PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - September 14, 2024

Published on September 14, 2024 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (35-32/78-64)

at Oklahoma City Baseball Club (33-34/73-69)

Game #143 of 150/Second Half #68 of 75/Home #74 of 75

Pitching Probables: TAC-RHP Blas Castano (5-3, 4.68) vs. OKC-RHP Carlos Duran (NR, -.--)

Saturday, September 14, 2024 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KOKQ-FM 94.7, q947fm.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv, Bally Live

Today's Game : The Oklahoma City Baseball Club looks to regain the lead in its series against the Tacoma Rainiers when the teams meet for the fifth time in their six-game series at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The series is tied, 2-2, after OKC won the first two games and Tacoma followed with wins each of the last two nights...¡Celebración Cielo Azul! presented by OG&E continues tonight. Gates open at 5 p.m. and the first 1,000 fans will receive a Cielo Azul sugar skull bobblehead presented by Lime.

Last Game : The Tacoma Rainiers scored eight runs between the fourth and fifth innings as they overcame an early deficit to defeat the Oklahoma City Baseball Club, 10-5, Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma City built a 4-1 lead through three innings. Ryan Ward gave OKC a quick lead, swatting a three-run homer onto the Miller Lite Landing in left field for his 30th home run of the season. Tacoma loaded the bases in the second inning and brought in a run on a bases-loaded walk. James Outman hit a solo home run out to right field in the third inning to push OKC's lead to 4-1. Tacoma then scored five runs on two hits and four walks in the fourth inning, including a bases-clearing double by Jason Vosler with two outs and two strikes. A three-run home run by Tacoma's Samad Taylor in the fifth inning - also with two outs and two strikes - extended the Rainiers' lead to 9-4. Drew Avans connected on a RBI double in the sixth inning to cut into the deficit. Tacoma added a run in the ninth inning on a single coupled with an OKC throwing error to make it 10-5.

Today's Probable Pitcher : Carlos Duran joins OKC to start tonight's game and make his Triple-A debut...Duran most recently pitched with Double-A Tulsa after starting the season with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. With the Drillers, Duran made 11 starts after joining the team in early July. He owned a 3.05 ERA with 48 strikeouts and 18 walks over 38.1 innings, going 0-4. From July 4 to the time of his transfer Sept. 14, Duran was tied for the Drillers team lead with 11 starts and ranked third with 48 K's, while his 38.1 IP ranked fourth...Duran last pitched for Tulsa Sept. 7 against San Antonio, allowing two runs and five hits over 3.0 innings with four walks and four strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of Tulsa's 5-4 win in 11 innings...He has allowed eight earned runs over his last three outings (11.1 IP) after holding opponents to five earned runs and six total runs over his first eight appearances with Tulsa (27.0 IP) as he posted a 1.67 ERA from July 4-Aug. 21...Duran made his first seven starts of the season with Rancho Cucamonga, going 0-2 with a 4.61 ERA and 22 strikeouts over 13.2 innings...Duran sat out the 2023 season due to recovery from Tommy John surgery...Duran made 14 appearances (13 starts) for High-A Great Lakes in 2022, going 1-3 with a 4.25 ERA and 1.38 WHIP over 48.2 innings...The native of Nauga, Dominican Republic was originally signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent in March 2018...Tonight will mark the third consecutive game a pitcher is making his first start with OKC this season, and Duran will be the third pitcher in three days to make his Triple-A debut.

Against the Rainiers : 2024: 6-7 2023: 6-9 All-time: 68-73 At OKC: 44-32

The Rainiers and OKC play their third and final series of the season against one another this week as well as their second during the second half of the season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...OKC and Tacoma split a six-game series in Bricktown July 23-28 with OKC winning the final two games of the series in walk-off fashion and by one-run margins...The teams opened the season against one another for a second straight year and the Rainiers won the three-game set, 2-1, at Cheney Stadium taking the first and third games, with all three games decided by one or two runs...Both teams entered the current series having scored 45 runs against one another and OKC hit 10 homers while holding the Rainiers to four homers...Andre Lipcius collected 14 hits against the Rainiers entering the current series and Ryan Ward led OKC with eight RBI...Last season, Tacoma won the season series, 9-6, and the Rainiers were one of three teams OKC posted a losing head-to-head record against, along with Albuquerque and Salt Lake. The Rainiers were also one of two teams to win five out of six games in the same series against OKC last season Aug. 8-13 at Cheney Stadium...OKC has lost back-to-back season series against the Rainiers for the first time since 2006 and 2007...Going back to 2022, OKC is 14-21 over the last 35games against the Rainiers, and Tacoma has won seven of the last 12 games in OKC...Seven of OKC's last 11 home wins against the Rainiers have been walk-off victories, including four straight.

Down the Stretch: With a loss last night coupled with a win by Reno, Oklahoma City has dropped to 5.5 games out of a playoff spot with eight games remaining in the 2024 season. Entering today's slate, there are four teams separated by 2.0 games chasing the second-place Reno Aces, including OKC. Sugar Land won the first half PCL title in June and currently leads the second-half standings by 2.0 games ahead of Reno. However, if the Space Cowboys also win the second half, the second-place team in the second half will advance to the postseason. With last night's win in OKC, Tacoma remains 3.5 games behind the Aces in third place, while Las Vegas is 4.0 games back in fourth place and OKC and Salt Lake are tied for fifth place and sit 5.5 games behind the Aces...OKC has two home games remaining against Tacoma before finishing the season with six games next week in Salt Lake.

The Rest is History: Drew Avans finished last night's game with two hits, going 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and scored a run. His sixth-inning RBI double marked the 448th hit of his career, moving him into a tie with Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) as the Bricktown-era career hits leader with eight games remaining in the season. However, Avans is not expected to play the next two games and will be away from the team...Avans now has four straight multi-hit games (8x21) and has hit safely in five straight games, going 9-for-24. Last night marked his 40th multi-hit game of the season...Throughout this season, Avans has established new Bricktown-era (since 1998) career records for runs scored (340), walks (257) and triples (26). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 466 career games and 116 stolen bases, while ranking third in doubles (84)...Avans now has 133 hits this season, setting a new career high. Avans leads the PCL with 100 runs scored - also a career-high - and he ranks second with 76 walks, tied for second with eight triples, fifth in hits and sixth in stolen bases (34). He is the fifth player in OKC's Bricktown era with 100 or more runs scored in one season and is within striking distance of the single-season record of 103 set by Esteban Germán in 2005.

The Warden: Ryan Ward hit his league-leading 30th home run of the season with a three-run shot in the first inning Friday, ending a 19-game drought. With the homer, he became just the fifth Oklahoma City player during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) to hit 30 or more home runs in a season and the first since Jason Martin hit 32 home runs in 2022...His 30 Triple-A homers rank second-most among all Triple-A players this season. He also hit a home run in the Arizona Complex League as part of a rehab assignment in May and his career-high 31 total homers in 2024 rank third overall in the Minors...With three RBI Friday, Ward also set a new career-high mark for RBI in a season with 97, including three RBI while on rehab assignment. His 94 RBI with OKC this season ranks third overall in the PCL. Ward is just the second player in OKC's Bricktown era to record back-to-back 94-plus RBI seasons, as he finished 2023 with 95 RBI. Scott Sheldon had 96 RBI in 1998 followed by 97 RBI in 1999.

Mound Matters : Oklahoma City allowed 10 runs Friday for the first time since a 10-2 loss in El Paso July 30 and for the first time at home since July 23, also against Tacoma during a 10-4 loss. OKC has now allowed six or more runs in five straight games (37 R) for the first time since a six-game stretch July 30-Aug. 4 in El Paso (43 R). OKC last allowed six or more runs in five consecutive home games as part of a six-game stretch starting Aug. 6, 2023 with a 17-7 win against Round Rock, followed by five straight losses to Albuquerque Aug. 22-26, 2023 in OKC during which the Isotopes scored at least six runs in each game. OKC allowed 47 runs during the six-game home stretch...Entering Sunday's 7-2 loss to Sugar Land, OKC had allowed four runs or less in three straight games as well as in 15 of the last 18 games, including 12 games with three or fewer runs allowed. OKC posted a 2.83 ERA over the 18-game span and had allowed as many as six runs just twice...Following a streak of 17 consecutive scoreless innings between Sept. 5-7, OKC has allowed 41 runs and 60 hits over the last 53 innings. The team has also allowed 45 walks in that span (1.98 WHIP) and at least two batters have reached base in 27 of the 53 innings. OKC has recorded just three 1-2-3 innings during that time and has not retired the side in order in 27 straight innings entering tonight. Over those 27 innings, the first two batters of an inning have both been retired just five times and the leadoff batter has reached base in 19 of the 27 innings, including nine leadoff walks. Tacoma's leadoff batter has reached base in 10 of the last 13 innings (5 H, 5 BB)...Oklahoma City issued 10 walks Friday to match the team's season-high mark for walks in a game. It was the second time this series OKC allowed 10 walks (also Sept. 11) and third time during the second half of the season as OKC also issued 10 walks Aug. 9 against Round Rock...OKC has now issued 28 walks over the last three games with at least eight in each game, marking the team's highest three-game walk total during the MLBAM era (since 2005)...OKC has been charged with a blown save in each of the last four games after notching just one blown save in the entire month of August (27 G) and four total blown saves between July and August (50 G).

Dinger Details : Oklahoma City hit two home runs and has now hit four home runs over the last three games following a season-high four-game drought and hitting just five homers over the previous 12 games. With homers by Ryan Ward and James Outman Friday, OKC had its first multi-homer game since Sept. 3 against Sugar Land when OKC had two homers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...OKC's seven home runs since Sept. 1 (11 G) are tied for fewest in the league with Round Rock...On the other hand, Tacoma homered Friday, but OKC has allowed just two homers over the last four games and four over the last seven games. OKC's seven homers allowed since Sept. 1 are fewest in the PCL. However, all of those home runs have been hit with at least one runner on base.

Up to Kode : Kody Hoese did not play last night but picked up a hit Thursday and has hit safely in four straight games (5x17). On Wednesday, Hoese recorded two hits and four RBI - matching his season-high RBI first set Aug. 14 in Las Vegas - including the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning...Since Aug. 1, Hoese paces OKC in almost all offensive categories - batting .308 with 36 hits, seven homers, 10 doubles, 18 extra-base hits and 26 RBI, while posting a .590 SLG and .981 OPS with 22 runs (tied for first). His extra-base hits rank tied for third in the league, his doubles are tied for fourth, his SLG is fifth, his 26 RBI are tied for seventh and his OPS is eighth in the PCL during that time...Overall this season, Hoese leads OKC with 32 doubles - third-most in the league overall.

Around the Horn : Andre Lipcius is 5-for-13 in the current series after picking up a hit Friday. He has now reached base in 31 of his last 32 games...Alan Trejo has hit safely in five straight games, tying Drew Avans for the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player. Trejo is 6-for-18 with a home run during the stretch...Hunter Feduccia had Friday night off but is 7-for-14 with three doubles over his last four games...Last night, OKC committed just its third error over the last 15 games.

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from September 14, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central