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Oklahoma City Baseball Club

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - May 18, 2024

May 18, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release


Oklahoma City Baseball Club (23-20) at Sacramento River Cats (26-17)

Game #44 of 150/First Half #44 of 75/Road #26 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Drew Pomeranz (1-0, 7.71) vs. SAC-RHP Spencer Howard (1-1, 5.87)

Saturday, May 18, 2024 | Sutter Health Park | West Sacramento, Calif. | 8:37 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 lost four consecutive games for its longest losing streak of the season and meets the Sacramento River Cats for the fifth time in their six-game series at 8:37 p.m. CT at Sutter Health Park...OKC has also lost six of the last seven games and has not lost five consecutive games since a stretch of six straight losses Aug. 20-26, 2023...Sacramento is 8-2 against Oklahoma City so far this season with wins in seven of the last eight games between the teams.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club was once again unable to overcome a slow start as they lost, 5-1, to the Sacramento River Cats Friday night at Sutter Health Park. Sacramento got the scoring started as a run came home on a balk in the first inning to make it 1-0. Trenton Brooks padded the lead with a two-run double in the fifth inning to make it 3-0 before Hunter Bishop added a RBI single. The River Cats plated one more run in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 5-0. Oklahoma City got its first hit and only run of the evening with a solo homer by Andre Lipcius in the seventh inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Drew Pomeranz (1-0) is slated to open tonight's bullpen game for Oklahoma City...Pomeranz made his first appearance following a stint on the Injured List Wednesday night. He retired all three batters he faced with two strikeouts in the eighth inning and did not factor into OKC's 4-1 defeat...Pomeranz was on the IL from April 23-May 14...He has made seven appearances with OKC this season, going 1-0 with a 7.71 ERA over 7.0 innings pitched with one walk against nine strikeouts...His last three appearances have all come against the River Cats and he has yet to allow a run to Sacramento this season over 3.0 innings, allowing one hit...Pomeranz spent Spring Training with the Angels and was released March 24...He signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers March 29. He later opted out of his contract with LAD April 19, but re-signed a new deal April 20...He is a veteran of 11 Major League seasons with six different teams (COL, OAK, SD, BOS, SF, MIL). He has made 289 career appearances (140 starts) and holds a career 3.91 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and .244 BAA...He won the 2018 World Series with Boston and was a 2016 MLB All-Star with San Diego after posting a 8-7 record with a 2.47 ERA, 115 strikeouts and an NL-leading .184 BAA in 17 first-half starts.

Against the River Cats: 2024: 2-8 2023: 12-3 All-time: 62-63 At SAC: 31-31 Oklahoma City and Sacramento are meeting for their second and final series of the 2024 season and lone series at Sutter Health Park...Sacramento won the first series of the season between the teams, 4-2, April 16-21 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The teams split the first two games of the series before Sacramento won three straight games and OKC won the series finale. Jonathan Araúz and Kody Hoese each led OKC with seven hits in the series, including two home runs by Hoese who also tied Ryan Ward with a team-best four RBI in the series...Five of the six games in the first series were decided by two runs or less. The River Cats batted .297 in the series and outscored OKC, 28-21, through the first six meetings of 2024...OKC won last season's series, 12-3, and won the final four meetings between the teams, including a three-game series sweep in Sacramento July 14-16...During a May 23-28 series, which OKC won, 4-2, five of the six games in the set were decided in the eighth inning or later, including three wins by a team trailing in the eighth inning...Between 2022-23, OKC won back-to-back season series against the River Cats for the first time since 2017-18...Since OKC became affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the River Cats with the San Francisco Giants in 2015, OKC has a 30-27 advantage in the Triple-A version of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry. The River Cats are 8-2 against OKC this season after OKC went 15-3 in the previous 18 meetings going back to 2022...In their last six games against Sacramento, OKC is 1-5 and has scored one run or less in each of the losses. OKC has also dropped seven of the last eight games against the River Cats...OKC has been limited to 24 runs in the team's 10 games against Sacramento this season.

Where's the Beef?: Oklahoma City has now been held to one run or less in four straight games and has scored one run or less in five of the last six games...Oklahoma City has scored three runs over the last four games combined, marking the team's lowest run total over a four-game stretch since the 2006 season - a span of 17 seasons. OKC was last limited to three runs over a four-game stretch June 24-27, 2006 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, including two games against New Orleans and two games against Round Rock...OKC was last held to one run or less five times during a six-game span June 29-July 29, 2009, playing three games at Iowa and three games against Omaha in OKC...Oklahoma City has now scored one run in the last 26 innings and two runs in the last 35 innings. Since Miguel Vargas' grand slam in the sixth inning Sunday at Sugar Land, OKC has scored three runs in the proceeding 39 innings, batting .148 (19x128) with five extra-base hits. The team is also 2-for-23 with runners in scoring position during that stretch, but neither of the two hits resulted in a run scoring. The team has been retired in order in 17 of the 39 innings...Last night, OKC was held hitless for six innings and struck out 10 times before Andre Lipcius hit a home run in the seventh inning. The Oklahoma City lineup went 2-for-28 with one walk and a season-high 16 strikeouts Friday, surpassing the previous season high of 15 set Thursday night...OKC finished last night's game with a season-low two hits for the team's lowest hit total since July 28, 2023 against Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in a 4-2 home loss...After racking up 48 hits over the first four games of the current road trip, OKC has been held to seven hits or less in each of the last six games and to 32 total hits over the last six games combined...OKC was last held to single-digit hit totals in at last six straight games about one year ago during an 11-game stretch May 6-18, 2023. However, OKC went 10-1 during that stretch last season...OKC has now been held to two runs or less seven times in the last 13 games, including two shutouts, but in the other six games during the same 12-game span, OKC has scored 50 runs for an average of 8.3 per game...After scoring a combined 30 runs May 8-9, OKC has been held to 15 total runs over the last seven games - seven runs of which came Sunday in Sugar Land during the team's only win over the last seven games...During the current road trip, OKC has scored 37 runs and recorded 39 hits in the three wins combined, but has scored a total of 10 runs with 41 hits in the seven losses.

Road Woes: Oklahoma City is in the midst of its longest road trip of the season and yesterday dropped to 3-7, with losses in six of the last seven games. The first five losses of the trip came by a total of nine runs before Thursday night's eight-run defeat - the team's largest margin of defeat of the 2024 season and largest since a 10-1 loss to Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark July 7, 2023. OKC lost by four runs Friday night...In five games during the current road trip, the final score has been decided by two runs or less. Each of OKC's first four losses during the road trip between Sugar Land and Sacramento came by one or two runs, decided by a total of six runs...Three of the seven total losses during the trip have come in walk-off fashion, including Tuesday's 3-1 defeat in Sacramento...OKC is 12-13 on the road overall this season. However, after starting the season 9-4 in away games, OKC has posted a 3-9 record on the road since...OKC posted winning records on the road in each of the last three seasons, going a combined 124-91 (.577) in away games. Last season, OKC was a Minor League-best 48-22 on the road and did not sustain its 13th road loss until the 50th road game of the season, July 29 at Reno. The team lost four straight road games once in 2023 during a five-game skid Aug. 12-17 between Tacoma and Salt Lake.

Andre the Giant: Andre Lipcius hit his 11th home run of the season Friday night and now is one off the team lead behind the currently injured Ryan Ward. Lipcius' 11 homers this season are third-most in the PCL and he has hit two home runs over his last five games. Lipcius has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 11-for-30 (.367) with two home runs, four doubles, eight RBI and nine runs scored...Since April 23, Lipcius leads OKC with 30 hits and is batting .353 (30x85) with four doubles, a triple, six home runs, 20 RBI and 19 runs scored with 11 multi-hit games...Through 14 games in May, Lipcius is batting .346 (18x61) with six extra-base hits, 10 RBI and 11 runs scored. His 11 runs scored are tied for the team lead this month, while his hits and RBI rank second...Lipcius already has 11 homers in 39 games this season after hitting a career-high 13 home runs combined last season at three levels over 117 games. In 2023, Lipcius didn't hit his 11th home run until his 96th game of the season on Aug. 22...Overall this season, Lipcius is second in the PCL in total bases (93) and fourth in slugging percentage (.604).

Drew Up: Drew Avans has been held without a hit in back-to-back games for just the second time this season. Through 15 games in May, Avans leads OKC with 19 hits, two triples, six stolen bases and is tied for the team lead with 11 runs scored. He is batting .311 this month (19x61) with five extra-base hits...He has a team-best 18 multi-hit games this season and leads OKC in runs (39), hits (51), triples (5) and stolen bases (13). He ranks among the league's top-five leaders in runs (1st, 39), hits (4th, 51), triples (2nd, 5) and stolen bases (4th, 13)...Throughout this season, Avans has established new OKC Bricktown era (since 1998) career records with 202 walks and 23 triples. He ranks second all-time with 377 games played and 95 stolen bases, while he ranks fourth with 366 career hits and tied for sixth with 69 doubles.

Sales Pitch: Oklahoma City has allowed five runs or more in back-to-back games, and 13 runs total, for the first time since April 27-28 in Albuquerque when OKC allowed a total of 19 runs over a two-game span...Entering Thursday, OKC had held opponents to four runs or less in four straight games, in five of the previous six games and in 12 of the previous 14 games with a maximum of six runs during that time. Over that 14-game stretch, Oklahoma City had allowed a combined 48 runs (43 ER) and 96 hits - the fewest runs and hits in all of Triple-A April 30-May 15 (3.07 ERA)...During the road trip overall, OKC has allowed 44 runs over 10 games (4.4 RPG)...Over the last two games, Sacramento has scored in eight of 16 innings last night after opponents had been held scoreless in 98 of 127 innings over the previous 14 games, including 97 of 124 non-extra innings...OKC did not allow a home run last night and has held opponents to one home run or no home runs in 16 of the last 17 games (9 HR total).

Around the Horn: OKC has 20 losses through 43 games. By comparison, OKC did not lose its 20th game last season until the 66th game...Hunter Feduccia had Friday night off, but has hit safely in five of his last six games, going 9-for-23 (.391) with two doubles, one triple, a home run and seven RBI...Friday night's starting pitcher Christian Romero made his Triple-A debut, allowing four earned runs on three hits while walking two and striking out two across 4.2 innings. He had allowed one run and two hits until running into trouble with two outs in the fifth inning and was charged with three runs. The 21-year-old Romero had not pitched above High-A before yesterday...Last night OKC did not have an at-bat with a runner in scoring position for the first time since Sept. 29, 2021 versus El Paso...OKC is 0-4 to start the series in Sacramento and OKC has not lost the first four games of a six-game series since dropping the first five games against Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Aug. 22-6, 2023. OKC had not lost the first four games of a six-game road series since opening the 2021 season 0-4 in Round Rock...Reliever Michael Petersen has not allowed a run in 14 of 16 appearances this season, giving up a total of four runs (3 ER) and nine hits over 15.1 innings with 24 strikeouts...OKC has not committed an error in eight of the last 11 games and the team's 28 errors this season are tied for fewest in the PCL along with Round Rock.

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