OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - September 19, 2024
September 19, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release
Oklahoma City Baseball Club (36-35/76-70)
at Salt Lake Bees (34-37/66-79)
Game #147 of 150/Second Half #72 of 75/Road #72 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Jordan Lyles (0-1, 6.94) vs. SL-RHP Brett Kerry (3-2, 5.68)
Thursday, September 19, 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 has won three of its last four games and will look to take the lead in its final series of the season at 7:35 p.m. CT at Smith's Ballpark. The six-game series is currently tied, 1-1...OKC has four road games remaining in the 2024 season and is 37-24 on the road. OKC has finished with a winning road record each of the last three seasons and the team's 37 current road wins are tied for second-most in the league this season. Regardless of the results of the final four games, OKC will finish with at least 37 road wins for a fourth straight season...With last night's win, OKC has clinched a winning record for the 20th time in 26 seasons during the Bricktown era, including 11 of the last 12 seasons and eight of nine seasons as a Dodgers affiliate.
Last Game : Jon Duplantier tossed six perfect innings and the offense piled up 23 hits, including five home runs, as the Oklahoma City Baseball Club defeated the Salt Lake Bees, 20-6, Wednesday night at Smith's Ballpark. Oklahoma City tallied seven runs in the first inning. James Outman hit a two-run double, and OKC scored an additional run on a fielding error to go ahead 3-0. Alex Freeland then connected on a three-run homer and Drew Avans finished the rally with a RBI single. Andre Lipcius made it 9-0 with a two-run single in the third inning. Ryan Ward and Alan Trejo hit back-to-back home runs to put OKC up 12-0 in the sixth inning before Avans hit a three-run blast later in the inning. James Outman went deep in the seventh inning to extend the lead to 16-0. Salt Lake did not have a hit until a two-run single by Shane Matheny with two outs in the seventh inning made it a 16-2 game. OKC added four more runs between the eighth and ninth innings against position player Willie Calhoun. The Bees scored four runs in the ninth inning before the game wrapped up.
Today's Probable Pitcher : Jordan Lyles (0-1) makes his fifth appearance with OKC and fourth start...Although he has remained on the active roster, Lyles has not appeared in a game in 12 days. He most recently pitched Sept. 7 against Sugar Land in OKC, piggybacking starter Ben Casparius. Over 2.2 innings, he allowed three runs and six hits with three walks and two strikeouts and was charged with the loss in OKC's 4-1 defeat...He last started and tossed three scoreless innings in Round Rock Sept. 1, allowing three hits and one walk with three strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC's 9-1 win...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 and made his OKC debut Aug. 7...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 Bees : 2024: 5-3 2023: 4-7 All-time: 76-69 At SL: 34-37
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 37-24 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...Going back to 2022, OKC is just 3-7 in the last 10 games in Salt Lake as well as 4-8 over the last 12 games.
The Roaring 20s: Oklahoma City reached at least 20 runs for the third time this season - the most games in which OKC scored 20 or more runs in a single season during the Bricktown era. OKC also scored 22 runs May 9 in Sugar Land and 21 runs April 25 in Albuquerque. OKC has scored 20 or more runs in a game 11 times during the Bricktown era (since 1998), including the three times this season. The only other time OKC has scored 20 or more runs in multiple games during the same season since 1998 was in 2022 when OKC scored 20 runs Aug. 14, 2022 against Round Rock and again Sept. 11, 2022 against Tacoma...Additionally, OKC set a season high with 23 hits last night, marking just the eighth game in the Bricktown Era in which OKC had 23 or more hits and the first time it occurred since Sept. 1, 2007 at Albuquerque...Seven of OKC's hits went for extra bases Wednesday for the team's highest extra-base hit total since recording nine Aug. 16 in Las Vegas. Included in that total were OKC's five home runs last night, which tied the team's season-high mark from Aug. 16 at Las Vegas...All nine players in Wednesday's OKC lineup hit safely and eight of nine finished with multi-hit games. All nine also scored at least one run and eight of nine collected at least one RBI...OKC scored seven runs in the first inning for the team's seventh inning of seven-plus runs this season, including the third in the last eight road games. It was the team's highest-scoring first inning since plating nine runs in a first at-bat also against Salt Lake June 13, 2023 at home...OKC's win by 14 runs was the team's second-most lopsided win of the season as OKC defeated Sugar Land May 9 on the road, 22-3.
The Rest is History: Drew Avans went 5-for-6 with a home run, double, five RBI and scored four runs Wednesday night as he tallied the first five-hit game of his career, the first by an OKC player this season and first since Bryson Brigman June 30, 2023 in Sugar Land. Avans also set a season high and tied a career high with his five RBI, last accomplished June 11, 2023 in El Paso...On Tuesday, Avans surpassed Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) as OKC's all-time Bricktown-era career hits leader and now has 455 career hits in four seasons with OKC (since 2021). In addition to hits, Avans has established new Bricktown era career records for runs scored (344), walks (258) and triples (26). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 468 career games and 116 stolen bases, while ranking third in doubles (85)...With his four runs scored last night, he set a new OKC single-season Bricktown-era record for runs in a season with 104, passing Esteban Germán's 103 runs scored in 2005...Avans now has 140 hits this season, setting a new career high...He leads the PCL in runs and ranks second with 77 walks, tied for second with eight triples, fourth in hits and tied for sixth in stolen bases (34)...Avans now has six straight multi-hit games (15x31) and has hit safely in seven straight games, going 16-for-34 (.471) with a home run and four doubles.
Dup There It Is: OKC starting pitcher Jon Duplantier recorded six perfect innings Wednesday night and set a new career high with 12 strikeouts, including each of his final four batters. Duplantier became the ninth pitcher in OKC's Bricktown era with 12 or more strikeouts in a game and his 12 K's were the most by an OKC pitcher since Bobby Miller notched 14 strikeouts Sept. 1, 2022 at Round Rock...His six innings pitched were his most since Sept. 16, 2022 when he tossed six innings in Albuquerque with OKC.
Mound Matters: Once Jon Duplantier exited Wednesday's game, Salt Lake scored six runs over the final three innings. It was the seventh time in the last nine games that OKC allowed six or more runs in a game. OKC has now allowed 61 runs over the last nine games...Four of Salt Lake's runs last night came in the ninth inning and the Bees have recorded innings of four runs or more in each of the first two games of the series. On Tuesday, OKC allowed nine runs in the sixth inning, matching its season high...The Bees are 10-for-17 with runners in scoring position through the first two games of the series...OKC reduced its walk total to three last night, snapping a streak of six straight games with at least five walks. OKC has now handed out 50 walks over the last six games.
Out of Sight: James Outman went 3-for-6 with a home run, a double, three RBI and scored two runs last night. He is 8-for-14 (.571) with five extra-base hits over his last three games and is 13-for-35 (.371) over his last eight games with seven extra-base hits and 11 RBI. He has also hit three home runs over his last three games and four home runs in his last five games...In September, Outman paces OKC with 15 RBI and 12 runs over 15 games. His 20 hits so far this month are tied with Drew Avans for most on the team...His five homers in September are tied for third-most in the PCL, while his 40 total bases are tied for fourth-most, his 1.078 OPS is sixth and his 20 hits and 15 RBI are both tied for sixth.
Lip Service : Andre Lipcius went 3-for-6 with a walk and three RBI Wednesday night to extend his current hitting streak to seven games. During the streak, which is tied with Drew Avans for the longest active streak by an OKC player, Lipcius is batting .387 (12x31). He has also now reached base in 35 of his last 36 games, including a 28-game on-base streak Aug. 4-Sept. 7 - the second-longest by an OKC player this season...Lipcius leads the PCL with 151 total hits and 256 total bases this season. His 89 RBI are tied for fifth, while his 25 home runs and 53 extra-base hits are tied for sixth...His 25 home runs in 2024 have nearly doubled his previous career high of 13 home runs set last season...He has played in a team-leading 136 of OKC's 146 games in 2024.
Dinger Details : OKC matched its season-high mark with five home runs Wednesday and has now hit 13 homers over the last seven games - the most homers by the team over a seven-game span since Aug. 13-20 (17 HR)...Ryan Ward connected on his league-leading 31st home run of the season last night, hitting the first of back-to-back homers in the sixth inning with Alan Trejo - the fifth set of back-to-back homers by OKC this season. Ward is just the fifth OKC player during the Bricktown era (since 1998) to hit at least 31 homers in a season...On the other hand, OKC has not allowed a home run in four consecutive games and has allowed just two homers over the last eight games as well as four homers over the last 11 games. OKC's seven homers allowed since Sept. 1 are fewest in the PCL.
Around the Horn: Alan Trejo went 3-for-6 with his sixth home run of the season and scored two runs last night. He has now hit safely in eight of his last nine games (11x36)...OKC has lost Game 3 of the series each of the last three series, as well as eight of the last nine series and nine of the last 11 series. When tied, 1-1, through two games this season, OKC Is just 3-11 in Game 3.
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