The Oklahoma City Comets finally got their moment on Sunday, and they needed extra innings to grab it. The Triple-A club won the Triple-A National Championship for the first time in team history, finishing off a 3-2 victory in a game that swung late and ended with a 10th-inning punch.
This title game was part of a format MiLB put in place back in the 2006 season, matching the champions of the two leagues in a single showdown. Oklahoma City had only reached that stage once before this year, falling to the Toledo Mud Hens in 2023.
To get there, the Comets had already taken down the Las Vegas Aviators in a three-game series for the Pacific Coast League crown. That gave them another league title to add to the list that already included 2023, 1996, 1992, 1965 and 1963.
The Dodgers rolled out a heavy lineup for the championship game, starting with right fielder Zach Ehrhard, then left fielder Josue De Paula, first baseman James Tibbs III, designated hitter Mike Sirota and center fielder Alek Thomas. Ryan Fitzgerald hit sixth, followed by shortstop Noah Miller, second baseman Hyeseong Kim and catcher Bed Rortvedt.
Emmet Sheehan got the start and ran into trouble early. He surrendered an RBI single in the first inning to put Oklahoma City behind 1-0, then gave up a homer in the second to make it 2-0.
Even with that rough opening, Sheehan settled in and gave the Dodgers a chance. He finished with 5.1 innings, seven strikeouts and only the two earned runs.
The Comets’ bats stayed quiet for most of the night, but the eighth inning changed everything. Sirota got Oklahoma City on the board with an RBI single, and Fitzgerald followed with a double that brought Sirota home and tied the game.
The biggest swing came in the 10th. Thomas came through with the bases loaded and ripped a double that cleared the bags for three runs. Seth Halvorsen then came back out after a strong two-out showing in the ninth, allowed one run in the bottom of the 10th and still closed the door to secure the championship.
Most of the Comets will now head into the offseason, but a few remain in line for postseason consideration. De Paula and Sheehan are both likely candidates to make the team, while bullpen options Kyle Hurt, Paul Gervase and Halvorsen are also fighting for spots in October.
The Dodgers still have one more game left in the season before getting five days of rest ahead of the NLDS. Their final game is set for Sunday at 12:05 p.m. PT, and the team will make its selections shortly before that.
In Other News...
Dodgers Await An NLDS Opponent That Could Change Everything
The Dodgers will begin the postseason at home on Oct. 3 as the No. 2 seed in the National League Division Series, but their path to that date now runs through a wild card round that could reshape the bracket. Philadelphia locked up the final wild card spot as the No. 6 seed and now heads to Truist Park for a best-of-three series against the No. 3 Braves, with the winner set to help determine the matchup that awaits Los Angeles.
For the Dodgers, the immediate intrigue is less about their own schedule than about which version of October they might be handed after Atlanta and Philadelphia sort things out. The two clubs enter with regular-season history against both the Braves and each other, and the broadcast setup for the wild card games only adds to the sense that this part of the bracket is the one worth tracking most closely from Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]
Miguel Rojas Had An Emotional Message Dodgers Fans Need To Hear
Miguel Rojas is already thinking about life after baseball, even as he heads into what he expects will be his final season in 2026. The Dodgers infielder reflected emotionally on the stretch run of a 13-year MLB career, saying he wants to spend more time with his family once the playing days are over, which gives his next chapter a different kind of weight for a player who has long been valued for his steadiness and voice in the clubhouse.
For the Dodgers, the story does not end when Rojas hangs up his cleats. The club has offered him a player development role after retirement, and Dave Roberts has gone a step further in seeing future leadership potential, believing Rojas could one day manage in the big leagues. For now, though, the focus is on a farewell season that clearly means a lot to him and, by extension, to a team that has leaned on his experience for years. [Read more 🡒]
Yasiel Puig Just Revived A Dodgers Rivalry Fans Will Never Forget
Yasiel Puig has a knack for stirring up old memories in Los Angeles, and his latest Instagram post did exactly that. The former Dodgers outfielder shared a viral AI-generated video of himself and Madison Bumgarner dancing and rapping to a popular song, a surreal bit of internet theater that instantly brought back one of the more combustible rivalries from Puigs time in Dodger blue.
The video leans directly into the history between the two, pointing back to the on-field incidents that made every meeting feel like it carried extra heat. Puigs path since leaving the Dodgers has taken him through several other teams, but the reaction to this clip shows how deeply those matchups still live in the minds of fans who remember when every Dodgers-Giants chapter seemed to come with a little more edge. [Read more 🡒]