PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 10, 2022

Published on April 10, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Albuquerque Isotopes (1-4) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (4-1)

Game #6 of 150/Home #6 of 75

Pitching Probables: ABQ-RHP Ryan Feltner (0-0, 0.00) vs. OKC-RHP Ryan Pepiot (0-0, 0.00)

Sunday, April 10, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 2:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers close out their season-opening series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 2:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Kids can run the bases following the game's conclusion...The Dodgers have won three straight games and lead the series, 4-1.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored 12 straight runs on the way to a 12-5 win Saturday night against the Albuquerque Isotopes at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Trailing, 3-0, in the second inning, the Dodgers then scored 12 runs over the next four innings. A two-run double by Jason Martin and RBI triple by Zach McKinstry tied the game, 3-3, in the second inning. Oklahoma City scored five runs over the next two innings, including a solo homer by Jake Lamb and a two-run double by Andy Burns. With an 8-3 lead, the Dodgers added four additional runs in the fifth inning on a fielder's choice and a three-run homer out to left-center field by Kevin Pillar for a 12-3 advantage. The Isotopes tacked on two additional runs via Scott Schebler's solo homer in the seventh inning and his sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryan Pepiot (0-0) makes his second start of the season in today's series finale...Pepiot took the mound for his first career Opening Day start Tuesday and pitched 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk with three strikeouts. He retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced overall, including 11 of the final 12, on a total of 49 pitches across his four frames...Pepiot entered the season tabbed as the Los Angeles Dodgers' No. 5 prospect by Baseball America and No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline. Both publications also rank him as the second-best pitching prospect in the organization...In 2021, Pepiot started the season with Double-A Tulsa and appeared in 15 games (13 starts) with the Drillers, posting a 3-4 record with a 2.87 ERA and 81 strikeouts before appearing in 11 games (nine starts) with OKC to end the season. He was promoted July 31, reaching Triple-A after just 28 career games (23 starts)...Overall, Pepiot encountered some struggles in his first taste of Triple-A, going 2-5 with a 7.13 ERA, .305 BAA and 1.80 WHIP...Pepiot is entering his fourth season in the Dodgers organization after being selected in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University, becoming the highest-drafted player in program history...In 2021, Pepiot made two starts against Albuquerque, allowing a combined nine runs and 15 hits (4 HR) over 7.2 innings with seven strikeouts against three walks.

Against the Isotopes: 2022: 4-1 2021: 9-9 All-time: 120-100 At OKC: 70-39 The Dodgers and Isotopes open the 2022 season with a six-game series, marking just the second time since the teams started competing against one another in 2003 that they have opened a season against each other. The teams previously played a season-opening series in 2010 in OKC, splitting the series, 2-2, with Albuquerque winning the opener, 6-3, in 13 innings...The teams split their 2021 season series, 9-9. The first 12 games were played in Albuquerque before the series shifted to OKC for the final six games. The Isotopes won seven of the first 12 games before OKC won the final series, 4-2, including the final two games between the teams...The Dodgers averaged 7.5 runs per game and hit 29 homers over the 18-game series in 2021...Matt Davidson led the Dodgers with 14 hits in the 2021 series, including four homers, along with a team-best 16 RBI...The Dodgers have not lost a season series to Albuquerque since 2017, going a combined 6-0 against the Isotopes in 2018 and 2019 prior to last season's split...Going back to 2012, OKC is 28-7 at home against the Isotopes over the last 35 games.

Familiar Faces: Albuquerque's current roster features four former Oklahoma City players: Zach Lee (2015-16), Zach Neal (2018), Carlos Pérez (2013-14) and Scott Schebler (2015). Lee was the staff ace of the 2015 team, going 11-6 with a 2.70 ERA. He and Schebler both were part of a squad that finished the season with the league's best record at 86-58. Neal and Pérez each played on division-winning teams in 2018 and 2013, respectively...Although he's not a former OKC player, starting pitcher Dillon Overton is from nearby Weatherford, Okla., and played for the University of Oklahoma.

Early Success: Five games into the season, the Dodgers are 4-1 for the first time since the 2018. In 2021, OKC did not pick up its fourth win until the 16th game of the season and didn't reach four wins in 2019 until the eighth game. (The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)...OKC last opened a season with wins in five of its first six games in 2018 when the team started 10-1...They also hold sole possession of first place in the Pacific Coast League East Division, marking the first time since the last game of the 2018 season that the Dodgers have been alone in first place at any point.

Zach Attack: Zach McKinstry tripled for a second straight game Saturday and went 4-for-5 with a RBI and scored two runs. It was his third career four-hit game, with the last occurring Aug. 9, 2019 vs. Tacoma...McKinstry has a team-leading nine hits over the last four games (9x17), including two doubles and two triples, with a team-best six RBI...His nine hits are second-most in the PCL while his six RBI are tied for third. His two triples are most in the league and his four total extra-base hits are tied for most. His 1.311 OPS is second-highest in the PCL...In 71 career games with OKC, McKinstry has slashed .325/.398/.616 with 83 hits, 14 homers, 39 extra-base hits, 56 runs and 53 RBI.

Jason Bourne: Jason Martin has now hit safely in each of his first five games of the season and is currently one of three players in the league who have started 2022 on a five-game hitting streak, joining Las Vegas' Nick Allen and Sugar Land's Pedro León. He went 2-for-5 Saturday with a double, two RBI and two runs scored and is now 7-for-18 this season. Martin has a team-best six runs scored - second-most in the PCL - seven total hits and five RBI. His three doubles are tied for the league lead...Martin blasted OKC's first homer of the season when he connected on a walk-off home run in the team's season opener Tuesday night.

First Offense: The 12 runs scored by the Dodgers Saturday were the most for the team since a 13-4 win in Las Vegas Sept. 24, 2021. It marked the team's highest run total in a home game since also scoring 12 runs Sept. 6, 2021 against the Isotopes in a 12-5 win...OKC's 14 hits Saturday were also the most since that Sept. 24 win in Las Vegas when they tallied 15 hits and the most in a home game since that Sept. 6 game against Albuquerque in which they had 16 hits...The Dodgers hit two home runs Saturday for their first multi-homer game of the season and now have five homers through their first five games.

RISPy Business: The Dodgers went 5-for-16 with runners in scoring position Saturday and are 11-for-33 with RISP in the last two games combined after going 6-for-30 total over the first three games of the season...The Dodgers pitching staff has held the Isotopes 5-for-44 with runners in scoring position over the first five games of the series, including 3-for-the-last-36.

The Grand Strand: Over the last four games, the OKC pitching staff has retired the side in order just twice and did not complete a 1-2-3 inning last night, but they have stranded 40 Albuquerque baserunners during that span. The Isotopes have had the leadoff batter reach base in 15 of 36 innings, resulting in eight runs. However, the Dodgers did retire the leadoff batter in each of the first eight innings last night.

Triple Triples: The Dodgers have hit three triples over the last two games, including two by Zach McKinstry and one by Drew Avans. OKC is the first team with three triples in the Pacific Coast League this season...Last season, OKC finished with a league-low 23 triples in 129 games.

Stay on the Mound: With the implementation of the universal designated hitter across Major League Baseball and its Minor League affiliates, OKC is playing with a DH in all its games for the first time since 2014. Last year when the Dodgers played American League affiliates and used a DH, the position slashed a collective .269/.344/.524 with 18 homers and 59 RBI over 75 games. Through the first five games this season, DH's are a combined 4-for-20. Yesterday's DH, Kevin Pillar, went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer.

Around the Horn: Today is the first of 27 scheduled day games this season. The Dodgers went 6-6 in day games in 2021...Eddy Alvarez, Jake Lamb and Kevin Pillar each collected their first multi-hit game of the season last night, going a combined 6-for-12 with two homers, six RBI and seven runs...Ryan Noda reached base in all four of his plate appearances last night with a single, two walks and hit by pitch. He's now reached base in eight of his last nine plate appearances and is off to a 4-for-11 start with five walks over his first 17 plate appearances...Jake Lamb became the first Dodger to score three times in one game this season. It's the first time he's done that since July 7, 2018 with Arizona against San Diego. Oddly enough, Lamb went 0-for-4 in that game, although he did draw two walks.

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