Sunday was a big night for Dodgers minor league arms, with Jackson Ferris stealing the spotlight in Oklahoma City and a couple of affiliates finding offense late.
Ferris turned in his best start of the season for Triple-A Oklahoma City, punching out nine over five scoreless innings while allowing four singles and a walk. For a pitcher who’s had a rough run through much of 2025, it was a sharp reset. In his last seven outings, Ferris has posted a 28.5-percent strikeout rate and 8.9-percent walk rate with a 5.30 ERA, a clear step up from the 17 percent, 14.6 percent, and 7.87 he carried through his first 12 appearances before the end of June.
The Comets backed him with offense and more clean work on the mound. Ryan Ward launched a two-run homer in the win over the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies), while Bobby Miller followed Ferris with three scoreless innings and three strikeouts. Ben Casparius, also on rehab, finished things off with a scoreless ninth.
Double-A Tulsa got a strong outing of its own from Patrick Copen, who struck out 10 across 6 2/3 innings in a win over the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners). Copen gave up just one run on five hits and a walk. The Drillers also got the bats going, with Josue De Paula homering alongside Joe Vetrano - who went deep for a third straight game - and Jake Gelof.
At High-A Great Lakes, Tyler Gough was cruising for six innings before things unraveled late in a loss to South Bend. Gough kept the Cubs off the board through six and struck out six in 6-plus innings, then started the seventh for the first time in three years as a professional.
He gave up a double and a walk to end his outing, and both runners came around to score after he exited. Jose Meza did his part offensively for Great Lakes, doubling, singling, walking, and driving in two runs.
The wildest finish came at Class-A Ontario, where the Tower Buzzers erupted for nine runs in the ninth to stun the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Angels). Caleb Johnson, the Dodgers’ 13th-round draft pick in July, smashed a grand slam for his first professional home run.
Catcher Conner O’Neal also homered, doing so in the seventh. Jecsua Liborius closed it out with two scoreless innings and four strikeouts to earn the win.
Looking ahead, Oklahoma City heads to Sugar Land (Astros), Tulsa hosts Amarillo (Diamondbacks), Great Lakes goes to Fort Wayne (Padres), and Ontario takes on Inland Empire (Mariners). There’s also a Midwest League oddity on tap: Great Lakes will complete a rain-suspended game against Fort Wayne from August 2 on Tuesday before the six-game series begins, with the Loons serving as the home team for that one game only.
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