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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 27, 2023

April 27, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Sacramento River Cats (10-12) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (16-6)

Games #23 & 24 of 150/First Half #23 & 24 of 75/Home #11 & 12 of 75

Pitching Probables: SAC-LHP Joey Marciano (1-1, 8.68) vs. OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (1-2, 5.49)

SAC-RHP Keaton Winn (0-0, 6.57) vs. OKC-RHP William Cuevas (1-1, 7.30)

Thursday, April 27, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 4:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers have won three straight games, as well as five of their last six games, as they continue their home series against the Sacramento River Cats with a doubleheader of two seven-inning games starting at 4:35 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Game 2 will start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1...OKC owns the best record in the Pacific Coast League and their 16 wins to start the season are tied for the second-most in all of Triple-A.

Last Game: Wednesday's game was postponed to due to inclement weather, marking the first postponement of the season for the OKC Dodgers...In their last game Tuesday, Devin Mann's walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning capped off a late rally and sent OKC to a 5-4 win in the series opener against Sacramento at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers entered the ninth inning trailing, 4-2, before scoring three runs in their final at-bat for the win. OKC loaded the bases with one out and Ben DeLuzio lined a two-run single to tie the score, 4-4. After an intentional walk re-loaded the bases, Mann grounded a single into left field to bring home Yonny Hernández for the game-winning run. Sacramento took the initial lead of the game in the first inning, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly by Gary Sánchez. A home run by Heliot Ramos boosted Sacramento to a 2-0 edge in the third inning. RBI singles by OKC's Ryan Ward in the third inning and Drew Avans in the fourth inning knotted the score, 2-2. Sacramento then built a 4-2 advantage, scoring two runs in the fifth inning. The Dodgers bullpen then held the River Cats scoreless and to three hits over the final four innings.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Gavin Stone (1-2) makes his team-leading sixth start of the season in Game 1...Stone last started in Albuquerque April 22, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings and allowing two hits and two walks while recording a season-high seven strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's 3-2 win as he posted his first scoreless outing of 2023...After allowing six runs and five hits in his season debut, Stone has allowed six runs and 11 hits over his last four starts (17.0 IP) while holding opponents to a .172 average...Last season, Stone was named the Los Angeles Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He compiled a 1.48 ERA and 9-6 record across 26 games (25 starts) at three levels, starting the season with High-A Great Lakes (six games) before moving up to Double-A Tulsa (14 games) and making his Triple-A debut with OKC Aug. 18...Stone led all pitchers in the Minors in ERA and tied for ninth overall in strikeouts. He also ranked second among Dodgers minor leaguers in strikeouts, WHIP and BAA...With OKC last season, Stone went 2-1 with a 1.16 ERA in six starts with 33 K's...Stone was tabbed as the Los Angeles Dodgers' No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 6 prospect by Baseball America...The Dodgers selected Stone in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of Central Arkansas...Tonight is his first career appearance against the River Cats.

William Cuevas (1-1) is scheduled to make his fourth appearance and third start of the season in Game 2...Cuevas last pitched April 20 in Albuquerque when he piggybacked Tony Gonsolin, who was on a Major League Rehab Assignment. Cuevas entered the game in the fifth inning and picked up the win, allowing four runs and four hits over 4.1 innings with a season-high seven strikeouts and three walks. He generated a total of 17 swings and misses...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 River Cats: 2023: 1-0 2022: 6-3 All-time: 49-52 At OKC: 25-27

The Dodgers and River Cats are meeting for their first of three series this season and lone series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Last season, the Dodgers won their first season series against the River Cats since the 2018 season, going 6-3, including a 3-0 series sweep July 22-24 between the teams in OKC during which the Dodgers outscored Sacramento, 30-11. The teams split their first series of the season April 19-24 in Sacramento, 3-3, with the River Cats winning three of the last four games in the set...The River Cats had won both the 2021 and 2019 series between the teams...Jason Martin led the Dodgers with nine hits and nine RBI and OKC outscored Sacramento, 55-45, during the 2022 season series...Since OKC became affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the River Cats with the San Francisco Giants in 2015, the Dodgers have a slight 17-16 advantage in the Triple-A version of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry, and the teams are 10-10 against one another in Bricktown during the same period.

Strong Start: The 16-6 Dodgers are one of four OKC teams during the Bricktown era (since 1998) to start a season with six losses or less through 22 games. Only the 2018 (18-4) and 2015 (17-5) teams had fewer losses while the 2008 team also started 16-6...The Dodgers own the best record in the Pacific Coast League and their 16 wins are tied for the second-most in Triple-A with Norfolk (16-6) and trail only Memphis (17-6)...Only two OKC teams through the last 24 seasons have had six or fewer losses through 23 games as the 2018 and 2015 teams started 18-5 and only four teams have had seven or fewer losses through 23 games - 2018, 2015, 2008 (16-7) and 1999 (16-7)...The Dodgers are trying to win four straight games for the first time since their six-game winning streak earlier this month.

The Never Say Die Dodgers.: Tuesday night's victory was already OKC's fourth walk-off win of the season (through 10 home games) and sixth last at-bat win of 2023. The Dodgers won for the fifth time when trailing in the eighth inning or later and won for the third time when trailing in the ninth inning or later...Tuesday was also the team's ninth one-run game of the season for OKC and the Dodgers are now 8-1 in those tight games. Twelve of the Dodgers' first 22 games have been decided by two runs or less and Tuesday was OKC's 11th victory of the season by one or two runs. Only five of the Dodgers' first 16 wins have been by margins of three of more runs. Six of the Dodgers' first eight victories of 2023 came via one-run margins and five of those wins were secured during OKC's last at-bat...The team has trailed during some point of the game in nine of the 16 wins, including six games after trailing by at least two runs, such as the last game...Tuesday also marked the fourth time this season during a win the Dodgers never led in the game until their final at-bat.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann's game-winning single Tuesday extended his hitting streak to eight games, going 12-for-32 (.375) during the stretch with five RBI. The streak is tied with Michael Busch for the longest hitting streak of the season by an OKC player this season and is also tied with Sacramento's Casey Schmitt and Reno's Phillip Evans for the longest active hitting streak in the PCL...Mann's 11 doubles lead all of the Minors and eight of his doubles have come in his last eight games. Mann had been held to five hits through his first 11 games...Mann's current hitting streak is his longest since a 10-game streak to close out the 2021 season with Double-A Tulsa Sept. 9-19, batting .395 (15x38). He had three 10-game hitting streaks with Tulsa during the 2021 season...In addition to Tuesday, he also provided a game-winning sac fly in the 10th inning April 11 against Sugar Land to give OKC a 4-3 victory.

He Gets on Base: Drew Avans went 2-for-4 with a run scored, walk, RBI and stolen base Tuesday and has now reached base safely in 15 straight games for the second-longest on-base streak of 2023 by an OKC player, trailing only Michael Busch's 21-game streak. During the streak, Avans is batting .283 (17x60) with a .442 OBP (OB 34/77 PA)...Avans is in the midst of his third on-base streak of at least 14 games in the last two seasons. He reached base in 14 straight games May 21-June 9, 2022 before a 50-game on-base streak June 11-Aug. 14, 2022 that ended when he had to depart a game in the fourth inning with an injury. The 50-game streak tied for the second-longest streak in the Minors in 2022 and was one game shy of the longest. It was also the team's longest on-base streak during OKC's MLBAM era (since 2005) and the longest streak in the PCL overall since 2018.

In the Hunt: Reigning PCL Player of the Week Hunter Feduccia picked up a hit and a walk Tuesday as he extended his current on-base streak to 13 games - the third longest on-base streak by an OKC player this season. During the previous series in Albuquerque, Feduccia went 10-for-18 with two homers, three doubles, five runs, two walks and 13 RBI, including three consecutive games with four-plus RBI April 18-20. His 13 RBI during the three-game stretch were a career-high during a three-game span and were the most for an OKC player since Luke Raley's 14 RBI in three games May 28-30, 2021 at El Paso. Prior to last Tuesday, he had recorded a total of three games with four-plus RBI in his career (284 games)...Feduccia has reached base in 33 of his 61 plate appearances this season (.541 OBP) and his on-base percentage ranks second in the PCL. His 1.268 OPS leads the league, while his .386 AVG and .727 SLG are third, his 21 RBI are tied with teammate Ryan Ward for fourth in the PCL.

Warden of the Batter's Box: Ryan Ward connected on a RBI single Tuesday to move into a tie with Hunter Feduccia for the team lead with 21 RBI this season, including 15 RBI over his last 11 games. His 22 hits overall are second-most among Dodgers players, while his 21 games played are tied with Michael Busch for the team lead...Ward has hit safely in six of his last seven games, going 12-for-32 (.375) with three doubles, 10 RBI and five runs scored.

Double Trouble: Since the start of the 2019 season, the Dodgers are 7-15 in doubleheader games, with a series record of 1-5-5. They have lost Game 1 in six of the last eight doubleheaders...Last season the Dodgers played four doubleheaders, splitting two and getting swept in two. Both doubleheaders at home occurred in May last year, earning a split with Albuquerque and losing both games to Reno...This is the first time since May 8, 2008 OKC and Sacramento are playing a doubleheader. The River Cats won both games in Bricktown by scores of 6-4 (9 innings) and 7-1.

Around the Horn: Over the last four games, the Dodgers have held their opponents to 11 runs while batting at a .190 clip (24x126). During that same span, the opposition has been limited 2-for-31 with runners in scoring position...OKC's 12 hits Tuesday marked the seventh time this season OKC tallied at least 12 hits and the output followed the team's season-high 18 hits Sunday in Albuquerque...The Dodgers offense struck out a season-high 18 times Tuesday for the most strikeouts by the team since May 15, 2022 in Round Rock during a 14-13 loss...OKC has allowed a homer in seven of the last eight games (12 HR) and their 37 homers allowed this season tied for the most in the PCL and second-most in the Minors (Syracuse - 41).

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