PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 18, 2023

Published on April 18, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (11-4) at Albuquerque Isotopes (9-6)

Game #16 of 150/First Half #16 of 75/Road #7 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Matt Andriese (0-1, 5.27) vs. ABQ-RHP Karl Kauffmann (1-1, 6.00)

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 | Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park | Albuquerque, N.M. | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open a six-game road series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 7:35 p.m. CT at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. Despite a loss Sunday, the Dodgers own the best record in the Pacific Coast League - as well as the best record in all of Triple-A...The Dodgers will try to avoid their first back-to-back losses of the season tonight...The Dodgers are 2-1 in series openers so far this season, with wins in each of the last two.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers were held to a season-low two hits in a 6-3 loss to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Sunday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Sugar Land took the lead in the fourth inning on a three-run home run with two outs and two strikes by Grae Kessinger. The Dodgers were held without a hit until Michael Busch connected on a double in the sixth inning. Ryan Ward later hit a sacrifice fly in the inning for OKC's first run of the day. Sugar Land's Pedro León tacked on a two-run double in the seventh inning and hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning for a 6-1 advantage. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases and Devin Mann drew a walk before Michael Reed brought in another run when he hit into a fielder's choice, cutting Sugar Land's lead to three runs, but the Dodgers ultimately left the tying run at the plate.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Matt Andriese (0-1) makes his fourth start of the season and second on the road tonight in Albuquerque...Andriese last pitched April 12 in OKC against Sugar Land, allowing four runs (two earned) and seven hits in a season-high 5.0 innings and became the first OKC pitcher to work into the sixth inning this season. He recorded six strikeouts against one walk and was charged with the loss in OKC's 7-3 defeat...Andriese enters his 13th professional season and first in the Dodgers organization. He signed with the Dodgers Jan. 30 after spending the 2022 season with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, going 5-2 with a 2.86 ERA over 15 games. He notched 56 strikeouts against 14 walks across 63.0 innings...In 2021, he made the Opening Day roster for the Boston Red Sox and went on to make 26 relief appearances, going 2-3 with one save and posting a 6.03 ERA before being designated for assignment Aug. 17. He quickly signed with Seattle Aug. 22 and made eight relief appearances with the Mariners, posting a 2.45 ERA with 12 K's...Andriese was selected in the third round of the 2011 MLB Draft by San Diego from UC Riverside and he made his ML debut with Tampa Bay April 10, 2015 at the Marlins. He's made a total of 217 appearances in the Majors with five different teams throughout his career...Tonight is his first career appearance against Albuquerque.

Against the Isotopes: 2023: 0-0 2022: 12-6 All-time: 128-105 At ABQ: 54-63

The Dodgers and Isotopes are meeting for their first of four series during the 2023 season, but this is the only series between the teams during the first half. The teams will then play 18 games throughout the second half of the season...The Dodgers won the 2022 series between the teams, 12-6, and went 4-2 in Albuquerque, including winning the final four meetings of the season against the Isotopes Sept. 15-18, 2022 at Rio Grande Credit Union Field...Last season, the Dodgers outscored the Isotopes, 128-87, and hit 28 homers compared to Albuquerque's 19...Pitcher Ryan Pepiot posted a 1.04 ERA against the Isotopes in four starts and racked up 22 strikeouts, allowing two runs and nine hits over 17.1 innings...Zach McKinstry led OKC with 19 hits, while Ryan Noda and Andy Burns had 13 RBI each and Noda hit six homers...Six of the 18 games played between the teams in 2022 were decided by one run, and going back to 2021, 14 of the last 36 games between the teams have been settled by one run...The Dodgers have not lost a season series to Albuquerque since 2017, going a combined 6-0 against the Isotopes in 2018 and 2019, 9-9 in 2021 and 12-6 last season.

Strong Start: Despite a loss Sunday, the 11-4 Dodgers have tied for the second-best start for an OKC team during the Bricktown era (since 1998). Only the 2018 and 2015 Dodgers had a better record through 15 games at 12-3. The 2023 Dodgers are tied with the 2012, 2008 and 1999 OKC teams which also had 11 wins through 15 games...The Dodgers own the best record in all of Triple-A and are the only team with 11 wins...The current hot start included a six-game winning streak April 1-7, which was the first six-game winning streak for OKC at any point of a season since a six-game streak July 18-24, 2019...The Dodgers won their first road series of the season in Las Vegas, 5-1. It marked the fifth time out of 45 six-games series since the start of the 2021 season that the Dodgers have won five of six games during the same set. The previous time was April 5-10, 2022 in the season-opening series at home against Albuquerque...Only four OKC teams through the last 24 seasons have had four or fewer losses through 16 games as the 2018, 2015, 2012 and 2008 teams all started 12-4.

Steadfast: Michael Busch hit a double Sunday as he finished with one of the Dodgers' two extra-base hits of the game. He has now reached base in each of OKC's first 15 games of the season, tying Salt Lake's Jo Adell for the longest on-base streak in the PCL to start 2023. Busch has hit safely in 13 of his first 15 games and has at least one hit in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .357 (15x42) with six extra-base hits and eight RBI...His 20 hits and 12 RBI are second-most on the team, while his 11 runs scored and 11 walks are both tied for second among OKC players...His 20 hits are tied for sixth-most in the PCL...Busch was named a 2022 MiLB.com Organization All-Star after slashing a combined .274/.365/.516 with 32 home runs, 108 RBI and a Minor League-leading 118 runs between Double-A Tulsa and OKC...On the defensive side, Busch has played at third base in each of the last five games - his first games at that position during his career. He has also played seven games at second base and three games at first base this season.

Offensive Blip: The Dodgers were held to a season-low two hits Sunday and to their lowest hit total overall since a 6-0 shutout loss to the Space Cowboys on July 30, 2022, also at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Sunday's finale marked the third time during the six-game series between the teams that OKC tallied four hits or less...The Dodgers went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position Sunday, failing to record a hit with RISP for just the time this season and second time in the Sugar Land series. They batted just .164 (9x55) with RISP and .193 (16x83) with runners on base throughout the series.

More Than Lukewarm: After Luke Williams went 4-for-4 Saturday with two doubles and scored two runs, he was held 0-for-3 with a walk Sunday. On Saturday night, he collected four hits in a game for the first time since a five-hit outing July 18, 2019 when he went 5-for-5 with three doubles for Double-A Reading against New Hampshire. He also finished with the first four-hit game of the season for a Dodgers player and the first since Kevin Pillar collected four hits Sept. 25, 2022 in El Paso, going 4-for-6, during a 16-3 win...Williams leads the Dodgers with 21 hits in 14 games this season and has eight doubles, two triples and two home runs. He also has a team-high 13 RBI...Williams' eight doubles are second-most in the PCL, while his two triples are tied for most in the league. His 21 hits and 12 extra-base hits are tied for second in the league, while his five stolen bases are tied for third and his 39 total bases are ties for fifth...He collected his team-leading seventh multi-hit game of the season Saturday. No other OKC batter has more than four multi-hit games so far.

Yardwork: The Dodgers were held without a home run for a second straight game Sunday after hitting three homers in each of the previous two games...The Dodgers have hit 19 home runs through their first 15 games of the season, but 13 of those homers came during the first nine games of the season as OKC was held without a home run in four of the six games against the Space Cowboys...On the other hand, the Dodgers allowed a home run Sunday and have now allowed at least one homer in nine of the last 10 games (18 HR), accounting for 29 of the 45 total runs allowed over the 10-game stretch (64 percent)...OKC's 26 homers allowed so far this season are the most in the PCL and tied for the most allowed in all of Triple-A. Grae Kessinger's three-run homer Sunday was already the fifth three-run shot allowed this season through 15 games. Last season the team didn't allow its fifth three-run homer until May 1 in Game 25.

Walking Tall: The Dodgers walked seven more times Sunday, marking the fifth time in the last six games they had seven or more walks, bringing their total to 48 walks during the Sugar Land series. OKC drew a season-high 14 walks Tuesday night - the most by the team since July 14, 2017 when OKC also drew 14 walks against New Orleans at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...OKC has 87 walks through 15 games this season (5.8 per game). In 2022, OKC led all teams in the Minors with 731 walks, setting a team record and posting the most walks by any Triple-A team since 2004.

Back of the Line: Sunday was the 11th time in 15 games this season in which OKC's opponent scored first. With Sunday's loss, the Dodgers fell to 7-4 when their opponent scores first in a game...Sunday was the third straight game, but just the fifth time this season, the Dodgers kept their opponent scoreless through a game's first two innings. Although the Dodgers kept Sugar Land scoreless through three innings in four of six games, including each of the last three games, they allowed at least one run in the fourth inning each time and have yet to put up four straight zeroes to start a game this season. Opponents have scored 28 of 84 total runs (33.3 percent) within the first two innings this season, and the Dodgers have been outscored, 28-15, over the first two frames. Following the second inning, the Dodgers have outscored opponents, 79-56.

Revolving Door is Moving: For the first time this season, yesterday an OKC player was promoted to the Major League roster. Reliever Justin Bruihl was recalled by the Los Angeles Dodgers after throwing six scoreless innings over five appearances with OKC, allowing just two hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. He retired three of the four batters he faced last night at Dodger Stadium against the New York Mets and stranded the bases loaded after entering the game with two outs in the seventh inning...In a corresponding move, Andre Jackson was optioned to OKC.

Around the Horn: Devin Mann has doubled in back-to-back games after being held to one hit over his previous five games combined...Drew Avans has scored seven runs over the last five games and his 14 total runs scored this season are tied for sixth-most in the PCL...Hunter Feduccia has reached base in 19 of his first 36 plate appearances this season (.528 OBP). He has nine walks over his last four games and a team-high 13 walks to start 2023 - tied for fifth in the PCL despite playing in only nine of 15 games...Victor González struck out all four batters he faced Saturday night. Through four outings he's held opponents 2-for-21 with three walks and 10 strikeouts...Ben DeLuzio walked Sunday and scored a run, but his four-game hitting streak (5x17) came to an end.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 18, 2023


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