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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - June 8, 2024

June 8, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (31-29) at Oklahoma City Baseball Club (35-26)

Game #62 of 150/First Half #62 of 75/Home #30 of 75

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Peter Solomon (0-2, 6.00) vs. OKC-RHP Chris Vallimont (1-0, 1.29)

Saturday, June 8, 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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club looks to take the lead in its series against the Round Rock Express when the teams meet for the fifth time in their six-game set at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The series is currently tied, 2-2...OKC has won two of the last three games and is 7-3 in the last 10 games. At 35-26, OKC has tied its season-high mark at nine games above.500...Tonight is Medieval Knight presented by Courtyard by Marriott and a renaissance fair setting will bring costumed characters and between-inning entertainment with a nod to medieval times.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club hit three solo home runs and starting pitcher Bobby Miller continued his Major League Rehab Assignment as OKC defeated the Round Rock Express, 5-3, Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma City quickly took the lead when Andre Lipcius hit a solo home run past the OKC bullpen in left-center field in the first inning. The Express responded in its next at-bat, loading the bases and bringing in a run on a sacrifice fly. Hunter Feduccia gave OKC a 2-1 lead in the third inning, hitting a solo home run out to right-center field. Oklahoma City added two more runs in the fourth inning on a passed ball and another on a bases-loaded walk for a 4-1 advantage. The Express then scored a run on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning to cut OKC's lead to two runs. A solo home run by Chris Owings out to left field in the sixth inning extended OKC's lead to 5-2 before a Round Rock RBI single in the seventh inning made the score, 5-3.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Chris Vallimont (1-0) makes his second start at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and third start with OKC after recently signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent...Vallimont had an abbreviated outing in his last start for Tuesday night against the Express. He pitched the first inning in the rain, allowing one run and two hits, along with one walk and one strikeout before the game was delayed and eventually suspended to end his outing...He made his team debut May 29 with six scoreless innings in Albuquerque. He allowed four hits, with one walk and five strikeouts and completed four of six frames on 12 or fewer pitches as he faced four or fewer batters in five of six innings. Vallimont threw 75 pitches (50 strikes) and held the Isotopes 1-for-11 with runners on base and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. It was the longest scoreless start by an OKC pitcher this season and his longest scoreless outing since July 2021 with Double-A Wichita...Valliimont began the season with the York Revolution of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, posting a 3-1 record and 3.29 ERA with 33 strikeouts and owning a 0.88 WHIP and.172 BAA with a 4.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He pitched at least 5.0 innings in all five starts for York and allowed two or fewer runs in three of five outings. He did not allow more than five hits in any game...Last season, Vallimont pitched in 30 Triple-A games (nine starts) with Norfolk and Columbus and also made his Major League debut with the Baltimore Orioles. He began the season with Norfolk, making 14 appearances (eight starts) before making his ML debut with Baltimore July 3 at the New York Yankees, pitching two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit - a double - and one strikeout...He was designated for assignment and traded to Cleveland for cash July 6, then closed out the season making 16 appearances (one start) for Columbus, going 2-1 with a 6.52 ERA over 29.0 IP with 22 strikeouts and 16 walks...Vallimont was originally selected by Miami in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa.

Against the Express: 2024: 6-4 2023: 14-4 All-time: 182-143 At OKC: 85-73 OKC and Round Rock are playing their second series of 2024 and first at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...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...Andy Pages led OKC with 13 hits, including four home runs, and 12 RBI in the first series...Prior to April, the teams last met in the 2023 PCL Championship Series when OKC swept Round Rock, winning, 8-3, in Game 1, and, 5-2, in Game 2 for OKC's first league title since 1996...OKC won the 2023 regular-season series, 14-4, including wins in nine of the first 10 games and in four of the last five meetings...OKC swept the Express in the lone 2023 series in Round Rock. It was OKC's first-ever six-game series sweep since PCL teams started playing primarily six-game series in 2021. The last 12 regular-season meetings between the teams were played in OKC, with OKC winning both series, 4-2. During a 17-7 win Aug. 6, OKC set a new team record for hits in a home game with 22...Including the playoffs, Round Rock equaled its 2023 win total over 20 games against OKC last season in just nine games this season.

Dinger Details: Oklahoma City hit three home runs in last night's game, marking the 12th time this season OKC finished with three or more home runs in a game, but just the third time in 2024 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC has now homered in a season-best 10 consecutive games, hitting 22 homers over the stretch for the most homers in the PCL since May 28. This is the team's longest string of games with a home run since a 12-game streak Sept. 6-19, 2021 (25 HR). OKC homered in a season-best nine straight games in both 2023 and 2022...OKC has now registered nine multi-homer games in the last 12 games (25 HR) after having just three multi-homer games over the previous 16 games...Last night was the third time in the last four games OKC did not allow a home run as well as the 10th time in the last 15 games OKC pitchers kept an opponent inside the park. OKC has allowed 45 home runs overall this season - fewest in Triple-A - including just 11 homers allowed in 28 home games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (also fewest for a home team in Triple-A).

Andre the Giant: Andre Lipcius hit his 16th home run of the season to move into a tie for the PCL lead for home runs with teammate Ryan Ward. He's also tied for second overall in the Minors with the 16 dingers...He has now homered in three of his last five games, adding to his new career high. Lipcius hit his previous career-high of 13 homers over 117 games at three different levels last season...Lipcius went 2-for-4 overall Friday for his team-leading 24th multi-hit game of the season...Lipcius leads the Minors with 137 total bases this season. He also leads the PCL with a.601 SLG, ranks second with 72 hits, third with a.989 OPS and 31 extra-base hits and tied for third with 44 runs scored.

Owings the Competition: Chris Owings went 2-for-4 with his sixth home run of the season to extend his hitting streak to eight games - the longest active streak by an OKC player. During the stretch, Owings is batting.500 (16x32) with seven multi-hit games, seven RBI and six runs scored. The streak is tied for the third-longest active streak in the league and ties his season-best eight-game hitting streak from April 14-26...Owings has also hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, batting.434 (23x53) with 11 RBI. Since May 19, his.434 AVG tops the PCL, while his 1.162 OPS ranks second. He's also third with a.483 OBP and 23 hits...Owings has connected on three of his six homers this season over the 14-game heater.

Trey Bien: Reigning PCL Player of the Week Trey Sweeney extended his on-base streak to 15 games, knocking a single and scoring a run last night. It is his second on-base streak of the season of at least 15 games as he reached base safely in a team-best 27 straight games to begin the season March 29-April 30...On Thursday, he hit safely in both games of a doubleheader, hitting a grand slam in Game 2 and going a combined 3-for-7 with a double and two runs scored. His grand slam was the first of his professional career and OKC's third grand slam of the season. Game 2 marked the third time in the last eight games Sweeney finished a game with four or more RBI (18 total)...Since May 28 (10 games), his seven home runs and 19 RBI lead all players in the Minors...On Monday, Minor League Baseball named Sweeney PCL Player of the Week following his breakout series in Albuquerque. He went 11-for-28 (.393) with 14 RBI and scored 10 runs, while leading the Minors with six homers, eight extra-base hits and 32 total bases...Sweeney has hit safely in 14 of the last 15 games, going 21-for-61 (.344) with eight home runs, three doubles, a triple, 22 RBI and 18 runs scored.

On the Mend: Bobby Miller continued his Major League Rehab Assignment and made his first appearance with Oklahoma City Friday, starting the game and pitching into the fifth inning. He allowed two runs (one earned) and four hits over 4.0 innings and faced two batters in the fifth inning. He issued two walks and had two strikeouts during his third rehab outing overall, following two games with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. He faced 18 batters, throwing 85 pitches (50 strikes)...Kyle Hurt opened a Major League Rehab Assignment Friday and pitched two-thirds of the seventh inning. He allowed one run and one hit, recorded two strikeouts, issued a walk and threw two wild pitches. He faced four batters and threw 19 pitches (nine strikes).

Close Calls: Friday night's 5-3 victory marked OKC's 33rd game of the season to be decided by two runs or less. OKC is now 16-17 in those games, including 9-6 in two-run games. Only Sugar Land has played more games decided by two runs or less this season in the PCL, going 20-14. Three of the first four games of the current series against the Express have been decided by two runs or less as well as four of OKC's last six games...OKC won last night, but each of OKC's last three losses overall have each been by one run, and three of their four losses against the Express this season have been by one run...Now 17 of OKC's 28 home games so far in 2024 have been decided by one or two runs, with OKC going 9-8 in those games.

Runners High: OKC has scored at least five runs in three straight games as well as in nine of the last 10 games. Also within that span, OKC has scored at least nine runs five times...OKC has now scored 83 runs since May 28 to pace the PCL in runs scored over the 10-game stretch. From May 1-27, OKC's 111 runs scored over 23 games were the fewest in the PCL during that timeframe.

Down the Stretch: With 14 games remaining in the first half of the PCL season, which wraps up June 23, OKC trails league-leading Sugar Land by 4.0 games and second-place Sacramento by 3.0 games. OKC faces Sugar Land next week in a six-game road series, and the teams have gone 3-3 against each other so far. Sacramento owns a head-to-head tiebreaker against OKC.

Around the Horn: Kody Hoese singled and scored a run last night as he has now hit safely in each of his first five games of June (7x18, 4 2B), as well as in eight of his last nine games, going 15-for-36 (.417) with five doubles, seven RBI and 10 runs scored...After OKC and Round Rock combined to score 28 runs in just five of 14 innings of Thursday's doubleheader, the teams scored at least one run in each of the first seven innings of Friday night's game (eight total runs)...James Outman has reached base safely in 15 of his 16 games with OKC and is slashing.327/.493/.600 with 18 hits, including four home runs, 11 RBI, 19 runs scored and 16 walks. Since Outman's first game of the season with OKC May 21, he leads the PCL with 19 runs scored and is tied for first with 16 walks. He also ranks third in OBP and sixth in OPS...At nine games above.500, OKC is tied for its season best, but in each pf the previous three instances, the team lost its next game.

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