OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - August 7, 2024

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Oklahoma City Baseball Club

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - August 7, 2024

August 7, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release


Round Rock Express (15-18/52-55) at

Oklahoma City Baseball Club (14-20/54-55)

Game #110 of 150/Second Half #35 of 75/Home #53 of 75

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Peter Solomon (1-3, 8.70) vs. OKC-RHP Jordan Lyles (NR, -.--)

Wednesday, August 7, 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 looks to open its home series with back-to-back wins as well as a fourth straight home win overall when its series against the Round Rock Express continues at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...OKC won Tuesday night's series opener and last won the first two games of a home series May 21-22 against Reno.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club scored four runs over the first three innings Tuesday night and went on to a 5-3 win against the Round Rock Express in the series opener between the teams at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma City brought in the first run of the night when Drew Avans scored from third base as Andre Lipcius grounded into a double play in the first inning. OKC added two runs in the second inning, scoring a run on a passed ball and adding another on a RBI single by Avans for a 3-0 lead. Dustin Harris hit a two-run homer in the third inning for Round Rock to trim the lead to one before OKC answered with a RBI single by Hunter Feduccia in the bottom of the inning. Both teams exchanged runs in the fifth inning with Harris connecting on his second homer of the game for the Express and Kody Hoese responding with a RBI single in OKC's next at-bat for a 5-3 OKC advantage.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Jordan Lyles makes his first appearance with OKC after recently signing a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers...Lyles began the 2024 season with the Kansas City Royals, making five relief appearances in March and April. Over a combined 5.0 innings, he did not allow a run and allowed two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He last pitched April 12 at the New York Mets, retiring all three batters he faced in the seventh inning, before being placed on the restricted list April 20 and was later released by the Royals July 20...He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent July 25...Lyles spent the 2023 season with the Royals, going 6-17 with a 6.28 ERA over 31 starts with 45 walks and 120 strikeouts. He pitched three complete games to lead the Majors...Lyles is in his 17th professional season and with his ninth organization, having also spent time with Houston, Colorado, San Diego, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Texas, Baltimore and Kansas City. He has made 357 Major League career appearances (245 starts) since 2011, posting a career 5.22 ERA over 1,509.0 innings, going 72-107...He was originally selected by the Houston Astros with the 38th overall pick of the 2008 MLB Draft from Hartsville High School in Hartsville, S.C. He made his ML debut with the Astros May 31, 2011 at the Chicago Cubs...Lyles previously pitched with the Oklahoma City RedHawks when the team was affiliated with the Astros. Lyles made 25 appearances (22 starts) from 2011-13, going 10-5 with a 3.91 ERA and 86 strikeouts over 126.2 innings.

Alec Gamboa (2-6) is scheduled to piggyback Lyles...Gamboa most recently pitched Aug. 2 in El Paso, starting and allowing four runs and seven hits over 5.0 innings with one walk and one strikeout and was charged with the loss in OKC's 7-2 road defeat. All four runs scored in the fourth inning with no outs...He opened July with back-to-back scoreless starts July 4 against Las Vegas and July 11 against El Paso, allowing six hits and one walk over a combined 11.2 innings with seven strikeouts while holding opponents to a .140 batting average and posting a 0.60 WHIP. However, he has been charged with 17 runs (eight earned) over his last 10.1 IP, with 18 hits, eight walks and seven strikeouts...Tonight is Gamboa's fourth appearance against the Express this season. In his most recent meeting, he started and pitched 3.0 innings June 9 in OKC, allowing one run and one hit with two walks and four strikeouts and was charged with the loss in OKC's 3-1 defeat.

Against the Express: 2024: 9-7 2023: 14-4 All-time: 185-146 At OKC: 87-74 OKC and Round Rock meet for their fourth of five series this season and the second at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Round Rock won a three-game series between the teams July 19-21 following the All-Star Break at Dell Diamond. OKC won the series opener, 10-6, but was held to one run over the final two games as the Express won, 2-1, in 10 innings July 20 and then won 4-0 July 21...The teams last played a six-game series in OKC June 4-9, which the teams split, 3-3. Three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series champion Max Scherzer started for Round Rock in the series finale as part of a ML Rehab Assignment, completing 4.0 scoreless innings...OKC won the first series of the season, 4-2, at Dell Diamond April 9-14. After the first game was postponed due to inclement weather, Round Rock won both games of a doubleheader the following day. OKC then closed the series with four straight wins, including 12-3 and 14-5 victories in the final two games...Through the first 15 games against the Express this season, Andre Lipcius led OKC with 19 hits, had 15 RBI and hit five homers while Ryan Ward had a team-high 16 RBI, including four home runs...The teams met in the 2023 PCL Championship Series as OKC swept Round Rock in two games for OKC's first league title since 1996...OKC won the 2023 regular-season series, 14-4.

Climbing Up the Charts: Drew Avans reached base four times with two singles and two walks, scored a run and collected a RBI last night as he extended his on-base streak to 24 games - the longest active on-base streak by an OKC player and his second on-base streak of the season of at least 24 games. The streak is the third-longest active on-base stretch in the PCL and Avans' second on-base streak of the season of at least 24 games as he also reached base in a season-high 25 straight games May 31-July 1...During his current streak that started July 4, Avans has 19 hits, 23 walks, 12 runs scored and eight RBI...Avans has 107 hits with OKC in 2024 - second-most on the team - and throughout the season has established new Bricktown-era career records for walks (247) and triples (25). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 436 career games and 110 stolen bases, while ranking second in hits (422) and tied for third in doubles (78). Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) is the Bricktown-era leader in both games (502) and hits (448)...Avans is tied for the league lead with 66 walks, ranks second with 80 runs scored, third with seven triples, tied for fourth with 28 stolen bases and seventh with 107 hits...This is the third straight season Avans has surpassed 100 hits with Oklahoma City.

Up to Kode: Kody Hoese went 2-for-3 with a triple, walk, RBI and scored a run Tuesday. He has now hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 12-for-32 (.375) with four multi-hit games, six extra-base hits, seven walks, five RBI and seven runs scored...He has also reached base safely in 14 straight games. This is his second on-base streak of the season of at least 14 games as he reached base in a season-best 15 consecutive games June 22-July 12...On Sunday in El Paso, Hoese homered for the second time in four games and boosted his season total to 12 homers for a new career-high mark.

Peaks and Valleys: Oklahoma City scored five runs Tuesday night and has scored at least five runs in back-to-back games for the first time since July 27-28 against Tacoma at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC has also scored a total of 13 runs over the last two games for the most runs scored over two games by OKC since July 24-25 against Tacoma at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Entering Sunday, OKC's offense had been held to three runs or less in three straight games (7 R) and in four of the previous five games (16 R)...OKC is now 7-9 following the All-Star Break and in the team's seven wins, OKC has scored 52 runs with 78 combined hits. However, in the team's nine losses during the span, OKC has scored a total of 18 runs, with a maximum of four runs and two or fewer runs in six of the nine defeats. OKC has 61 hits in the nine losses and has gone 6-for-73 with runners in scoring position...OKC went 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position last night after going 3-for-35 over the previous four games combined...OKC's 70 runs scored since July 19 are fewest in the PCL...OKC left 11 runners on base last night and the team's 145 LOB since the All-Star Break are most in the PCL. OKC's 883 LOB this season overall are most in the Minors...The team has scored at least five runs in each of the last 11 wins as well as in 25 of the last 26 wins.

Freshman Orientation: Dalton Rushing and Alex Freeland made their Triple-A debuts with OKC Tuesday. Rushing started in left field and lined a single into left field during his first at-bat before finishing the night 1-for-5 at the plate. The catcher/outfielder is rated No. 1 in the Dodgers' farm system by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline and is the reigning Texas League Player of the Week after going 9-for-23 with four homers, five extra-base hits and nine RBI. He clubbed two homers in his last game with Tulsa Sunday against Springfield. Rushing slashed .270/.378/.512 with 15 doubles, one triple, 17 home runs and 59 RBI across 77 games with the Drillers, and at the time of his promotion, he led Texas League in RBI (59) and slugging percentage (.512) and ranked second in the league in OPS (.890)...Freeland started at shortstop, drew a walk and scored a run, going 0-for-3 at the plate. He is currently rated as the No. 3 Dodgers prospect by Baseball America and No. 11 by MLB Pipeline. Prior to joining OKC, he posted a combined .267/.406/.460 slashline between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa with 13 home runs, 56 RBI and 29 stolen bases. He currently leads the Dodgers minor league system in OBP, walks (73) and doubles (25)...Relief pitcher Edgardo Henriquez also joined OKC's roster from Double-A Tulsa yesterday but did not pitch. He is rated No. 11 by Baseball America and No. 17 by MLB Pipeline also joins OKC from Tulsa. Henriquez has had a rapid ascent this season after beginning the season at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. Between Single-A, High-A and Double-A, Henriquez has made 29 appearances (five starts), going 0-2 with a 2.68 ERA. He's struck out 70 batters in just 40.1 IP and held opponents to a .157 batting average with a 1.02 WHIP.

Mound Matters: The three runs allowed by OKC Tuesday were the fewest runs allowed by the team since a 10-1 win against Tacoma July 24 in OKC. Only one run was earned, and all three of Round Rock's runs scored via two home runs by Dustin Harris. It also snapped a six-game streak with at least six runs allowed - tied for the longest during OKC's Dodgers affiliation (since 2015). It was also the first time in eight games OKC did not allow an inning of three-plus runs...Landon Knack (4-3) started and recorded the win for OKC, allowing three runs (one earned) and six hits, including two home runs, over 5.2 innings with three walks and eight strikeouts. He threw a career-high 103 pitches (63 strikes), surpassing his previous career-high mark of 101 pitches last season with Double-A Tulsa June 10, 2023 against Arkansas. His eight strikeouts tied his season-high mark from May 5 against Salt Lake in OKC. He also became just the fourth starting pitcher in 54 games for OKC to earn a win and was the first starting pitcher since Alec Gamboa on July 11 against El Paso to record at least one out in the sixth inning...OKC relievers Jose Hernandez, Jesse Hahn and Jack Dreyer combined to retire 10 of 12 batters faced, with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts. Dreyer tallied his first career save, retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth inning with one strikeout.

Around the Horn: OKC is looking to start a series ahead, 2-0, for the first time since May 28-29 at Albuquerque and for the first time at home since May 21-22 against Reno. Nine of the team's last 10 series have been split, 1-1, through two games...Austin Gauthier singled and drew a walk Tuesday and is now 5-for-12 over his last three games. He has also hit safely in five of his last six games (7x24) with four RBI...OKC's streak of four straight games with a home run came to an end last night. It was OKC's longest stretch of consecutive games with a homer since a six-game streak June 22-28...OKC is 27-25 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this season and is 7-4 in its last 11 home games. Tonight the team looks to tie its season high with a fourth straight home win, previously done May 4-5 against Salt Lake and May 21-22 against Reno.

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