Nico Perez picked a good night to make power look easy.
The Great Lakes second baseman turned in the biggest swing of the day in the Dodgers’ minors, blasting two two-run homers and driving in four as the Loons erased an early three-run hole to top the Cubs, 6-3, in a matchup of first-place teams. Perez entered the game with just 13 home runs in 159 minor league games, so a second two-homer performance this season stands out even more.
At Triple-A Oklahoma City, the Comets let an early lead slip away in a 13-7 loss to the Rangers. Bobby Miller, in his second appearance back from injury, gave up three runs and struck out one over a couple of innings. Ryder Ryan took the loss after allowing two more runs, and Griff McGarry was charged with five runs without recording an out to finish off the rough outing.
Ronan Kopp was the one bright spot on the mound for Oklahoma City, working around three baserunners to get through a scoreless inning. Offensively, the Comets got homers from Hyeseong Kim, Alex Freeland, and Zach Ehrhard, but the pitching staff couldn’t protect the seven-run effort. Ehrhard, who had nine homers in June, had gone 17 games without going deep before this one.
Tulsa’s night was wild in a different way. The Drillers out-homered the Travelers 3-0, but all three blasts were solo shots, so they still needed extra innings to finish off a one-run win. Taylor Young, Joe Veltrano, and Eljah Hainline each went deep, even though the trio has combined for only 20 homers this season.
The Travelers stormed back with a four-run rally in the eighth to tie the game at seven, setting up Hainline’s walk-off in extras. His force-out on a bouncing ball down the third base line brought home the winner and left no chance for a play at the plate.
In Single-A Ontario, starter Cam Leiter gave the Tower Buzzers three scoreless innings, but the bullpen couldn’t hold up its end in a 5-1 loss. Josehp Marte and Javier Bartolazzi each surrendered home runs, and the offense never really answered, even with three Quakes errors in the game.
The only Ontario run came from Francisco Espinoza, who continued to pile up singles. The catcher has 22 hits in 20 games for Ontario, and 19 of them have been singles. Earlier, Joendry Vargas had tripled for his sixth of the season but was left stranded at third in the first inning.
Eduardo Quintero kept running in High-A, swiping two more bags in a 2-for-4 night. He’s now up to 39 stolen bases on the season and has been caught just six times. Mairo Martinus, recently promoted to Great Lakes, was one of four Loons with multiple hits and also drove in a run.
The Dodgers also made one roster move, optioning left-handed pitcher Charlie Barnes to the Oklahoma City Comets.
In Other News...
Dodgers Quietly Made A Roster Move As October Focus Starts Showing
The Dodgers have quietly started doing the kind of roster housekeeping that comes with an organization already thinking a step ahead. Five minor league players were released to open space for the clubs 2026 draft class, a small but telling move that speaks to how Los Angeles keeps one eye on the present and another on the pipeline. For a team built to contend deep into October, these are the behind-the-scenes decisions that rarely draw much attention outside the front office, even though they help shape what comes next.
At the same time, the rotation continues to settle into the spotlight in a place where every outing feels a little bigger. Tarik Skubal recently spoke about being more nervous than usual in his Dodger Stadium home debut, a start in which he went five innings and struck out six in a win. For the Dodgers, that mix of roster churn and postseason-adjacent pressure is part of the late-season backdrop now, with the bigger picture still taking shape in plain sight. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Glasnow Has More Than One Reason This Return Feels Different
Tyler Glasnows return has been creeping closer for weeks, and the Dodgers can feel the rotation help coming. Since going down with a lower back injury in early May and landing on the 60-day injured list, he has been working through a rehab assignment that has him nearing a return, which is welcome timing for a club that has had to keep piecing things together while waiting for one of its bigger arms to get back on the mound.
The comeback has also taken on a more personal tone for Glasnow, who is dealing with more than just the baseball side of the rehab process. Along with the ramp-up toward rejoining the Dodgers, he and his wife Meghan Murphy are preparing for their first child, adding a separate layer of significance to a stretch that already feels different than a routine injury return. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Roberts Sent The Message Dodgers Fans Needed To Hear
After a rough loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Freddie Freeman offered a steadying voice for a Dodgers club that has had to answer a few too many questions lately. In the middle of a stretch where the offense has not always looked like itself, the message from inside the clubhouse was less about panic and more about belief, with Freeman pointing to the talent still in place and the expectation that the group will sort itself out.
Dave Roberts followed with the part fans usually want to hear most when the results have been uneven: the Dodgers need to move with urgency and get better. There was a quick response on the field, too, as Los Angeles beat Arizona in the next game and showed signs of more life at the plate, a small but meaningful step for a team trying to stabilize its rhythm before the next skid has a chance to linger. [Read more 🡒]