minors in hits this season, struck out in his first three at-bats on Saturday before doubling off the wall in left center in the eighth to bring home Sirota with the tying run.
Zach Ehrhard had three more hits on Saturday to cap a stellar postseason. The outfielder had three doubles and a home run in the three-game Pacific Coast League championship series, and in four postseason games reached base 13 times in 21 trips to the plate, including nine hits in 17 at-bats, with six runs scored and five runs batted in.
Stretching out
Emmet Sheehan didn’t pitch badly, but he was laboring for the first time in his last seven starts between Triple-A and the majors. He didn’t pitch a clean inning until the fifth, and his six hits allowed matched the total for his previous three starts combined, all with the Dodgers and spanning 17 1/3 innings.
Even with all the traffic on base — Sheehan walked three batters and hit another — he still struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings and only allowed two runs. He also threw 90 pitches, keeping Sheehan fully stretched out should the Dodgers need his services at some point in the postseason.
Kyle Hurt, optioned to Triple-A on Wednesday, relieved Sheehan with two runners on and one out, then escaped the sixth inning with a single pitch, inducing a 3-4-1 double play. Hurt added a perfect seventh inning with a strikeout, giving him 1 2/3 scoreless frames on Saturday, after he pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in Thursday’s win over Las Vegas that won the PCL title for Oklahoma City.
Keeping things close
While Oklahoma City took a while for the offense to get going, they did provide some standout plays with the leather, including this diving stab and throw from third base by Fitzgerald in the fifth inning.
Noah Miller continued his excellent play at shortstop with his diving stop up the middle in the seventh.
Saturday particulars
Oklahoma City 5, Rochester 3
Home run: Rochester 1B Liover Peguero
WP — Seth Halvorsen: 1 2/3 IP, 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 1 strikeout
LP — Clayton Beeter: 0 IP, 1 hit, 3 runs (2 earned), 2 walks
That concludes the 2026 minor league baseball season.
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