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OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 20, 2023

April 20, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (12-5) at Albuquerque Isotopes (10-7)

Game #18 of 150/First Half #18 of 75/Road #9 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Tony Gonsolin (MLR) vs. ABQ-RHP Peter Lambert (0-0, 3.68)

Thursday, April 20, 2023 | Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park | Albuquerque, N.M. | 12:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: After evening their current series with a win last night, the Oklahoma City Dodgers look to take the lead in their road series against the Albuquerque Isotopes when the teams meet at 12:05 p.m. CT at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park...The Dodgers own the best record in the Pacific Coast League and are tied for the best record in all of Triple-A.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers jumped out to a big early lead and held off a furious Albuquerque Isotopes rally to claim a 15-13 victory Wednesday night at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. The Dodgers scored two in the first inning with a two-out single from Ryan Ward. Drew Avans then swatted his third home run of the season to give OKC a 5-0 lead in the second. After the Dodgers scored 11 runs in the first four innings, Albuquerque got its chance to respond. The Isotopes scored two runs in the fourth and four runs in the fifth to make it 11-6. The Dodgers responded in the top of the sixth with four runs of their own, three of which came on a Hunter Feduccia home run. Albuquerque slowly chiseled away at the deficit with two runs in the sixth and one run in the seventh. Trailing, 15-9, entering the bottom of the ninth, the Isotopes scored four runs and had the bases loaded with two outs when Jonathan Morales flied out to the warning track in left field to end the game.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Tony Gonsolin opens a Major League Rehab Assignment with the OKC Dodgers for his first game action since early March in Spring Training...Gonsolin sustained an ankle injury during a fielding drill at Camelback Ranch. He made just one Cactus League start for the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to his injury...His last official game action was Oct. 14, 2022 at San Diego during the NLDS and he was charged with the loss, allowing one run and four hits over 1.1 innings in LAD's 2-1 defeat in Game 3 of the series...Gonsolin is coming off an outstanding 2022 campaign during which he made his first career MLB All-Star Game. Gonsolin made 24 starts for the LA Dodgers last season, posting a 2.14 ERA in 130.1 innings with 119 K's against 35 walks. He posted a 0.87 WHIP and held opponents to a .172 AVG. He finished tied for third in the National League with 16 wins and during the first half of the season went 11-0 with a 2.02 ERA...His season was cut a bit short when he went on the Injured List Aug. 29 with a right forearm strain and did not appear in another regular season game for LAD...In 2020, he finished fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting and was named MLB Rookie of the Year by Baseball America...Gonsolin was selected by the Dodgers in the ninth round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of St. Mary's College.

William Cuevas (0-1) is set to follow Gonsolin and make his third appearance of the season...Cuevas started April 14 against Sugar Land in OKC, allowing two runs and four hits over 5.0 innings with four strikeouts and no walks. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's 4-2 home win...He made his team debut April 8 in Las Vegas and was charged with the loss, allowing four runs and five hits over 3.0 IP with three walks and three K's in the team's 9-1 defeat...Cuevas spent parts of the 2022 season playing in Korea and Mexico, appearing in two games with the KT Wiz in the Korea Baseball Organization and one start for the Diablos Rojos del México in la Liga Mexicana de Béisbol. He missed most of the season due to an elbow injury...Prior to signing with the Dodgers, Cuevas played for Colombia in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and pitched in one game against Great Britain March 13, throwing 3.0 innings...Between 2019-22, Cuevas made a total of 82 starts for KT Wiz, going 33-23 with a 3.89 ERA and 1.24 WHIP and helped KT to its first ever KBO championship in 2021...His most recent Major League appearance was Sept. 28, 2018 with the Boston Red Sox...The native of Caracas, Venezuela made his MLB debut April 28, 2016 with Boston against the Yankees and originally signed with Boston as a free agent June 2, 2009.

Against the Isotopes: 2023: 1-1 2022: 12-6 All-time: 129-106 At ABQ: 55-64

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...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...OKC enters today having scored at least 10 runs in each of their last five games at hitter-friendly Isotopes Park (60 runs total).

Strong Start: The 12-5 Dodgers are tied for the second-best start for an OKC team during the Bricktown era (since 1998). Only the 2018, 2015 and 2008 OKC teams had a better record through 17 games at 13-4. The 2023 Dodgers are tied with the 2012 team, which also had 12 wins through 17 games...The Dodgers own the best record in the Pacific Coast League and their 12 wins are tied with Memphis of the International League for the most wins in all of Triple-A, as the Redbirds are currently riding a nine-game win streak...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...Only three OKC teams through the last 24 seasons have had five or fewer losses through 18 games as the 2018, 2015 and 2008 teams all started 14-4.

In the Hunt: Hunter Feduccia finished with three more hits Wednesday and homered in a second straight game as he tallied four RBI. He went 5-for-5 Tuesday with a double and a home run for his first career five-hit game and the first five-hit effort by an OKC player this season. He also matched his career high with five RBI Tuesday...Through two games in Albuquerque, Feduccia is 8-for-10 with a double, two homers, a walk, nine RBI and four runs scored and has reached base in nine of 11 plate appearances, including in each of his first eight...Feduccia is now tied for the overall team lead with 17 RBI this season and leads the team with four home runs. He has reached base safely in 10 straight games and has reached base in 28 of his first 47 plate appearances (.596 OBP)...Due to the recent surge, he currently leads the PCL in AVG (.438), OBP and OPS (1.440), while rankings second in SLG (.844).

Warden of the Batter's Box: Ryan Ward went 4-for-5 with a double, walk, four RBI and a run scored Wednesday, setting new season highs in hits and RBI. His four RBI were his most in a game since Aug. 4, 2022 with Double-A Tulsa at Northwest Arkansas when he also finished with four RBI, while his four hits were his most in a game since June 22, 2021 with High-A Great Lakes against Lake County when he also tallied four hits...Ward is now tied with Hunter Feduccia with a team-leading 17 RBI...Ward is 6-for-10 with two doubles, three runs scored, a walk and six RBI to start the Albuquerque series. He has seven RBI over the last three games and 11 RBI over the last six games.

Steadfast: Michael Busch went 2-for-4 with two walks and scored two runs Wednesday, as he hit safely in a fourth straight game (5x14). He has now reached base in each of OKC's first 17 games of the season and has the longest on-base streak in the PCL to start 2023. The streak is also tied with Zack Collins of Columbus for the longest streak in all of Triple-A...Busch has hit safely in 15 of his first 17 games and has at least one hit in 12 of his last 13 games, batting .367 (18x49) with seven extra-base hits and nine RBI...His 23 hits are tied for second-most in the PCL, while his 15 walks are tied for fourth and he leads OKC in both categories...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...Going back to the end of last season, he is now on a 23-game on-base streak.

Getting Offensive: The Dodgers' offense set new season highs with 17 hits and 15 runs yesterday. Through two games in hitter-friendly Albuquerque, the Dodgers have piled up 32 hits and 25 runs. OKC's offensive numbers are in stark contrast to their previous series against Sugar Land at home during which they collected 39 hits and 31 runs over the entire six-game set. The Dodgers are 11-for-27 (.407) with runners in scoring position through the first two games of the series after going 9-for-55 (.164) with RISP against Sugar Land...On the other hand, the Dodgers allowed 14 hits last night and the team allowed 13 runs for a second straight game. Through the first two games of the series, OKC has allowed 26 runs on 30 hits...The 13 runs allowed by OKC were the second-most during a win in the team's Bricktown era (since 1998). The only time OKC won when allowing more runs was in a 17-14 victory over Memphis Aug. 26, 2004. The 28 total runs were the most in a game since May 30, 2021 when the Dodgers won, 20-9, in El Paso.

What a Mighty Good Mann: After starting the season with five hits through his first 11 games and after being held 0-for-10 in his previous three games, Devin Mann has now hit safely in four straight games, going 6-for-15 with five doubles. Last night he doubled twice and scored a season high three runs...Mann is now tied for the OKC lead with eight doubles, which is also tied for second-most in the PCL this season...His four straight games with an extra-base hit are tied with Reno's Emmanuel Rivera for the longest active extra-base hit streak in the league.

Yardwork: The Dodgers allowed a home run Wednesday night and have now allowed at least one homer in 11 of the last 12 games (23 HR) and at least two home runs in seven of the last 11 games (22 HR). OKC's 31 homers allowed so far this season are the most all of Triple-A, and entering today, only Oakland A's have allowed more home runs in pro baseball (34 HR/19 G). By comparison, the Dodgers didn't allow their 31st home run of the season in 2022 until May 8 (Game 30).

Around the Horn: Drew Avans reached base four times with two hits and two walks, and he became the first OKC player to score four runs in a game this season. He hit a three-run homer in the second inning for his third home run of the season...The Dodgers have scored six runs in the first inning over the last two games after scoring a total of four runs in the first inning through their first 15 games this season...Wednesday night's game time of 3 hours, 30 minutes set a new season high for OKC. The previous high for a nine-inning game was 3 hours, 6 minutes in the season opener against Tacoma and yesterday was the team's longest nine-inning game since May 15, 2022 at Round Rock (3:48).

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