PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - July 28, 2024

Published on July 28, 2024 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (14-12/57-44) at Oklahoma City Baseball Club (10-16/50-51)

Game #102 of 150/Second Half #27 of 75/Home #51 of 75

Pitching Probables: TAC-RHP Michael Mariot (6-5, 5.21) vs. OKC-RHP Ben Casparius (2-2, 3.65)

Sunday, July 28, 2024 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club closes out its home series against the Tacoma Rainiers at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark seeking back-to-back wins to wrap up the six-game series...OKC won last night for the second time in the last seven games overall and now trails Tacoma, 3-2, in the current series...OKC will also look to even its overall record at .500 with a win today.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally and secure a 7-6 walk-off win against the Tacoma Rainiers Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, coming back after trailing by five runs in the fifth inning. Oklahoma City trailed, 6-5, entering the ninth inning and tied the score on a sacrifice fly by Diego Cartaya with the bases loaded. Then with runners at first and third base, Alan Trejo followed and hit a grounder to the left of second base that resulted in a Tacoma fielding error and allowed pinch-runner Brendon Davis to score OKC's game-winning run. Tacoma had built a 6-1 lead through four innings, scoring two runs in each of the first, second and fourth innings. OKC's first run of the night came on a solo home run by Trejo in the second inning. In the fifth inning, OKC scored a run on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Ward. OKC then added three runs in the sixth inning on a two-run single by Drew Avans and another run scoring on a Tacoma fielding error to trim the Rainiers' lead to one run. The OKC bullpen held Tacoma scoreless over the game's final five innings.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Ben Casparius (2-2) makes his 11th start with OKC and third since a stint on the Injured List...Casparius last pitched July 21 in Round Rock, allowing three runs and four hits with one walk, one hit batter and eight strikeouts over 3.2 innings (17 batters faced). The eight K's were his most in Triple-A and tied his overall season-high mark with Double-A Tulsa April 12 against Arkansas...Casparius was on the IL June 20-July 13 due to an oblique injury. Since returning to game action, he has thrown 6.2 innings, allowing three runs and four hits, with two walks and 12 strikeouts...He joined OKC May 7, and through 10 starts at Triple-A, Casparius owns a 3.65 ERA over 44.1 innings with 46 strikeouts and opponents are batting just .198...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.

Alec Gamboa (2-5) is scheduled to follow Casparius and make his 15th appearance of 2024 with OKC and second of the series. During Tuesday's series opener, Gamboa was charged with a career-high nine runs - but only one earned run - over 2.2 innings. Before that outing, Gamboa had thrown 11.2 scoreless innings across his previous two starts.

Against the Rainiers: 2024: 3-5 2023: 6-9 All-time: 65-71 At OKC: 41-30 The Rainiers and OKC meet for their second of three series of 2024 and first six-game series of the season...The teams opened the season against one another for a second straight year and the Rainiers won the three-game set, 2-1, at Cheney Stadium taking the first and third games, with all three games decided by one or two runs. Both teams scored 15 runs apiece. OKC hit five homers during the series and Andre Lipcius led the way for OKC, collecting five hits and five RBI as well as two homers...Last season, Tacoma won the season series, 9-6, and the Rainiers were one of three teams OKC posted a losing head-to-head record against, along with Albuquerque and Salt Lake. The Rainiers were also one of two teams to win five out of six games in the same series against OKC last season Aug. 8-13 at Cheney Stadium. It was the first time OKC lost five games within a series since Aug. 26-31, 2021 at home against Las Vegas, going 40 six-game series between 1-5 results, and OKC had not opened a series with three straight losses since losing four in a row to begin a home series against Round Rock Aug. 9-12, 2022, going 26 series between 0-3 starts...In 15 meetings last season, Tacoma outscored OKC, 99-86, and hit 24 homers compared to OKC's 22. Tacoma drew 85 walks in the season series - 29 more than OKC...OKC has lost back-to-back season series against the Rainiers for the first time since 2006 and 2007...The teams meet 15 times in 2024, including 12 games in OKC with another six-game series upcoming at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Sept. 10-15...Going back to 2022, OKC is 11-19 over the last 30 games against the Rainiers, and Tacoma has won five of the last seven games in OKC...Four of OKC's last seven home wins against the Rainiers have been in walk-off fashion.

Photo Finish: OKC secured its fifth walk-off win of the season Saturday night as well as the team's second walk-off win in a span of six home games as OKC won, 5-4, in 11 innings July 14 against El Paso in the final game before the All-Star Break...In each of OKC's five walk-off wins, the game winning-run has not scored on a hit. Last night's winning run scored on a fielder's choice coupled with a fielding error while the other four walk-off wins for OKC this season came via a sacrifice fly, two wild pitches and another fielder's choice...Last night also marked the second straight walk-off win in which Alan Trejo was at the plate and involved with the game-winning play. With runners at first and third base Saturday, Trejo hit a grounder toward the shortstop and Tacoma was unable to field the ball cleanly allowing pinch-runner Brendon Davis to score OKC's game-winning run from third base. On July 14, Trejo hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning for OKC to bring in the game-winning run.

Alan Wrench: Alan Trejo hit his first home run in 17 games with OKC in the second inning last night - a solo shot out to left field for OKC's first run of the game. Trejo went 2-for-4 with a walk and scored two runs and also hit into last night's game-ending fielder's choice...Over his last six games, Trejo is 9-for-24 (.375), and since July 10, Trejo is batting .310 (13x42) with seven walks and six runs scored over 11 games...Last night's home run was also his first overall in 2024, including 28 games with the Colorado Rockies to start the season.

Close Calls: OKC played in its seventh game of the month decided by two runs or less last night as well as the team's 50th game of the season decided by two runs or less, as 49.5 percent of OKC's games so far this season have been decided by those close margins. In July, OKC is 4-3 in those close games and overall this season, OKC is 22-28 in games decided by two runs or less, including 11-15 in one-run games...Only Sugar Land has played in more close games this season (51) in the PCL, but is 30-21 in those games decided by two runs or fewer. OKC's 28 losses by one or two runs are most in the PCL. Since June 1, OKC is 6-14 in games decided by two runs or less...Last night was the fifth time in eight games between OKC and Tacoma a game was decided by two runs or less, with Tacoma going 3-2...OKC has played 49 home games, with 27 decided by one or two runs (55.1 percent). OKC is now 25-24 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, with a 14-13 mark in one- and two-run games.

Rehab Clinic: Four Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers are currently on Major League Rehab Assignment with Oklahoma City and two pitched Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Brusdar Graterol made his fourth rehab appearance with OKC and pitched a scoreless and hitless sixth inning, striking out three of the four batters he faced with one batter reaching on a fielding error. He threw 15 pitches (11 strikes) as he pitched on back-to-back nights for the first time this season. He was placed on the LAD IL March 19 with right shoulder inflammation and transferred to the 60-day IL April 2...Ryan Brasier opened his Major League Rehab Assignment with OKC last night, retiring all three batters he faced with two strikeouts in the seventh inning on 11 pitches (nine strikes). he was placed on the LAD IL with a right calf strain April 29 and transferred to the 60-day IL June 13.

Climbing Up the Charts: Drew Avans reached base four times last night, picking up a single and game-high three walks. He also had two RBI and scored two runs as he extended his on-base streak to 17 games for the second-longest active on-base streak by an OKC player. He has 13 hits and 16 walks during the stretch...He recorded his 101st hit of the season last night and throughout the season has established new Bricktown-era career records for walks (240) and triples (25). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 429 career games and 110 stolen bases, while ranking second in hits (416) and tied for fourth in doubles (77). Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) is the Bricktown era leader in both games (502) and hits (448)...Avans ranks second in the league with 77 runs scored, second with 59 walks, tied for second with seven triples, fourth with 28 stolen bases and tied for seventh with 101 hits.

Roller Coaster at the Plate: Oklahoma City finished with seven runs and seven hits last and after scoring four runs on 10 hits over previous two games combined. OKC is now 3-5 following the All-Stark Break. In the three wins, the team has scored a total of 27 runs with 35 combined hits. But in the five losses, OKC has been held to four runs or less in each game, totaling nine runs with a combined 40 hits. OKC has produced one or no runs in three of the last seven games (26 runs total)...Although OKC won last night, the team went just 1-for-11 in scoring position. They are now 3-for-27 with RISP over the last three games and 9-for-57 (.158) with RISP during the current series and 10-for-70 (.143) over the last seven games...OKC left 11 more runners on base last night and has left 53 runners on base over the first five games of the series and at least 10 runners on base in nine of the last 14 games (139 total). OKC's 819 LOB this season are most in the Minors.

Bullish Pen: The OKC bullpen held Tacoma scoreless over the final 5.1 innings of Saturday's game as six relievers combined to hold the Rainiers to one hit and one walk during the span with six strikeouts, retiring 16 of 20 batters faced, including two that reached on errors. Over the last seven games, the OKC bullpen has allowed six runs (five earned) and 17 hits over 33.1 innings (1.35 ERA), holding opponents to a .143 batting average (17x119) with 33 strikeouts against nine walks...The OKC bullpen has held Tacoma scoreless and to five hits over the last 13.1 consecutive innings starting with the seventh inning Thursday night. The bullpen then threw 5.0 scoreless innings Friday night, allowing four hits.

Around the Horn: Ryan Ward leads the PCL with 25 home runs and a .612 SLG. He also ranks fourth in OPS (.947), second with 49 extra-base hits, tied for fourth with 75 RBI and sixth with 186 total bases although he has played in just 75 games, having missed more than three weeks of the season while on the Injured List in May.....Andre Lipcius has hit safely in five of his last six games, going 8-for-26 and is 7-for-22 so far in the series with Tacoma...Tacoma recorded five stolen bases Saturday, has 16 steals in the last three games and is 20-for-21 in its stolen base attempts this series.....Tacoma's Ryan Bliss hit a leadoff home run last night - the first allowed by OKC since Aug. 1, 2023 against Round Rock (J.P. Martinez).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 28, 2024


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