After mounting comebacks to win their respective league titles, the Oklahoma City Comets and Rochester Red Wings square off on Saturday to play for the Triple-A crown.
In the winner-take-all Triple-A National Championship Game — 7:05 p.m. at Las Vegas Ballpark — Oklahoma City will send Emmet Sheehan to the mound, opposing Rochester right-hander Jack Cebert.
Sheehan spent most of the season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 5-8 with a 4.57 ERA at the big league level and 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in four starts for the Comets.
Cebert, whom the Washington Nationals acquired from the New York Yankees in an August trade for Luis García Jr., is the organization’s No. 14 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He’ll be promoted from Double-A Harrisburg prior to the game, and has gone 1-2 with a 4.86 in five games (three starts) with the Red Wings.
Oklahoma City shook off a Game 1 loss to the Las Vegas Aviators and won the next two games, earning the Pacific Coast League title Thursday.
Earlier that night, Rochester scored two runs in the eighth inning for a 3-2 victory over the host Memphis Redbirds and claimed an International League championship — Rochester’s first since 1997.
Prospect-heavy Comets stay hot
Oklahoma City features two of the game’s top prospects — outfielders Josue De Paula (No. 4 overall) and Mike Sirota (No. 16).
After being called up to Los Angeles from Double-A Tulsa earlier this month, De Paula was optioned to Triple-A Wednesday. He walked twice in his Triple-A debut, then went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI in Thursday’s win.
Sirota finished the series 3-for-11 with an RBI and four walks. Comets first baseman James Tibbs III led the PCL with 30 regular season homers, and hit two more against the Aviators.
“It’s just gonna take a total team effort,” Comets manager Scott Hennessey said after Thursday’s win. “Especially in this ballpark, the game’s never over.”
Red Wings flex their power
Rochester finished the regular season tied for third in Triple-A in home runs, and Trey Lipscomb is a big reason why. The 26-year-old third baseman bashed 32 of them for the Red Wings and had the first 30 home run/30 double season for the club since 1949.
That power extends to the pitching staff, too. Jarlin Susana, the No. 65-ranked prospect in baseball, has a fastball that touches 103 mph. Though a starter, reports say that Rochester could use him out of the bullpen on Saturday.
Shortstop Seaver King, MLB Pipeline’s No. 68 prospect, went 4-for-12 against Memphis with a homer and eight total bases.
