Josue De Paula blasted his 16th homer of the season, a clutch two-run shot in the ninth, to push the Tulsa Drillers to a narrow win and solidify his status as Player of the Day. This kid is absolutely locked in, and frankly, he faced zero competition for the honors after that go-ahead dinger.
De Paula is Dominating Double-A Like It’s a Video Game
We’ve gotta talk about Josue De Paula, because this dude is on another level. This was his 16th homer on the year, and his first since lighting up July with a two-homer game. That’s not just a good stretch, that’s sustained power! The Dodgers’ No. 1 prospect is not just hitting, he’s obliterating opposing pitchers, rocking a .970 OPS. And check this out: he’s got more walks (53) than strikeouts (52). That kind of plate discipline in Double-A? That’s the stuff legends are made of. When you see a guy like this, who can hit for power and still show that kind of patience, you know he’s special.
Drillers Grinded It Out, Comets Hit a Wall
The Drillers didn’t exactly rack up base runners, only 13 to the RoughRiders’ 18, but they still found a way to win. They started hot with three runs in the first, then powered through the ninth with De Paula’s heroics for two more, with just one run in between. It wasn’t drama-free though. Reliever Christian Suarez coughed up a one-run lead in the eighth and ran into more trouble in the ninth. Antonio Knowles got those last two outs to secure the win. Mike Sirota, even without a hit, was huge, driving in two runners from third with fewer than two outs. Kyle Nevin had a solid 3-for-4 day but only managed one RBI and didn’t score a run himself. The Oklahoma City Comets had a brutal one-run defeat, plagued by two costly errors while their opponent had none. Patrick Wisdom and Lazaro Montes both launched homers off OKC’s starter Christian Romero, scoring three runs in five innings. The Comets briefly clawed back with back-to-back shots from Hyeseong Kim and Ryan Fitzgerald in the seventh, only to watch Ryder Ryan surrender two runs in the bottom of that frame, one of them unearned. Leadoff hitter Alek Thomas joined Kim with three hits each, combining for two-thirds of the Comets’ total hits. Zach Ehrhard picked up three of the team’s four strikeouts, but it just wasn’t enough.
Other games saw postponements, with the Loons vs. Whitecaps called off, and Great Lakes vs. West Michigan setting up a Saturday doubleheader. For now, though, the real show is Josue De Paula. He’s absolutely crushing it, and you gotta wonder just how long he stays in Double-A with numbers like these.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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