PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 14, 2022

Published on April 14, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (5-3) at El Paso Chihuahuas (5-3)

Game #9 of 150/Road #3 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Beau Burrows (0-0, 0.00)/RHP Sam Gavigilio (1-0, 6.00) vs. ELP-RHP Jesse Scholtens (1-0, 0.00)

Thursday, April 14, 2022 | Southwest University Park | El Paso, Texas | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: After a 5-1 start to the season, the Oklahoma City Dodgers have suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in 2022 and continue their series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 7:35 p.m. Central at Southwest University Park. The teams are meeting for the third time in their six-game series.

Last Game: The El Paso Chihuahuas scored three runs between the fifth and sixth innings to break a 1-1 tie and then held off an Oklahoma City rally in the ninth inning to send the Dodgers to a 4-3 defeat Wednesday night at Southwest University Park. The Dodgers took the game's first lead in the top of the third inning with a triple by Drew Avans and a sac fly by Kevin Pillar. The Chihuahuas tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a homer by Trayce Thompson. El Paso scored twice in the fifth inning to take the lead and added another run on a homer by Brent Rooker in the sixth inning to make it 4-1. The Dodgers strung four straight singles together with one out in the ninth inning to score twice and put the tying run at second base, but each of the next two batters were retired to end the game.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Beau Burrows (0-0) is set to make his second start of the season with the Dodgers...In his team debut April 8 against Albuquerque, he allowed one unearned run, three hits and one walk in 4.0 innings with seven strikeouts in a no decision. It marked his highest single-game strikeout total since April 6, 2019 when he was with Triple-A Toledo against Louisville...Burrows signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Nov. 28, 2021 after playing for both Triple-A Toledo and St. Paul last season, posting a combined 4-6 with a 5.10 ERA and 65 strikeouts over 65.1 innings. He also made five MLB appearances combined for Detroit and Minnesota...Burrows made his MLB debut July 27, 2020 against Kansas City pitching 2.1 innings in relief. He appeared in five total games with Detroit in a COVID-shortened regular season...Burrows was named a 2018 Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star, and in 2017, he was named a Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star as a member of the High-A Lakeland Flying Tigers and was also selected for the 2017 MLB All-Star Futures Game en route to being named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star...He was originally selected by Detroit with the 22nd pick of the first round in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Weatherford High School in Weatherford, Texas.

Sam Gaviglio (1-0) is slated to follow Burrows on the mound and make his second appearance with OKC...Gaviglio piggybacked Burrows April 8 against Albuquerque in OKC, allowing two runs and five hits, including a homer, over 3.0 IP with four K's and was credited with the win in OKC's 8-3 victory...Gaviglio signed with LAD as a free agent Jan. 31, 2022...He began the 2021 season with Round Rock, posting a 2-1 record with a 5.13 ERA over five starts. He recorded 24 strikeouts against only four walks...In June he went overseas to Korea to join the SSG Landers of the KBO. He made 15 starts and finished the season with a 6-4 record, 5.86 ERA and 70 K's...In 2020, Gaviglio made Toronto's Opening Day roster and appeared in four games...He spent the entire 2019 season as a member of Toronto's bullpen, making a career-high 52 appearances...He made his ML debut May 11, 2017 with the Seattle Mariners at Toronto, striking out the first batter he faced...He was selected by St. Louis in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Oregon State University...He made one appearance against El Paso last season with Round Rock, allowing one run and four hits over 5.0 IP with four K's.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2022: 0-2 2021: 14-9 All-time: 28-21 At ELP: 15-11 The Dodgers and Chihuahuas meet for their first series of 2022 and in El Paso for the first time since July 8-13, 2021...The Dodgers won the 2021 series between the teams, 14-9, winning six of the first eight meetings last season. OKC finished out the season series winning three of the final five meetings between the teams during the Triple-A Final Stretch Sept. 29-Oct. 3...The Dodgers posted an 8-4 record in El Paso in 2021...OKC outscored the Chihuahuas, 143-115, and had 37 homers while holding El Paso to 21 home runs over the 23-game season series...Luke Raley led the Dodgers' offense against the Chihuahuas in 2021, batting .333 in the series with 22 hits, including four homers, and 19 RBI...Starting pitcher Yefry Ramírez went 4-0 in five starts against El Paso, recording a team-leading 32 strikeouts against 10 walks while posting a 3.96 ERA over 25.0 IP...Outside of 2018, OKC has won or split each season series against the Chihuahuas since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season. With losses in the first two games of the current series, this marks the first time since OKC started playing games in El Paso beginning in 2015 they have lost consecutive games within the same series across 26 all-time games

First Offense: After scoring at least 11 runs in three straight games for just the second time in the team's Bricktown era (since 1998), the Dodgers were limited to three runs Wednesday to tie their season-low single-game run total and were held to just one run through the first eight innings last night. Entering Wednesday, OKC had scored a combined 35 runs over the previous three games and at least eight runs in four straight games (43 runs total), marking the first time since July 9-11, 2004 in Colorado Springs an OKC team scored 11 or more runs in three consecutive games...The Dodgers did record 11 more hits last night, extending their streak to five straight games with at least 11 hits (63 total hits). Over the last five games, the Dodgers have batted .341 (63x185), including .351 (52x148) in the last four games...The Dodgers' 57 total runs and 84 total hits through the season's first eight games pace all of Triple-A...OKC went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position last night and are 23-for-65 with RISP (.354) in the last five games after going 6-for-30 over the first three games of 2022.

Extra Credit: OKC was held to a season-low two extra-base hits last night after compiling 32 extra-base hits through the team's first seven games of the season. The Dodgers' 34 extra-base hits so far this season lead all Triple-A teams...One of OKC's two extra-base hits last night was a triple, and the team has now hit eight triples over the last five games hit by five different players, including Drew Avans picking up his second of the season last night. Last season, OKC hit a league-low 23 triples in 129 games and didn't record its eighth triple until Aug. 1 at Round Rock - 76 games into the season.

Pillar of Strength: Kevin Pillar extended his hitting streak to six games - the third-longest current streak in the league - going 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly Wednesday. During the streak, Pillar is 10-for-23 (.435) with two homers, six runs and seven RBI. Over the first two games of the current series in El Paso, he is 5-for-7 with a walk and three RBI...His current streak trails only Las Vegas' Nick Allen (eight games) and OKC teammate Zach McKinstry (seven games).

Zach Attack: Reigning PCL Player of the Week Zach McKinstry was held without an extra-base hit or RBI yesterday for the first time since Opening Night, but still picked up two hits and extended his hitting streak to seven games (second-longest in the PCL behind Las Vegas' Nick Allen, who is currently at eight games). McKinstry went 2-for-4 last night and over his seven-game hitting streak is 14-for-30 (.467) with a home run, three triples, three doubles, nine RBI and four multi-hit games...McKinstry's 14 hits this season are tied for most in the PCL, while his seven extra-base hits and three triples both lead the league. His 26 total bases are second-most and his .438 AVG ranks third, while his .813 SLG and 1.299 OPS rank fourth and his nine RBI are tied for fourth. His .486 OBP is fifth in the league.

Jason Bourne: Jason Martin collected a season-high three hits last night, including his team-leading fourth double of the season. The outfielder had the fourth and final hit during the ninth-inning rally to finish 3-for-4 with a RBI...Martin has 10 hits over his first eight games - tied for second-most among OKC players -along with six RBI, seven runs scored and five walks.

On the Lamb: Jake Lamb did not play yesterday but homered in a third straight game Tuesday, finishing 2-for-5 with two RBI. After a 1-for-15 start, Lamb is 5-for-12 with three homers and three walks over the last three games...This marks the first time Lamb has gone deep in three straight games since May 15-19, 2017 with Arizona, when he hit a total of four homers over three games.

Inside the Park: OKC's five-game streak with a home run was snapped last night as the Dodgers were held without a home run for just the second time through the team's first eight games. The Dodgers have hit 12 homers so far this season - second-most in the PCL (Reno - 15). Jake Lamb and Ryan Noda both lead the Dodgers with three homers so far this season...OKC has allowed eight home runs so far in 2022, but four of those have happened over the last two games, with two each by two players: Brent Rooker and Trayce Thompson.

Around the Horn: Ryan Noda went 1-for-4 with a RBI last night. The Triple-A rookie is off to a 9-for-23 start with seven walks and one HBP over his first 31 plate appearances (.548 OBP). He's currently on a five-game hitting streak, during which he's 8-for-16 with three homers and five RBI...With 10 more strikeouts last night, the OKC pitching staff has struck out at least 10 batters in six of the last seven games. Last season, the Dodgers racked up 68 double-digit strikeout games in their 129 games overall...Wednesday was the Dodgers' fourth one-run game within their first eight games of the season. They are now 2-2 in those games. Last season OKC went 13-22 in one-run games, and their .371 winning percentage was the lowest in the league...Reliever José Adames was tabbed with the loss last night for his first losing decision since Aug. 1, 2016 with High-A Jupiter (Marlins) vs. Dunedin...OKC is trying to avoid its first three-game road losing skid since Aug. 19-21, 2021 in Sugar Land.

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