OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - August 23, 2024

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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - August 23, 2024

August 23, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (15-33/46-77)

at Oklahoma City Baseball Club (24-24/64-59)

Game #124 of 150/Second Half #49 of 75/Home #61 of 75

Pitching Probables: ELP-RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (1-2, 4.76) vs. OKC-RHP Jon Duplantier (1-0, 1.59)

Friday, August 23, 2024 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv, Bally Live

Today's Game : The Oklahoma City Baseball Club has a 3-0 lead in its home series against the El Paso Chihuahuas and tries for a seventh consecutive win overall tonight when the series continues at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC has won six straight games for the team's longest winning streak of the season and OKC will be looking to extend that streak to the team's longest since May 9-19, 2023 when OKC won a season-high 10 consecutive games last season...Tonight the OKC Baseball Club partners with MidFirst Bank to "Pack the Park Pink" to benefit Susan G. Komen Oklahoma. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and the team will take the field in commemorative pink jerseys and hats. The evening culminates with a pink fireworks show, presented by MidFirst Bank.

Last Game : Drew Avans lined a RBI single into center field with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure a 2-1 walk-off win for the Oklahoma City Baseball Club against the El Paso Chihuahuas Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma City took the first lead of the night on a sacrifice fly by Andre Lipcius in the third inning. El Paso tied the score in the fifth inning on a solo home run by Eguy Rosario. In the ninth inning with one out, Alan Trejo grounded a single into center field and advanced to second base on a balk. Austin Gauthier then drew a walk to put runners at first and second base before Avans connected on the third pitch of his at-bat to drive in Trejo to score the game-winning run.

Today's Probable Pitcher : Jon Duplantier (1-0) is scheduled to make his second appearance of the season with OKC...He most recently started Aug. 16 in Las Vegas, making his first appearance with OKC since the 2022 season. He delivered 5.2 strong innings, allowing one run and two hits, with four walks and three strikeouts. Duplantier's only run and both hits occurred in the second inning, and he retired 10 of his final 13 batters faced to earn the win during the team's 10-4 victory...Duplantier signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a minor league free agent Aug. 8 after a stint in independent ball. After signing, he pitched for Double-A Tulsa, starting Aug. 10 at Arkansas and pitching 5.0 innings, allowing two earned runs and six hits with five K's and one walk in a no decision...He made 16 relief appearances with Triple-A Syracuse earlier this season, and after being released in June, made four starts with the Lake Country DockHounds of the American Association. He allowed one unearned run in 18.0 innings with six hits, six walks and 30 strikeouts...Duplantier signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets in February after spending 2023 in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. His only game action of 2023 came as part of a rehab assignment with High-A Jersey Shore before being released in June...Duplantier spent the 2022 season with OKC, making 34 appearances (14 starts) and posting a 5-3 record and 4.80 ERA over 93.2 IP with 109 strikeouts against 57 walks. He moved into a starting role with OKC in June after his first 18 appearances came out of the bullpen and finished second on the team in innings pitched and strikeouts...Duplantier was originally selected by Arizona in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Rice University.

Against the Chihuahuas : 2024: 8-7 2023: 9-9 All-time: 58-49 At OKC: 28-19

Oklahoma City and El Paso are playing their third and final series of the season and second of 2024 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. All 18 scheduled meetings between the teams are taking place during the second half of the season within a span of 39 games...El Paso won the most recent series between the teams July 30-Aug. 4 at Southwest University Park, 4-2. The Chihuahuas scored six or more runs in each game and held OKC to three runs or less in four of the six games. OKC's two wins were by a combined three runs while the Chihuahuas won each of their four games by at least four runs (+22 total)...OKC split a six-game series against the Chihuahuas July 9-14 with OKC winning three of the final four games of the series including a 5-4 walk-off win in 11 innings in the series finale...Entering this series, the Chihuahuas had won only two more games than OKC in the season series, but owned a +30 run differential at 79-49...Through the first 12 meetings of the season between the teams, Austin Gauthier led OKC with 13 hits, while Kody Hoese had 10 RBI and four homers to lead OKC...OKC and El Paso split their 2023 season series, 9-9, and OKC has won just one season series between the teams since 2015, going 1-2-2 in season series over the last five seasons. OKC's lone series win against the Chihuahuas during the span came during the 2021 season when OKC went 14-9...Each team scored 115 runs in the 2023 season series and the Chihuahuas had a slight, 27-26, edge in homers last season with the teams going 3-3 in OKC and 6-6 in El Paso...OKC went 3-3 against the Chihuahuas in OKC last season and went 15-11 against El Paso at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark from 2021-23. So far this season, OKC has won six of the first nine games between the teams in OKC.

Back to School Bump : OKC owns a season-best six-game winning streak and the team's first since winning six games in a row July 22-28, 2023. During this current streak, OKC has outscored opponents, 41-18...OKC is now 9-1 in the last 10 games and 12-4 in the last 16 games following a 15-28 stretch from June 12-Aug. 3. Among PCL teams, OKC's 12-4 record since Aug. 4 is tied with Tacoma for the league's best...OKC's overall record improved to 64-59 with last night's win as the team is now five games above .500 for the first time since following a June 26 loss (41-36). OKC last held a record six games above .500 following a June 25 win (41-35)...OKC is 3-0 in the current series, marking the third time this season OKC won the first three games of a series, but first time against a team other than Albuquerque. OKC has two 4-0 starts to series this season - May 28-31 in Albuquerque and April 23-26 in Albuquerque...OKC won its last series in Las Vegas, 5-1, taking five of six games of a series for the first time since May 28-June 2 in Albuquerque. It was the third time overall this season OKC finished a series with five wins as OKC also won five of six games April 2-7 against Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The series in Las Vegas also marked OKC's first series win in a six-game set since that May 28-June 2 series in Albuquerque as OKC had lost or split eight straight six-game series (0-3-5) and lost or split nine of the last 11 series overall (1-5-5) also winning a three-game series in Las Vegas July 1-3.

Photo Finish : OKC's walk-off win Thursday was the team's seventh of the season and first since July 28 against Tacoma when OKC won, 5-4. Four of OKC's walk-off wins in 2024 have now occurred during the second half of the season...Last night was OKC's first last at-bat victory since a 7-6 win in 10 innings in El Paso July 31 and the team's 10th last at-bat win of the season overall...Last night was OKC's 31st one-run game of the season and 58th game of the season for OKC decided by two runs or less. OKC's 58 games decided by two runs or less are second-most in the PCL behind Sugar Land's 61. OKC is now 14-17 in one-run games, including 5-5 in the second half of the season.

Three of a Kind : OKC won a game for the fourth time this season when scoring three runs or less last night, but Thursday was the team's first win this season when scoring two runs or less, as OKC had been 0-31 this season scoring two or less runs and had lost 33 consecutive games when being held to two runs or less going back to last season. OKC won six games in 2023 when scoring two runs or less, last occurring Sept. 9 in a 2-1 win at Sugar Land...OKC is now 4-38 when scoring three runs or less this season. Three of those wins have come during the second half of the season and two have happened this month, including a 3-0 win against Round Rock Aug. 11 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Mound Matters : Four OKC pitchers held El Paso to one run and three hits. The one run allowed marked the fewest runs allowed by OKC since a 3-0 win Aug. 11 against Round Rock at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. It was also the fewest hits allowed in a game since May 11 at Sugar Land during a 3-1 defeat, as the Space Cowboys were also limited to three hits. OKC has now allowed three runs or less in four straight games, allowing a total of nine runs. OKC last held opponents to three runs or less in four straight games as part of a five-game stretch June 29-July 3, 2023 in Sugar Land (10 R)...OKC has also held opponents to three runs or less in eight of the last 15 games. Since Aug. 6, OKC's 3.69 ERA is lowest in the PCL, while the team's 55 earned runs during the stretch are tied with Sugar Land for the fewest allowed and OKC's 63 total runs allowed during the stretch are second fewest behind Sugar Land's 60 runs allowed.

Climbing Up the Charts : Drew Avans went 2-for-4 with a walk and game-winning RBI last night. His walk-off hit was his first in four seasons with OKC, but it was the second time this season he was involved in a game-winning play as he scored the game-winning run for OKC on a wild pitch in the 11th inning June 19 against Albuquerque...The multi-hit outing was his 35th of the season and Avans is now 16 hits away from tying Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) as the Bricktown-era career leader in hits (448)...Throughout this season, Avans has established new Bricktown-era career records for runs scored (330), walks (253) and triples (26). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 449 career games, 432 hits and 113 stolen bases, while ranking third in doubles (80). Dransfeldt is the Bricktown-era leader in both games (502) and hits (448). Avans is also 12 hits away from matching his career season-high mark of 129 hits achieved last season...Avans leads the PCL with 90 runs scored this season, while ranking second with 72 walks and tied for second with eight triples. His 117 hits and 31 stolen bases are both tied for sixth in the league.

Rush Hour : Dalton Rushing was held 0-for-2 last night to snap his seven-game hitting streak (10x27), but he drew two walks and has reached base safely in each of his first 15 Triple-A games. He owns the longest active on-base streak by an OKC player and is slashing .300/.446/.500 since his promotion to OKC early this month...Rushing is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Dodgers organization by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline while being ranked No. 36 overall by the former and No. 39 by the latter.

Dinger Details : OKC's stretch of nine straight games with a home run came to an end Thursday. OKC hit 19 homers during the stretch - the team's second-longest of the season, as OKC homered in a season-best 11 straight games May 28-June 8. Since Aug. 11 when the streak began, OKC's 19 homers are most in the PCL by four (Tacoma - 15)...On the other hand, El Paso has now homered in back-to-back games, but OKC has allowed just three home runs over the last five games - all solo homers. OKC has allowed 18 homers through 19 games this month - third-fewest in the PCL in August. OKC has allowed a Triple-A-low 113 home runs overall this season.

Around the Horn : Austin Gauthier went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored a run as he has hit safely in four straight games, going 5-for-13...Alan Trejo also extended his hitting streak to four games and scored the game-winning run last night. He is 5-for-17 during the four-game streak...Kody Hoese is slashing .380/.466/.740 over 17 games in August. He leads OKC with 19 hits, 37 total bases, nine extra-base hits and 14 RBI this month. HIs .740 SLG leads the PCL and his 1.206 OPS is second in the league this month...Ryan Ward leads the PCL with 29 homers, while ranking second in SLG (.577) and extra-base hits (57). He has collected 10 RBI over his last six games.

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