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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - September 1, 2024

September 1, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Baseball Club (29-27/69-62)

at Round Rock Express (27-28/64-65)

Game #132 of 150/Second Half #57 of 75/Road #69 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Jordan Lyles (0-0, 9.00) vs. RR-RHP Jacob deGrom (0-0, 0.00)

Sunday, September 1, 2024 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 1:05 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 will look to close its road series against the Round Rock Express with a third straight win when the teams meet for the final time this season at 1:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond...OKC leads the six-game series, 3-2, and can win at least four games within the same series for a third straight time with a victory today...After back-to-back wins, OKC is now 14-4 over the last 18 games and wrapped up August with a 17-10 record.

Last Game : The Oklahoma City Baseball Club played yet another tight contest and outlasted the Round Rock Express, 6-5, in 10 innings Saturday night at Dell Diamond. Oklahoma City took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, scoring one run on a throwing error following a bunt single and another run later in the inning during a double play. The Express then scored the game's next four runs, plating one run in the bottom of the second inning and then rallying for three runs in the third inning to go ahead, 4-2. Alex Freeland homered in the fourth inning to bring OKC back within one run. Andre Lipcius evened the score with a RBI single in the fifth inning. Round Rock had the bases loaded with one out in both the fifth and seventh innings, but OKC escaped the jam each time. The game remained, 4-4, until the 10th inning. On the first pitch of the extra frame, Drew Avans singled to right-center field to score placed runner Austin Gauthier from second base. Avans later scored in the inning on a wild pitch. Round Rock scored its placed runner with one out in the bottom of the inning before Jack Dreyer retired the next two batters to seal the win.

Today's Probable Pitcher : Jordan Lyles (0-0) makes his third appearance with OKC, but first since Aug. 14 following a stint on the Development List...Lyles most recently pitched three innings for OKC Aug. 14 in Las Vegas, allowing five runs and four hits, including three homers, with four strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC's 13-7 road win...Lyles made his team debut Aug. 7 against Round Rock in OKC, allowing one run and three hits over 3.0 innings with two K's...Lyles began the 2024 season with the Kansas City Royals, making five relief appearances in March and April. Over a combined 5.0 IP, he did not allow a run and allowed two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He last pitched for the Royals April 12 at the New York Mets, retiring all three batters he faced in the seventh inning, before being placed on the Restricted List April 20 and was later released by the Royals July 20...He signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent July 25...Lyles spent the 2023 season with the Royals, going 6-17 with a 6.28 ERA over 31 starts with 45 walks and 120 strikeouts. He pitched three complete games to lead the Majors...Lyles is in his 17th professional season and with his ninth organization, having also spent time with Houston, Colorado, San Diego, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Texas, Baltimore and Kansas City. He has made 357 Major League career appearances (245 starts) since 2011..He was originally selected by the Houston Astros with the 38th overall pick of the 2008 MLB Draft from Hartsville High School in Hartsville, S.C., and made his ML debut with the Astros May 31, 2011 at the Chicago Cubs...Lyles previously pitched with the OKC RedHawks when the team was affiliated with the Astros, making 25 appearances (22 starts) from 2011-13.

Against the Express : 2024: 14-12 2023: 14-4 All-time: 190-151 At RR: 101-74

OKC and Round Rock meet for their fifth and final series this season and their third at Dell Diamond...The teams split their most recent series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark earlier this month, Aug. 6-11. OKC won the first two games before the Express won three straight and OKC won the series finale, 3-0...Round Rock won a three-game series between the teams July 19-21 following the All-Star Break at Dell Diamond. OKC won the series opener, 10-6, but was held to one run over the final two games as the Express won, 2-1, in 10 innings July 20 and then won, 4-0, July 21...The teams played a six-game series in OKC June 4-9, which the teams split, 3-3...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...Through the first 21 games against the Express, Andre Lipcius led OKC with 24 hits and tied Ryan Ward with a team-best 17 RBI. Lipcius also had six homers against the Express entering this series...The teams met in the 2023 PCL Championship Series as OKC swept Round Rock in two games for OKC's first league title since 1996...OKC won the 2023 regular-season series, 14-4...With last night's win, OKC secured a win in a fourth straight season series against the Express as OKC has a 14-12 lead with one game remaining. Round Rock last won a season series against OKC in 2019 (6-10).

Fab Four: Jacob deGrom is scheduled to start for Round Rock today for the second time this series as he continues a Major League Rehab Assignment. On Tuesday night, deGrom retired all six batters he faced across the first two innings, as he became the fourth multiple Cy Young Award winner to pitch in a game involving Oklahoma City while on a Major League Rehab Assignment this season. The two-time Cy Young Award winner (2018, 2019), four-time MLB All-Star and 2014 National League Rookie of the Year joins Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell and Max Scherzer to have pitched for or against OKC this season while on a rehab assignment. Kershaw pitched with OKC July 13 against El Paso and July 19 in Round Rock, while OKC squared off against Snell in Sacramento May 17 and faced Scherzer with Round Rock at home June 9...The triumvirate of Snell, Scherzer and deGrom has combined for 11.0 innings against OKC and has not allowed a run while holding OKC to one hit with two walks and 17 strikeouts...Among active MLB players, deGrom owns the top career WHIP at 0.99, ranks second with a 2.53 ERA and ranks fourth with 10.96 strikeouts per nine innings.

August Anecdotes : Last night's victory in 10 innings gave OKC a 17-10 record in August for the team's most wins in a month since May 2023 when OKC went 18-8...OKC has now won 14 of its last 18 games as well as 11 of the last 14 games. OKC is 17-7 since Aug. 4 and owns the best record in all of Triple-A during the stretch...OKC entered its Aug. 4 game in El Paso with a 52-55 record overall and 12-20 mark in the second half. Now 24 games later, OKC's overall record sits at seven games above .500 at 69-62 and OKC is 29-27 in the second half to match its high mark of the second half at two games above .500. OKC is also now 3.5 games out of a playoff berth with 19 games remaining, including 12 head-to-head games against teams ahead of OKC in the standings...Before the recent turnaround, OKC went 15-28 from June 12-Aug. 3...OKC won five games in each of its last two series against El Paso and in Las Vegas as the team won back-to-back six-game series for the third time this season and first time since April 23-29 in Albuquerque (4-2) and April 30-May 5 against Salt Lake (4-2). With a win today, OKC can win three straight series for the first time this season...Even with two losses in Round Rock this week, OKC is 9-3 over the last 12 road games...OKC's overall record was last eight games above .500 following a June 13 loss in Sugar Land (37-29).

Close Calls : Oklahoma City and Round Rock played extra innings for the second time in four games last night, as Round Rock previously won Wednesday, 4-3, in 10 innings. OKC improved to 5-4 in extra innings this season and 2-4 on the road with Saturday's win...Last night marked the fourth straight night and eighth time in the last nine games that a game was decided by one or two runs. Overall, 65 of OKC's 131 games this season have been decided by two runs or less (49.6 percent) - most in the PCL, as OKC surpassed Sugar Land's 64 games decided by two runs or less Saturday...Although OKC owns a 19-16 mark in one- and two-run games at home, the team is just 13-17 on the road, but the team has captured back-to-back one-run wins the last two nights...Each of OKC's last three losses and five of the team's last six losses have been by one or two runs, while four of the team's last five victories have been by two runs or less.

Rush Hour : Dalton Rushing had Saturday night off and has reached base in each of his first 22 Triple-A Games since his promotion from Double-A Tulsa Aug. 6. His current on-base streak is tied with teammate Andre Lipcius for the longest active on-base streak in the PCL and is the longest by an OKC player since Drew Avans reached base in 24 straight games July 4-Aug. 6. It's the second-longest on-base streak in Rushing's professional career as he compiled a 29-game on-base streak with High-A Great Lakes last season from April 7-May 14, 2023. Going back to his time with Tulsa, he has reached base in 24 consecutive games...The catcher/outfielder is slashing .308/.439/.551 since joining OKC Aug. 6. His 17 walks are tied for most in the league during that time, while his 19 runs scored are third, his .439 OBP is fourth and his five homers are tied for fifth...Rushing is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Dodgers organization by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline while being ranked No. 36 overall by the former and No. 39 by the latter.

Andre the Giant : Andre Lipcius went 1-for-3 with a RBI single and two walks last night. He extended his on-base streak to 22 games - tied with teammate Dalton Rushing for the longest active streak in the PCL. Lipcius also extended his current hitting streak to eight games (9x35) for the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player...This is Lipcius' third hitting streak of the season of at least eight games and is one game shy of his season-best nine-game hitting streak June 15-25...This is his longest on-base streak since last season with Triple-A Toledo when he reached base in 23 straight games June 30-Aug. 29, 2023...Lipcius ranks second in the PCL this season with 138 hits, second with 236 total bases, while his 23 homers and 83 RBI rank sixth and his 50 extra-base hits are tied for sixth.

Climbing the Charts : Drew Avans hit a RBI single and scored a run in the 10th inning Saturday night. He is now 13 hits away from tying Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) as the Bricktown-era career leader in hits (448) with 19 games remaining this season. Throughout 2024, Avans has established new Bricktown-era career records for runs scored (333), walks (256) and triples (26). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 455 career games, 435 hits and 115 stolen bases, while ranking third in doubles (80). Dransfeldt is the Bricktown-era leader in both games (502) and hits (448).

Mound Matters : OKC's overall streak of six straight games allowing four or fewer runs came to an end last night, but the team has held opponents to just 19 runs over the last seven games (17 ER). OKC has allowed three or fewer runs in nine of the last 12 games (34 R), and the team's 31 earned runs allowed since Aug. 18 are fewest in the PCL. OKC owns a 2.58 ERA during the 12-game stretch...Since Aug. 6, OKC's 3.40 ERA is lowest in the league over the 23 games, holding opponents to three runs or less in 13 of the 23 games and four runs or less in 15 of the last 23 games. The team's 88 total runs allowed are second-fewest in the league behind Sugar Land (86 R)...OKC's pitching staff racked up 11 more strikeouts Saturday and OKC now has 67 strikeouts over the last six games.

Around the Horn : Today marks OKC's first day game since July 14 vs. El Paso. The team is 13-7 in day games this season...Alex Freeland collected OKC's only multi-hit game Saturday, going 2-for-4 with a home run - his second with OKC and his 15th of the season overall...OKC's 28 homers since Aug. 11 are tied for most in the PCL with Tacoma although OKC has been held to two homers over the last four games...OKC has won five straight series finales overall and is 8-4 in road series finales this season, winning each of the last two.

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