OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - September 17, 2024
September 17, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release
Oklahoma City Baseball Club (35-34/75-69)
at Salt Lake Bees (33-36/65-78)
Game #145 of 150/Second Half #70 of 75/Road #70 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Hyun-il Choi (4-5, 4.21) vs. SL-RHP Davis Daniel (8-7, 5.63)
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 | Smith's Ballpark | Salt Lake City, Utah | 7:35 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv, Bally Live
Today's Game : The Oklahoma City Baseball Club opens its final series of the 2024 season at 7:35 p.m. CT against the Salt Lake Bees at Smith's Ballpark. Oklahoma City has won back-to-back games as well as four of the last six games...OKC is 36-33 on the road this season with six road games remaining. OKC has finished with a winning road record each of the last three seasons.
Last Game : James Outman hit two home runs and racked up five RBI as the Oklahoma City Baseball Club defeated the Tacoma Rainiers, 6-4, Sunday afternoon in OKC's final home game of the season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tacoma built an early 2-0 lead on a RBI single by Jason Vosler in the first inning and a RBI double by Jake Slaughter in the third inning. Oklahoma City took the lead in the bottom of the third inning, scoring three runs. Austin Gauthier hit a RBI double before Outman followed with a two-run home run out to center field. In the fifth inning, Outman belted another two-run home run, this time out to right-center field, for a 5-2 OKC lead. Outman tacked on a RBI single in the seventh inning for his fifth RBI of the day and a 6-2 OKC advantage. Tacoma scored twice in the eighth inning and had the tying runs on base with none out before reliever Jack Dreyer entered the game and prevented the Rainiers from scoring further.
Today's Probable Pitcher : Hyun-il Choi (4-5) is set to start tonight's road series opener and tie Ben Casparius for the team lead in starts (14)...Choi last pitched Sept. 10 against Tacoma, piggybacking Tony Gonsolin's rehab start. Choi tossed 4.0 innings of relief, allowing three runs and five hits with two walks and three strikeouts, with all three runs scoring in the fifth inning. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's 7-6 walk-off win in 10 innings. It was the first time in Choi's last four outings to allow more than two earned runs...In his last start Sept. 4 against Sugar Land, he allowed one run and five hits over five innings, but was charged with the loss in OKC's 8-3 defeat. He issued one walk and recorded six strikeouts...Overall with OKC, Choi is 4-5 with a 4.21 ERA over 68.1 IP with 51 K's and 29 walks in 14 appearances (13 starts). He has also made nine appearances with Tulsa (seven starts) this season, going 1-5 with a 6.05 ERA over 41.2 IP with 46 K's and eight walks...Even with Choi splitting the season between OKC and Tulsa, he currently ranks second among OKC pitchers in starts and innings (68.1 IP)...He 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...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 finished with a 0.97 WHIP....He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent in August 2018...Choi started against Salt Lake May 4 in Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, allowing one run and no hits over six innings with four walks and three strikeouts. Choi was in line for the win as OKC carried a no-hit bid into the ninth inning, but Salt Lake scored twice and registered two hits in the ninth inning to tie the game before OKC won, 5-4, in 11 innings.
Against the Bees : 2024: 4-2 2023: 4-7 All-time: 75-68 At SL: 33-36
OKC and the Bees are finishing the season against one another for the second time in three seasons...The teams have not played each other since April 30-May 5 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with OKC winning four of the final five games...OKC hit six homers in the first series and did not allow one by the Bees as OKC outscored Salt Lake, 25-17, over the six games. Andre Lipcius led OKC with seven hits, while three players finished with four RBI, including Ryan Ward, who also homered twice in the series. The Bees never exceeded four runs and were held to three runs or less in four of six games...Salt Lake won last season's series between the teams, 7-4, including four of six games at Smith's Ballpark. It marked the first time since 2013 that OKC lost a season series to the Bees, as OKC had gone 7-0-1 in season series against Salt Lake during that time. Scoring in the season series ended up fairly even in 2023, with the Bees finishing with a 69-67 advantage in runs...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers in 2015, the team owns a 36-23 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series...This is also the final series to be played at Smith's Ballpark as the Bees will play at the new Daybreak Field in 2025.
Down the Stretch: Oklahoma City sits 4.5 games out of a playoff spot with only six games remaining in the 2024 season and the team's elimination number down to two. Entering today's slate, there are three teams separated by 1.5 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. Las Vegas sits in third place, 3.0 games behind Reno, while OKC and Tacoma are 4.5 games back in a tie for fourth place..
Out of Sight: James Outman hit two home runs and drove in five of OKC's six runs Sunday as he went 3-for-4. The multi-homer game was the second of the season, as he also hit two home runs in Las Vegas Aug. 18. Outman's five RBI also tied his season high initially set in the same game Aug. 18 at Las Vegas...Outman now has three home runs over his last three games and over his last six games is 8-for-25 (.320)...Overall this season, Outman has hit 15 home runs with OKC and 19 total, including four homers with the Los Angeles Dodgers...In September, Outman is batting .306 (15x49) over 13 games with four home runs and 12 RBI. He leads OKC in hits, home runs and RBI so far this month.
Dinger Details : Oklahoma City hit two home runs Sunday - both by James Outman - and OKC has now hit eight home runs over the last five games following a season-high four-game drought and hitting just five homers over the previous 12 games...This is OKC's longest streak of consecutive games with a home run since a nine-game stretch Aug. 11-21 (19 HR) and OKC has recorded three straight multi-homer games for the first time since Aug. 16-18 at Las Vegas (10 HR). On Sunday, Outman singlehandedly doubled the amount of home runs OKC had hit with a runner on base over the previous 16 games combined...On the other hand, OKC has allowed just two homers over the last six games and four over the last nine games. OKC's seven homers allowed since Sept. 1 are fewest in the PCL and tied for second-fewest in Triple-A during the span. However, all of those home runs have been hit with at least one runner on base.
On the Mend: Pitchers Tony Gonsolin, Joe Kelly and Connor Brogdon all continued their Major League Rehab Assignments Sunday...Gonsolin made the second start of his rehab assignment and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing two runs and five hits with one walk and three strikeouts. He faced 15 batters and threw 50 pitches (34 strikes). Gonsolin underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2023 and has spent this entire 2024 season rehabbing...Kelly made the second appearance of his rehab assignment with OKC and picked up the win Sunday. He retired all three batters faced across the third and fourth innings, including two strikeouts. He threw 11 pitches (nine strikes). He was placed on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List Aug. 31 with right shoulder inflammation...Connor Brogdon earned the save for OKC Sunday, retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth inning with one strikeout. He threw 13 pitches (eight strikes).
Up to Kode : Kody Hoese finished Sunday with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a walk to extend his hitting streak to six games - the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player. Over his six-game streak, Hoese is batting 8-for-25 (.320) with five RBI...Since Aug. 1, Hoese paces OKC in almost all offensive categories - batting .312 with 39 hits, 10 doubles, 18 extra-base hits, 23 runs scored and 26 RBI, while posting a .576 SLG and .970 OPS with seven homers (tied for first). His extra-base hits rank tied for fifth in the league, his doubles are tied for sixth, his SLG is seventh, his OPS is eighth, his AVG is ninth and his RBI and 72 total bases are tied for ninth in the PCL during that time...Overall this season, Hoese leads OKC with 32 doubles - third-most in the league overall.
Lip Service : Andre Lipcius recorded a hit and walk Sunday as he has now hit safely in five straight games (8x21) and has reached base in 33 of his last 34 games...He homered Saturday for his career-high 25th home run of the season, nearly doubling his previous career high of 13, set last season...He leads the PCL with 147 hits, also setting a new career high...His 252 total bases also pace the PCL, while his 25 homers are tied for fifth in the league, his 86 RBI rank sixth and his 53 extra-base hits are tied for sixth.
The Rest is History: After missing the last two games, Drew Avans is expected to return to the team today. He currently is tied with Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) as the Bricktown-era career hits leader with 448 hits...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...Avans has recorded four straight multi-hit games (8x21) and has hit safely in five straight games (9x24). He has 40 multi-hit games overall this season - second on the team behind Andre Lipcius' 42 multi-hit games.
The Warden: Ryan Ward leads the PCL with 30 home runs and ranks third with 95 RBI. On Friday, Ward became just the fifth OKC player during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) to hit 30 or more homers in a season and the first since Jason Martin in 2022 (32 HR). He is one of five players across the Minors with at least 30 homers and he has 31 total homers - third-most in the Minors - including one he hit during a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League...Ward is just the second player in OKC's Bricktown era to record back-to-back 95-plus RBI seasons, as he finished 2023 with 95 RBI. Scott Sheldon had 96 RBI in 1998 followed by 97 RBI in 1999.
Around the Horn: OKC finished the season with a 39-36 record at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with Sunday's victory. OKC recorded its 20th winning record at home in 26 seasons at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Oklahoma City played its 71st game of the season decided by two runs or less on Sunday - tied with Sugar Land for most in the league. OKC is 36-35 in games decided by two runs or less and nine of OKC's last 12 wins have come by two runs or less...OKC is 5-1 in its last six series openers but is 13-13 overall in series openers in 2024.
• Discuss this story on the Pacific Coast League message board...
Pacific Coast League Stories from September 17, 2024
- September 17 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Round Rock Express - Tacoma Rainiers
- OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - September 17, 2024 - Oklahoma City Baseball Club
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.
