PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - May 31, 2024

Published on May 31, 2024 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Baseball Club (31-23) at Albuquerque Isotopes (16-38)

Game #55 of 150/First Half #55 of 75/Road #31 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Dinelson Lamet (2-1, 4.73) vs. ABQ-RHP Peyton Battenfield (2-1, 7.71)

Friday, May 31, 2024 | Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park | Albuquerque, N.M. | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: Tonight the Oklahoma City Baseball Club closes out the month of May seeking a fourth straight win as the team's road series against the Albuquerque Isotopes continues at 7:35 p.m. CT at Isotopes Park. Oklahoma City has won three consecutive games, as well as five straight road games...OKC is now 8-3 in the last 11 games and has won 12 of 15 meetings against the Isotopes this season.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club took the lead in the third inning and pulled away late during an 11-1 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes Thursday night at Isotopes Park. In the third inning, Oklahoma City opened the scoring when Kody Hoese singled and Albuquerque right fielder Trevor Boone committed a two-base fielding error, allowing James Outman to score. Outman then padded OKC's lead with a two-out, two-run homer in the fifth inning to make it 3-0. A pair of RBI singles by Hoese and Trey Sweeney extended Oklahoma City's lead in the seventh inning before a solo homer from Chris Owings made it 6-0 in the eighth inning. OKC put the game away with a five-run ninth inning, featuring a RBI single by Ryan Ward, two-run double by Jonathan Araúz and two-run single by Andre Lipcius. Albuquerque avoided being shut out with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Dinelson Lamet (2-1) is scheduled to make his team-leading eighth start of the season with OKC and second of the season against the Isotopes...During his last start May 25 in OKC, Lamet allowed a season-high six runs on nine hits against the Reno Aces, including one home run, over 4.0 innings. He issued two walks and had three strikeouts and did not factor into the decision OKC's 13-7 loss. The nine hits tied his career high, initially set in 2016 with Double-A San Antonio...Over his last two games, Lamet has surrendered eight runs and 14 hits over 8.0 innings along with six walks (2.50 WHIP)...Lamet began this month with three starts totaling 15.1 IP while allowing just one run and 10 hits with 15 K's. He did not allow a run over the first 14 innings of that stretch...Lamet was on OKC's Opening Day roster but was called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers before making an appearance. Over three relief outings with the Dodgers, Lamet pitched a combined 4.1 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. He earned his first career ML save April 3 against San Francisco...He was designated for assignment April 6 and outrighted to OKC April 8...He made his ML debut with San Diego May 25, 2017 and has made 121 ML appearances (60 starts) and owns a career 4.63 ERA and rate of 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings...He originally signed with San Diego as a free agent in 2014...Lamet last pitched against the Isotopes April 25 in Albuquerque. He allowed four runs and eight hits, including two homers, with two walks and four K's and didn't receive a decision during OKC's 21-9 victory.

Against the Isotopes: 2024: 12-3 2023: 10-14 All-time: 150-122 At ABQ: 68-70 OKC and the Isotopes meet for their third of four series in 2024 (24 G), all to be played within the first half of the season...OKC won each of the first two series this season - April 23-28 in Albuquerque (4-2) and April 2-7 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (5-1)...Overall, eight of the first 12 games between the teams were settled by one or two runs, but each of the last three games have been decided by at least four runs, with OKC outscoring the Isotopes, 23-4...In the team's most recent series in Albuquerque, OKC outscored the Isotopes, 68-54, and had three games with 11 or more runs and two games of 17 or more runs. On April 25, OKC scored at least 21 runs for the fifth time during the team's Bricktown era, spanning 3,593 games since 1998 (OKC has since recorded another 21-plus-run game this season)....OKC tallied 86 hits over six games in Albuquerque as the team batted .357 (86x241) and racked up 46 extra-base hits...OKC played its first home series of 2024 against the Isotopes, going 5-1, and outscoring Albuquerque, 37-24...Through the first two series this season, Miguel Vargas paced OKC with 19 hits and 19 RBI in 12 games, while Ryan Ward hit six homers in nine games...Last season, the Isotopes were one of three teams OKC posted a losing head-to-head record against, along with Salt Lake and Tacoma, as Albuquerque won a season series against OKC for the first time since 2017. OKC won the 2018, 2019 and 2022 series, going a combined 18-6, and split the 2021 series, 9-9, before losing last season's series, 14-10....In 2023, the road team went 16-8 in the season series. OKC went 7-5 in Albuquerque and started 7-2 before dropping their final three games...OKC is once again 7-2 through their first nine games at Isotopes Park this season.

Sales Pitch: Last night, the OKC pitching staff allowed three or fewer runs for the seventh time in the last 11 games and two or fewer runs for the fourth time in the last eight games, including each of the last three nights. Over the first three games in hitter-friendly Albuquerque, OKC has allowed just four runs and 20 hits....This is the first time in 2024 OKC has held an opponent to two runs or less in three straight games. The team last did it during a five-game streak June 29-July 3, 2023...OKC's 3.49 ERA and 183 hits allowed in May are both lowest among the 30 Triple-A teams, while the team's 99 runs allowed through 26 games this month are second-fewest in Triple-A...OKC has limited opponents to four runs or less 21 times this month and to three runs or less 14 times...OKC has held Albuquerque 2-for-25 with runners in scoring position to begin the current series...Albuquerque has been limited to two runs over the last two games, scoring in just two of 18 innings, and has been held scoreless in 23 of 27 innings so far this series. The Isotopes have not scored a run before the sixth inning in any game yet this series and in each of the last two games have been held scoreless until the ninth inning.

Fire Starters: OKC starting pitchers (Hyun-il Choi, Chris Vallimont and Landon Knack) have combined to allow one run and 10 hits, with five walks against 15 strikeouts across 16.1 innings so far this series at Isotopes Park, holding Albuquerque 10-for-59 (.169) with three extra-base hits. The trio has also kept the Isotopes 1-for-27 with runners on base and 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position...Last night Knack delivered five scoreless innings, allowing three hits - all singles - with two walks and five strikeouts...Excluding bullpen games this month, starting pitchers have combined to post a 2.74 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and .213 BAA over 23 games.

On the Offensive: Oklahoma City scored 11 runs yesterday, marking the third consecutive game and fourth time in the last five games OKC scored six or more runs. OKC has scored 23 runs over the last three games, and this is the first time since April 23-25 that OKC has scored at least six runs in three straight games. During that previous three-game stretch in April, OKC scored 49 runs in Albuquerque...OKC scored five runs in the ninth inning last night, marking the 12th time this season OKC has scored five or more runs in an inning and it was the first time since OKC scored six runs in the fifth inning of a 12-3 win against Reno May 21 in Bricktown...OKC has a 15-11 record so far this month. In the team's wins, OKC has scored at least five runs 13 times (115 runs; 7.7 rpg) and at least six runs nine times. However, OKC has been held to four runs or less in 10 of its 11 losses (19 runs; 1.7 rpg) and has been held to two runs or less in nine of those losses...OKC racked up 17 hits last night for the team's third-highest hit total in a game this season and most in a game since May 9 in Sugar Land (19 hits; t-season high)...Last night was the third straight game OKC tallied at least 10 hits after OKC had been held to eight hits or less in 11 of the team's last 14 games entering Tuesday. OKC was held to seven hits or less in seven straight games May 10-17 with 38 total hits over the seven games combined, batting a collective .174 (38x219). OKC then batted .352 (38x108) over the next three games May 19-22 before going 25-for-126 (.198) over the next four games May 23-26. Through three games of the current series in Albuquerque, OKC is batting .342 (40-for-117).

King James: James Outman went 3-for-5 with a home run, a walk, three runs and two RBI last night for his second three-hit outing in four games. He has now hit safely in six of his last seven games, going 9-for-23 (.391)...Over his first nine games with OKC, Outman has reached base in 22 of 42 plate appearances (.524 OBP), including 10 walks and two HBP. On Wednesday, he stole two bases in one game for the first time since June 30, 2021 with High-A Great Lakes.

Breaking the Kode: Kody Hoese collected his first four-hit game of the season Thursday and his third consecutive multi-hit game. He reached base in all five of his plate appearances last night, going 4-for-4 with a double, RBI, run scored and a walk...The four hits tied his career high for his third career four-hit game...Hoese is now 8-for-12 with four RBI to begin the current series in Albuquerque...He has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games, batting .385 (15-for-39) with three doubles, a triple, nine RBI and seven runs scored after starting the month 5-for-41 (.122) over his first 13 games.

Trey Bien: Trey Sweeney went 1-for-5 with a RBI single and a stolen base Thursday, extending his hitting streak to eight games, matching a season-high, and his string of consecutive games with at least one RBI to five (nine RBI total). His eight-game hitting streak is the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player and the third-longest active streak in the league. During the streak, he is 12-for-34 (.353) with a double, five home runs, 10 RBI and nine runs scored...On Wednesday, Sweeney went 4-for-4 with three home runs and five RBI, tying both his season and career highs in hits and RBI. It was his first career multi-homer game, as he became the first OKC player with three home runs in one game since Keibert Ruiz on July 23, 2021 versus Sugar Land. He became the second player in the PCL with a three-homer game this season, joining Sugar Land's Joey Loperfido, who also did it in Albuquerque April 12...On Wednesday, Sweeney hit OKC's first inside-the-park home run since Jason Martin on July 23, 2022 against Sacramento...Sweeney has seven total homers so far this season but he has hit four homers over the last three games and five homers over his last five games...In nine games at Isotopes Park this season, Sweeney is 18-for-39 (.462) with nine extra-base hits and 14 RBI.

Dinger Details: OKC homered twice last night and has hit seven home runs over the last three games and 11 homers over the last six games. The outburst follows a stretch in which OKC was held to seven home runs over the previous 11 games...OKC has registered four multi-homer games in the last five games (10 HR) after having just three multi-homer games over the previous 16 games...On the other hand, OKC did not allow a home run for the third time in the last four games and for the eighth time in the last 12 games. OKC's 12 homers allowed in May are fewest in Triple-A. OKC has now limited opponents to one or no home runs in 27 of the last 28 games (13 HR), and OKC's 38 homers allowed overall this season are fewest in Triple-A (54 G).

Around the Horn: At 31-23, Oklahoma City has matched its season high mark at eight games above .500 (previously 22-14)...Last night, Chris Owings tallied a third straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk. Over the three-game stretch he is 6-for-12. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 13-for-33 (.394) with a triple and two home runs...Andre Lipcius went 2-for-5 yesterday with a double and two RBI, recording his team-leading 22nd multi-hit game. He ranks tied for third overall in the Minors in both hits (64) and total bases (118).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 31, 2024


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