Emmet Sheehan is back in a groove

Winning all four of their games by a combined difference of 19 runs, the Dodgers minor league affiliates enjoyed themselves on Wednesday.

Player of the day

Setting aside the frustrating feelings of a demotion that felt inevitable given his continued struggles, Emmet Sheehan vastly improved on his previous outing in Triple-A, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings to help the Comets to a 6-0 win.

While Sheehan can’t control when he’ll get his next chance back in the bigs, he can control his preparation for that moment, which will feel a lot better with more outings like this one.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Emmet Sheehan we had been seeing at the Major League level was nowhere to be found, as the right-hander early handled the Isotopes in a shutout win for the Comets. Sheehan was removed on 97 pitches with two outs in the third, punching out eight and handing it off to a bullpen that saw Ben Casparius earn one of two holds.

Scoring one run in each of the first three innings, the Comets reserved their big inning for the eighth when Ryan Ward left the yard for the 15th time in Triple-A this season, hitting a three-run bomb. Responsible for the game’s opening RBI in the bottom of the first, James Tibbs III is up to 84 in what has been an outstanding season in Triple-A.

Double-A Tulsa

Between the fifth and sixth innings, the Travelers and Drillers combined to score 12 times. While the Drillers weren’t able to withstand the Travelers’ initial comeback effort, they did get the last laugh, flipping the script one more time to win it 8-7 thanks to RBI singles from Mike Sirota and Logan Wagner.

This was a milestone win for the Drillers, reaching 70 in just 110 games this year, good for first place in its division. While he didn’t secure any RBI with the bottom of the order held quiet, second baseman Taylor Young led the team with three hits and two runs scored.

Shutting things down after every pitcher before him struggled, including starter Adam Serwinowski and relievers Evan Shaw and Christin Suarez, Cam Day provided some stability late and earned the save with two scoreless frames.

High-A Great Lakes

Rarely does one see a five-RBI game that comes without a run scored like the performance Eduardo Guerrero had as the Loons blew out the Cubs. Guerrero was responsible for five of the team’s 11 RBI, including also a rare bases-loaded three-run single.

Eduardo Quintero reached safely in all four of his plate appearances with a pair of hits and a couple of walks before getting pinch-hit for late in this one. Second baseman Nico Perez followed up on his outstanding performance the day before with a three-RBI game.

Single-A Ontario

The 5-1 scoreline doesn’t reflect how tight this game was from nearly start to finish. Until the top of the ninth, the Tower Buzzers’ lead was only one run, when the top of the order finally showed up as Kellon Lindsey and Joendry Vargas each contributed an RBI.

Remaining on the top of the order theme, Brendan Tunink’s four-strikeout game batting second is indicative of their struggles in this one. Pitching-wise, it was the Luis show with Luis Carias providing three innings of one-run ball to open up the game, and later on, Luis Gamez pitching in with four scoreless.

Transactions

Right-handed pitcher Payton Martin and outfielder Chris Newell were placed on the IL by the Tulsa Drillers. With Landon Knack being promoted to the big league club, Seth Halvorsen was sent down to the Comets, who also released catcher Chuckie Robinson. Lastly, the Tower Buzzers placed righty Will Gagnon on the IL.

Wednesday’s scores

• Oklahoma City 6, Albuquerque 0
• Tulsa 9, Arkansas 8
• Great Lakes 11, South Bend 3
• Rancho Cucamonga 1, Ontario 5

Thursday’s schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Sean Patick) vs. South Bend (Nazier Mulé)
• 4:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Gavin Stone) vs. Albuquerque (Keegan Thompson)
• 5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Zach Root) vs. Arkansas (Nico Tellache)
• 6:30 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at Rancho Cucamonga (Derek Clark)