Copen leads Tulsa to fifth straight win

Double-A Tulsa

A unique 6-1 win for the Drillers, in which the best hitters finished it with only one at-bat—Josue De Paula came up to the plate five times and recorded one hit. What did he do the other four times? Walk, walk, walk, and another walk. As neither side recorded an extra-base hit, the Drillers took advantage of a three-error inning from their adversaries in the sixth to put up a five-spot, providing Patrick Copen with the run support that his outstanding performance deserved. Maddux Bruns, who has had his fair share of struggles this season, tried to make it a bit closer than it needed to be in the eighth, but the left-hander got out of his own mess before it could threaten the Drillers’ lead. Tulsa moved to a 14-4 record, their best one ever through a season’s first 18 games.

High-A Great Lakes

Trailing 8-4 in the ninth inning, the Loons were up against it away from home, but then a little patience (walks from Charles Davalan and Jose Meza) coupled with a bit of power was the winning recipe for a turnaround. The Loons loaded the bases for Nico Perez, who hit a grand slam to tie the score, only his second homer of 2026. That was only part one of the damage in an inning that ended with the Loons scoring a whopping nine runs, sending 15 hitters to the plate. Stealing eight bases the entire game without getting caught once, the Loons found a flaw in their opponent’s defense and exploited it to no end. It contributed largely to this 13-run effort that saw them going seven for 19 with runners in scoring position. Dilan Figueiredo—the only pitcher in this game who completed at least one full inning and finished his performance without allowing a run—was the winning pitcher of record for the Loons, who, apart from the grand slam, really spread out their offense. Every hitter, one through nine, either had at least one RBI or run scored, with seven of them having both.

Class-A Ontario

In an identical fashion to the Drillers’ offensive output, the Tower Buzzers also scored exactly six runs, with one of them in the first and the other five in the top of the sixth inning. The big difference is that, unlike the Drillers, the Tower Buzzers encountered an adversary who was on his game offensively and took this one 9-6. It was a game of poorly timed errors from Ontario, as each one of their three defensive miscues came in plays where the Giants scored a run; one could argue that was the difference maker in a 9-6 loss. Joendry Vargas was the standout hitter for the Tower Buzzers, hitting a solo shot in the first and then clearing the bases with a double in the sixth inning.

Transactions

The Tulsa Drillers put catcher Nelson Quiroz on the 7-day IL and activated catcher Frank Rodríguez to replace him. The Oklahoma City Comets placed righty Jordan Weems on the Development List and activated righty Paul Gervase. Lastly, the Great Lakes Loons activated righty Brooks Auger.

Thursday’s scores

• Oklahoma City 1, Tacoma 3
• Frisco 1, Tulsa 6
• Beloit 9, Great Lakes 13
• San Jose 9, Ontario 6

Friday’s schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Brooks Auger) at Beloit (TBD)
• 5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Jackson Ferris) vs. Tacoma (Gabe Mosser)
• 5:05 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Wyatt Crowell) at Frisco (Leandro Lopez)
• 7:00 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at San Jose (Braydon Risley)