OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - August 3, 2024

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Oklahoma City Baseball Club

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - August 3, 2024

August 3, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release


Oklahoma City Baseball Club (12-19/52-54) at El Paso Chihuahuas (12-19/43-63)

Game #107 of 150/Second Half #32 of 75/Road #56 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Ben Casparius (2-2, 3.28) vs. ELP-RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (0-2, 5.25)

Saturday, August, 2024 | Southwest University Park | El Paso, Texas | 7:35 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 continues its road series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 7:35 p.m. CT at Southwest University Park. OKC has lost back-to-back games, is 1-3 over the last four games and is 4-8 in the last 12 games...OKC's overall record fell two games below .500 with last night's loss, to 52-54, matching the team's season-low mark. An OKC team has not been three games below .500 since June 17, 2021 (17-20).

Last Game: In what has become a similar script during the current series, the OKC Baseball Club got off to a good start but could not curb the El Paso Chihuahuas' offense during a 7-2 loss Friday night at Southwest University Park. OKC took the lead in the third inning with a solo home run by Andre Lipcius. However, things started to go south in the fourth inning. El Paso plated four runs, including a three-run homer by Eguy Rosario. Brendon Davis answered with a home run leading off the next inning to cut the deficit to 4-2. Tirso Ornelas delivered a backbreaking swing with two outs and two strikes in the seventh inning, hitting a two-run homer to stretch El Paso's lead to 6-2. Cal Mitchell's RBI single notched the final run of the night for the Chihuahuas. Following Davis' homer, OKC recorded one hit.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ben Casparius (2-2) makes his team-leading 12th start and looks to continue his recent success...Casparius last pitched July 28 against Tacoma at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and two walks with six strikeouts. Casparius retired 14 of 17 batters faced overall and the only hit against him occurred with one out in the fifth inning...Casparius was on the IL June 20-July 13 due to an oblique injury. Since returning to game action, he has made three starts and thrown 11.2 innings, allowing three runs and five hits, with four walks and 18 strikeouts. He's held opponents 5-for-39 and has posted a 0.77 WHIP...He joined OKC May 7, and through 11 starts at Triple-A, Casparius owns a 3.28 ERA over 49.1 innings with 52 strikeouts and opponents are batting just .186...Before his promotion to OKC, he made five starts with Double-A Tulsa, posting a 2-1 record and 3.32 ERA over 21.2 innings pitched with 11 walks and 34 strikeouts. At the time of his promotion, he ranked tied for third in the Texas League in strikeouts, seventh in ERA and eighth in BAA (.217)...Last season, Casparius split the season between High-A Great Lakes and Tulsa and played with the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League...He was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2021 draft out of UConn after starting his collegiate career at the University of North Carolina and played in College World Series with the Tar Heels in 2018...Casparius last faced El Paso July 14 in his first game off the Injured List, tossing 3.0 scoreless and hitless innings while allowing one walk with four strikeouts.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2024: 4-6 2023: 9-9 All-time: 54-48 At ELP: 29-29 Oklahoma City and El Paso are playing their second of three series this season, including their first at Southwest University Park in 2024. All 18 scheduled meetings between the teams are taking place during the second half of the season within a span of 39 games...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...Ryan Ward led OKC with eight hits while Kody Hoese hit two homers and led with six RBI...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...The Chihuahuas won the 2022 season series, 14-13, clinching just their second season series win against OKC since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season and their first against OKC since 2018...OKC went 6-6 at Southwest University Park last season and last finished with a winning record in El Paso during the 2021 season going 8-4.

Peaks and Valleys: Oklahoma City was held to two runs or less for a second straight game as well as for the third time in four games, fourth time in seven games and sixth time in 12 games...OKC is now 5-8 following the All-Star Break. In the team's eight losses, OKC has scored a total of 15 runs, with a maximum of four runs and two or fewer runs in six of the eight defeats. The team has 54 hits and has gone 6-for-63 (.095) with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-6 last night and 1-for-14 over the last two games. In the team's five wins since the break, OKC has scored a total of 39 runs with 57 combined hits and has batted .310 (18x58) with RISP...OKC's 54 runs scored since July 19 are fewest in the PCL. OKC left seven runners on base last night and the team's 117 LOB since the All-Star Break are most in the PCL. OKC's 855 LOB this season overall are most in the Minors...OKC has scored two or fewer runs 28 times this season and is now 0-28. OKC scored two or fewer runs 24 times last year.

Summer Dip: Following an 11-2 win in Sugar Land June 11, OKC's record was 37-27 - tied for the team's best record of the season at 10 games above .500. Since then, OKC is 15-27 and tied with current opponent El Paso for the worst record in the PCL during that time and is one of four Triple-A teams with 15 wins during that stretch - tied for the fewest wins among all 30 teams...Since June 12, OKC's .245 AVG and 191 runs scored are last in the league, while OKC's 355 hits are second-fewest during the span. On the pitching side, OKC's 5.24 ERA is fifth-highest and 236 runs allowed are fifth-most while the team's 384 hits allowed are fourth-fewest out of 10 teams...This is the latest into a season OKC has held a record below .500 since Sept. 5, 2021 (52-53). This is the second time OKC's overall record is two games below .500. OKC was 49-51 after a July 26 loss, marking the first time OKC held a record two games below .500 since Sept. 2, 2021 when the team was 50-52...After putting up a +106 run differential through 64 games, the team owns a -52 run differential over the last 42 games. Eight of the last 11 losses have been by at least four runs, including all six of their losses against El Paso this season.

Lip-Synching: Andre Lipcius hit his 20th home run of the season last night and has now hit safely in six of his last seven games, going 10-for-29, including 5-for-13 over his last three games...He leads OKC with 117 hits over 99 games this season - third-most in the PCL. His 201 total bases are third in the league, while his 42 extra-base hits are tied for fifth, his 68 runs scored are sixth and his 20 homers are tied for sixth...Lipcius' 20 home runs are a career high as he hit his previous career-high of 13 homers over 117 games at three different levels last season. However, last night was just Lipcius' third homer since June 9 and first since July 5, as he hit 17 homers over his first 58 games of the season but just three homers over his last 41 games.

On the Hunt: Hunter Feduccia played in his first game back with Oklahoma City following his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers and drew a walk to extend his career-best on-base streak to 29 games. The on-base streak is the longest of the season by an OKC player, is the longest active streak in the PCL and the fourth-longest on-base streak in the league overall this season. During the streak that started June 6, Feduccia has 27 hits with 17 RBI, 28 walks and 12 runs scored with a .459 OBP...On Wednesday night in San Diego, Feduccia became the sixth OKC player this season to make his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Climbing Up the Charts: Drew Avans picked up a walk last night to extend his on-base streak to 21 games - the fourth-longest active streak in the league and his second of the season of at least 21 games, as he also reached base in 25 straight games May 31-July 1...He has 16 hits and 19 walks during his current on-base streak that started July 4...Avans has 104 hits with OKC in 2024 - second-most on the team - and throughout the season has established new Bricktown-era career records for walks (243) and triples (25). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 433 career games and 110 stolen bases, while ranking second in hits (419) and tied for third in doubles (78). Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) is the Bricktown-era leader in both games (502) and hits (448)...Avans ranks second in the league with 78 runs and 62 walks, third with seven triples, fourth with 28 stolen bases and eighth with 104 hits...This is the third straight season Avans has surpassed 100 hits with Oklahoma City.

Rehab Clinic: Los Angeles Dodgers relievers Ryan Brasier and Michael Grove each pitched Friday and continued their Major League Rehab Assignments with OKC last night...Brasier retired three of four batters faced in the sixth inning, allowing one hit with two strikeouts. Brasier has now totaled 3.0 scoreless innings over three appearances...Grove pitched part of the seventh inning, allowing two runs and two hits with two strikeouts. He allowed a leadoff triple and then struck out the next two batters before surrendering a two-run homer. It was the first time he's allowed a run during the rehab assignment (2 R/5.0 IP)...A total of four Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers are currently on rehab assignments with OKC, along with Walker Buehler and Brusdar Graterol.

Attack of the Crooked Number: El Paso scored four runs in the fourth inning last night, marking the fifth straight game OKC surrendered an inning of three or more runs. The team has now allowed seven separate innings of three-plus runs over the last 36 innings pitched. Opponents have had 22 different innings of three-plus runs over the last 26 games and 17 in the last 21 games...There's been at least one inning with three-plus runs in 12 of the last 21 games (2-10) and at least one big inning in 15 of the last 26 games (3-12)...OKC has now allowed at least six runs overall in four straight games (29 R) and in five of the last six games (39 R). This is the first time all season OKC has allowed at least six runs in four straight games.

Dinger Details: OKC hit two home runs last night, marking OKC's first multi-homer game since July 23 against Tacoma (nine games). The team has eight home runs over the last 12 games - fewest in the league by three...However, OKC also allowed two homers last night for the second time in the series. Prior to allowing two homers Wednesday, OKC had not given up a multi-homer game to an opponent since July 10 against El Paso at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, meaning the only multi-homer games OKC has allowed over the last 20 games have all come against the Chihuahuas.

Around the Horn: Including last night, OKC is 4-8 over the last 12 games when the team has scored first. Prior to that, OKC was 29-11 (.725) when scoring first this season...Kody Hoese's five-game hitting streak came to an end last night (8x21), but he drew a walk and has reached base in 11 straight games for his third on-base streak of the season of at least 11 games. He reached base in a season-best 15 consecutive games June 22-July 12...With last night's loss, OKC is now just 6-15 over the last 21 road games beginning June 12. The team was 20-14 through the first 34 road games of the season...El Paso stole one base last night and opponents have 40 stolen bases over last the 13 games, going 40-for-44 (90.9 percent), including 34 steals over the last nine games (34-for-37), with four games of five or more steals. OKC's 164 stolen bases allowed this season are most in the PCL and second-most in Triple-A.

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