PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - May 22, 2024

Published on May 22, 2024 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Reno Aces (21-25) at Oklahoma City Baseball Club (26-20)

Game #47 of 150/First Half #47 of 75/Home #20 of 75

Pitching Probables: RNO-RHP Cristian Mena (2-0, 3.80) vs. OKC-RHP Hyun-il Choi (0-2, 4.67)

Wednesday, May 22, 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 has won three consecutive games and looks to continue the trend at 7:05 p.m. against the Reno Aces at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC last won three straight games as part of a season-best five-game winning streak April 21-26...Oklahoma City has scored 23 runs over the three wins after being held to a combined 15 runs in their previous seven games (1-6)...OKC is looking for its first 2-0 start to a series since April 23-24 in Albuquerque when the team went on to open the series with four consecutive wins.

Last Game: Andre Lipcius and Chris Owings both homered and the Oklahoma City Baseball Club scored six runs in the fifth inning of a 12-3 win against the Reno Aces Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Lipcius quickly put Oklahoma City ahead in the series opener, hitting a solo home run in the first inning for his league-leading 13th home run of the season. Oklahoma City scored three runs in the second inning when Austin Gauthier hit a two-run triple, followed by a RBI single by Lipcius for a 4-0 lead. Chris Owings then hit a solo homer in the fourth inning for a 5-0 OKC advantage. Albert Almora Jr. connected on a three-run home run in the fifth inning that ended up being Reno's only runs of the night and cut OKC's lead to 5-3. OKC went on to load the bases in the fifth inning. A walk by Kody Hoese brought in a run before Hunter Feduccia followed with a bases-clearing double for a 9-3 lead. Jonathan Araúz and Gauthier notched back-to-back RBI singles for an 11-3 advantage. A RBI single by Feduccia in the sixth inning scored the final run of the night.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Hyun-il Choi (0-2) is slated to make his fifth start of the season with OKC and third at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...In his last start May 16 in Sacramento, Choi allowed five runs to tie his season-high mark, but just one run was earned. He gave up five hits, including two home runs, over 3.2 innings with one walk, two hit batters and one strikeout. He was charged with his second loss of the season with OKC in the team's 8-0 defeat...Choi has shuttled between OKC and Double-A Tulsa this season, making four starts with OKC and three additional starts with Tulsa. He's been transferred between the two rosters four different times already...His most noteworthy performance of the season occurred May 4 against Salt Lake at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark when he did not allow a hit over a season-high 6.0 innings. He allowed one run with four walks, one hit batter and three strikeouts as OKC took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and eventually went on to a 5-4 walk-off win in 11 innings...The 23-year-old from Seoul, South Korea, spent the entire 2023 season with High-A Great Lakes, making 16 appearances (13 starts) and posting a 4-5 record and 3.75 ERA over 60.0 IP with 46 strikeouts against 12 walks...He was limited to two appearances (one start) during the 2022 season due to injury...Choi was named the 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year after splitting the 2021 season between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes and posting a combined 8-6 record and 3.55 ERA in 24 appearances (11 starts). He recorded 106 strikeouts against 18 walks and owned a 0.97 WHIP...Choi signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent in August 2018...Tonight is his first career meeting against the Aces.

Against the Aces: 2024: 1-0 2023: 9-3 All-time: 44-31 At OKC: 27-16 Oklahoma City and Reno play their first of two series this season - and lone series of 2024 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The teams will also play June 25-30 at Greater Nevada Field to begin the second half of the season...Oklahoma City won the 2023 season series, 9-3, and took six of the last seven games. OKC outscored the Aces, 108-83, last season and batted .340 in the series as a team with 20 home runs in 12 games...Over a six-game series in Reno July 25-30, 2023, OKC scored 61 runs, including four games with at least 13 runs. However, OKC also allowed at least 11 runs in three games during the series...OKC won the home series, 4-2, and outscored the Aces, 47-30, batting .324 (67x207) with five homers. During the third game of the series June 1, OKC turned its first triple play since 2005 and the first triple play in the PCL since 2018...Devin Mann led OKC with 16 hits and 16 RBI during the 2023 series...Last season's series victory against the Aces was OKC's first since the 2015 season, as OKC went 0-2-4 in season series with Reno from 2016-22.

When the Levee Breaks: Oklahoma City scored 12 runs last night for the team's highest scoring game since a 22-3 win May 9 in Sugar Land. Last night was just the second time over the last 22 games that Oklahoma City reached double-digit runs after the team reached double-digits six times in the 16 games from April 7-25...Oklahoma City has scored 23 runs over the team's three straight wins after being held to a combined 15 runs in their previous seven games (1-6)...Entering Saturday, Oklahoma City had been held to one run or less in four straight games, scoring three runs over the previous 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...So far in May, OKC is 10-8. In the team's 10 wins, OKC has scored at least five runs nine times (83 total runs), but has been held to four runs or less in each of its eight losses (10 total runs), including to two runs or less in seven of those losses...The six runs OKC scored in the fifth inning Tuesday night marked the team's highest scoring inning since OKC scored eight runs in the eighth inning of the same 22-3 win in Sugar Land. It was the sixth time this season OKC scored six or more runs in a frame. It's also the highest scoring inning at home this season.

Playing All the Hits: OKC finished last night's game with 16 hits and now has 28 hits over the last two games after being held to a combined 25 hits - six or less per game - in the five previous games. OKC had been held to seven hits or less in each of the previous seven games before Sunday and to 38 total hits over the seven games combined, batting a collective .174 (38x219)...All nine batters in OKC's lineup finished with a hit Tuesday and five players had multi-hit games...Beginning with the eighth inning Sunday, OKC is 23-for-50 (.460) over the last 10 innings, including 9-for-20 with runners in scoring position. Prior to that, OKC had batted .160 (30x187) over the previous 55 innings, including 6-for-45 (.133) with RISP. OKC has scored multiple runs in three of the 10 innings after it happened just once in that 55-inning span. Additionally, the team has registered four innings of at least three hits after it did not happen at all in the previous 77 innings.

Andre the Giant: Andre Lipcius went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI Tuesday. With his 13th home run of the season last night, he moved into a tie for the PCL lead while also tying his career-high mark set at three levels over 117 games last season. In 2023, Lipcius didn't hit his 13th home run until his 106th game of the season on Sept. 2 with the Detroit Tigers at the Chicago White Sox in what was also his second career Major League game...Lipcius has now homered in three of his last four games and in four of his last eight games...Lipcius also has three straight multi-hit games and has hit safely in five straight games, going 10-for-22 (.454) with three homers and three doubles to tie his longest hitting streak of the season. He has tallied at least one extra-base hit in each of the five games...Lipcius has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .400 (18x45) with 10 extra-base hits, 12 RBI and 12 runs scored. He has also reached base in a season-best 11 straight games...He now leads OKC with 56 hits in 42 games, including a team-best 19 multi-hit outings...Lipcius leads the PCL in total bases (108), ranks tied for first with 13 homers, second with a .639 SLG, tied for third with 24 extra-base hits, 56 total hits and 34 runs scored, fourth with a 1.028 OPS, fifth with a .331 AVG, tied for fifth with 36 RBI...Today is Lipcius' 26th birthday.

Back at the Brick: Oklahoma City improved to 12-7 at home with last night's win and has now won five of its last six games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and is 6-2 in the last eight home games. The team has also won three straight home games for the second time...OKC has 3.07 ERA at home this season and is holding opponents to a .235 batting average with eight home runs over 19 games. Over the last seven home games they have allowed 20 runs while opponents have batted .199 (46x231) with 11 extra-base hits and one home run.

Sales Pitch: Four OKC pitchers combined to hold the Aces scoreless in eight of nine innings and limited Reno to three runs on six hits. Last night was the 15th time in the last 19 games that OKC's pitching staff allowed four runs or less. Since April 30, OKC's 135 hits allowed are fewest in the PCL and second fewest in Triple-A, while the team's 71 runs allowed and 3.30 ERA are second-lowest in all of Triple-A over the 19-game stretch...Last night's home run was just the second allowed by OKC over the last four games and 10th allowed by the team in May - fewest in Triple-A this month - and OKC has limited opponents to one or no home runs in 19 of the last 20 games (11 HR total). OKC's 36 homers allowed overall this season are fewest in Triple-A, while the team's 434 strikeouts are second-most in the PCL.

Fiduciary Duty: Hunter Feduccia went 3-for-5 with a bases-clearing double, scored two runs and finished with a game-high four RBI Tuesday, marking his third game of the season with four-plus RBI - tied for most on the team. He has hit safely in three straight games (5x13) as well as in seven of his last eight games, going 13-for-32 (.406) with three doubles, one triple, a home run and 12 RBI.

Austin City Limits: Austin Gauthier played in his first game at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Tuesday night after joining OKC during its recent 12-game road trip and went 3-for-5 with a triple, three RBI and scored a run while batting in the leadoff spot for the first time with Oklahoma City. Gauthier has hit safely in three straight games (5x13), and through his first 13 Triple-A games, he is now 16-for-49 (.327) with six extra-base hits and five multi-hit games, including three games with a season-high three hits.

Clean Living: OKC has tied its season-long streak of not committing an error in four straight games, previously done April 7-11. OKC has not committed an error in six of the last seven games and in 11 of the last 14 games. The team's 28 errors this season are fewest in the PCL, while OKC's .983 fielding percentage tops the league

Around the Horn: Chris Owings went 2-for-4 with his fourth home run of the season, a walk and game-high three runs scored last night while also making two highlight reel-worthy sliding catches in right field...Jonathan Araúz went 2-for-4 with a RBI last night and is 4-for-7 with two RBI over his last two games...James Outman played in his first game with Oklahoma City since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers and reached base four times Tuesday, going 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, was hit by a pitch and scored two runs...Last night was the fifth time this season OKC won a game by nine or more runs. The club's +64 run differential this season is best in Triple-A and third-best overall in the Minors...OKC or their opponent has scored in the first inning in nine straight games, with opponents scoring in five of the nine, but OKC scoring in two of the last three.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 22, 2024


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