OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 28, 2022
April 28, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Sugar Land Space Cowboys (9-11) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (12-8)
Game #21 of 150/Home #9 of 75
Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Brandon Bielak (1-0, 3.38) vs. OKC-RHP Yefry Ramírez (1-0, 2.77)
Thursday, April 28, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers try to take the lead in their series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The series is tied, 1-1, after the Dodgers snapped a three-game losing skid yesterday...OKC enters tonight having won five of the last six home games.
Last Game: Kevin Pillar hit a three-run homer in the third inning to give the Oklahoma City Dodgers the lead for good in a 6-2 win against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Wednesday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Space Cowboys took the first lead of the Field Trip Day game with a home run by Franklin Barreto in the top of the third inning before Pillar's homer out to left-center field in the bottom of the frame put the Dodgers in front, 3-1. Sugar Land added a solo homer by David Hensley in the sixth inning. The Dodgers scored three more runs with two outs in the eighth inning, including a RBI single by Jason Martin and a two-RBI single by Tony Wolters.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Yefry Ramírez (1-0) makes his fourth start of 2022 tonight...He posted two strong outings on the road, allowing a combined two runs (one earned) and four hits over 10 innings. He held opponents 4-for-33 with two walks and seven strikeouts...During his last start April 21 in Sacramento, Ramírez allowed only one unearned run over five innings. He retired the first 10 batters he faced as well as 13 of the first 14. Ramírez held the River Cats without a hit until a fly ball was lost in the lights with one out the fifth inning, resulting in a double. Ramírez ended up allowing two hits and one walk with five strikeouts, retiring 15 of 18 batters faced...April 15 in El Paso, he earned the win after allowing one run and two hits, with one walk and two strikeouts over 5.0 IP. He retired 14 of the 18 batters he faced...Last season, Ramírez posted a 6-4 record for OKC with a 5.02 ERA and 115 strikeouts. He ranked among the Triple-A West's top five in seven categories - second in strikeouts (115); second in starts (22); third in opponent average (.257); fourth in ERA (5.02); fourth in WHIP (1.45); fourth in innings pitched (113.0) and fifth in winning percentage (.600)...Ramírez was named Triple-A West Pitcher of the Month for June after going 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in five starts. He allowed 20 hits and struck out 27 over 26.0 IP while holding opponents to a .213 average. He led the league in ERA and opponent average while he tied for the best WHIP (1.12)...Ramírez originally signed with the Dodgers as a free agent March 25, 2021 and re-signed during this past offseason...He made one appearance for LAD last season with 2.0 scoreless innings in Arizona and also has MLB experience with Baltimore and Pittsburgh...Ramírez made four appearances, including three starts, against Sugar Land last season, going 0-0 with a 4.73 ERA and allowed 18 hits over 18.1 innings with six walks against 15 K's.
Against the Space Cowboys: 2022: 1-1 2021: 13-12 All-time: 13-13 At OKC: 7-7 The Dodgers meet Sugar Land for the first time this season and for the first time since Sugar Land became rebranded as the Space Cowboys following their 2021 Triple-A debut season as the Skeeters...The teams split their 2021 season series, 12-12, and both teams went 6-6 on their home fields. The Dodgers won nine of the first 12 games before Sugar Land took nine of the final 12 games. The Skeeters also won six of the last seven games between the teams...The teams last met Aug. 19-24 at Sugar Land, with the Skeeters winning the series, 5-1, including three one-run victories...The Dodgers outscored Sugar Land, 141-128, while the Skeeters outhit the Dodgers, 221-199...Keibert Ruiz led OKC with 23 hits, including a team-best five homers, tying Zach Reks for a team-best 16 RBI in the series...Dodgers pitchers Aaron Wilkerson and Darien Núñez each went 3-0 against Sugar Land last season with Wilkerson racking up 24 K's in 21.1 innings and Núñez notching 19 K's in 14.2 innings.
Trending Up: The Dodgers have scored a combined 10 runs and 18 hits over the last two games after being held to a total of three runs and 14 hits over the three games prior. They are 18-for-66 (.273) the last two games following a stretch in which they went 20-for-133 (.150). Even with the recent boost, the Dodgers have scored a combined 16 runs over the last six games after scoring a combined 37 runs in the four games prior...The Dodgers entered last weekend leading all of Triple-A in batting average, runs scored and hits. OKC still leads the PCL with 120 runs scored this season and ranks second with a .269 batting average and tied for second with 184 hits.
Pillar of Strength: Kevin Pillar hit his fourth home run of the season Wednesday - a three-run blast in the third inning - to move into a tie for the team lead with Ryan Noda. Over his last three games, Pillar is 5-for-13 with a homer, double, four RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base...Pillar has reached base in 16 of his first 17 games this season and his 20 runs scored this season lead the PCL while his 16 RBI pace the Dodgers. Pillar ranks third in the PCL in OBP (.423) as well as fourth in both RBI (16) and OPS (1.042)...He is off to a 4-for-9 start in the current series after going 3-for-18 over the previous series in Sacramento...In his five games as the team's designated hitter, Pillar is 7-for-17 with two homers, one double and nine RBI.
No Diggity, Noda: Ryan Noda's 17-game on-base streak to start the season came to an end as he was held 0-for-4 Wednesday. His .456 on-base percentage still leads the PCL, while his 14 walks are tied for second in the league and his 1.034 OPS is fifth. His 21 hits are tied with Zach McKinstry for the overall OKC team lead...Noda had hit safely in each of his three games prior to yesterday and has hit safely in 14 of his 18 games overall to start 2022.
All Walks of Life: Dodgers pitchers issued a season-low one walk Wednesday and have held opponents to two walks or less in two of the last three games, but their 89 walks allowed overall this season lead the PCL...On the other hand, the Dodgers' offense recorded three walks yesterday after being held to a season-low one walk in each of the previous two games. Even with a just a combined five walks in the last three games, their 93 walks overall this season still lead the league.
Strike a Pose: Three Dodgers pitchers combined to record 11 strikeouts Wednesday, led by seven strikeouts over 5.1 innings by starting pitcher Beau Burrows. Carson Fulmer and Yency Almonte each had two K's as well as OKC picked up its 12th double-digit strikeout game of the season and eighth with 11 or more K's...On the other hand, OKC's offense struck out 11 times Wednesday for the team's seventh double-digit strikeout game in 2022 and just one day after striking out a season-low two times Tuesday. The Dodgers had struck out just a combined six times over the previous two games combined.
Beg, Borrow or Steal: Kevin Pillar and Jason Martin each had stolen bases for the Dodgers yesterday as OKC tied its season-high mark with two steals. OKC's 11 stolen bases this season are second-fewest in the league...Sugar Land had one stolen base Wednesday after the Space Cowboys stole four bases Tuesday night, marking the most steals against OKC in one game since Round Rock swiped six bags May 8, 2021. Opponents are 14-for-18 in stolen base attempts over the last seven games after going 3-for-9 across the first 13 games.
RISPy Business: The Dodgers went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position, following a stretch in which they were 2-for-31 with RISP. Over the last six games, they've totaled 35 at-bats with RISP, including three games with five or fewer ABs...OKC pitchers held Sugar Land 1-for-9 with RISP yesterday. Over the previous six games, opponents had batted .439 (29x66). In the last seven games, the opposition has totaled 75 at-bats with RISP, including at least 13 at-bats three times and at least 11 at-bats four times.
'Pen Pals: Carson Fulmer retired six of seven batters faced yesterday. Fulmer has turned in five straight scoreless outings totaling 7.1 innings, giving up just three hits during that time (3x25). Overall this season he is holding opponents to a .128 batting average (5x39), and his five holds are most among all Triple-A pitchers...Jon Duplantier pitched 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings Sunday, with one walk and one strikeout. Over his first six appearances this season, Duplantier has allowed only one run and two hits over 8.2 innings, with four walks and nine strikeouts. He's held opponents 2-for-26.
Like Clockwork: Prior to Major League Baseball's pace of play measures being instituted April 15, the Dodgers' average time of game was 3 hours, 8 minutes over their first nine games of the season. In the 11 games since the rules went into effect, their average time of game is 2 hours, 47 minutes. Yesterday was the team's fourth game to be completed under 2 hours, 30 minutes. That only happened twice in 118 nine-inning games last year...Each of the first two games of this series have been completed under three hours. Last season, the average time of a nine-inning game between OKC and Sugar Land went 3 hours, 34 minutes. Only one nine-inning game was completed under three hours.
Around the Horn: The Dodgers are 6-2 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark to start the season, marking their best start at home since the 2018 when they opened their home schedule with a 15-0 record...Jake Lamb went 2-for-3 yesterday and is now 5-for-10 over his last three games. That follows a stretch in which he was held 0-for-12 in his previous three games combined...Andy Burns has hit safely in seven of his last nine games, going 12-for-34 (.353) during the stretch with seven extra-base hits and seven RBI...Eddy Alvarez is one of three players in the PCL to be hit by a pitch at least four times...Happy birthday to OKC Dodgers Special Events Manager and recent Oklahoma City Marathon finisher Shelby Kirkes!
Pacific Coast League Stories from April 28, 2022
- One Hit Shutout for the Salt Lake Bees - Salt Lake Bees
- Space Cowboys Game Notes - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at Las Vegas (7:05 PT) - Tacoma Rainiers
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 28, 2022 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Ramos, Gamboa knock in runs, Isotopes blast 6 homers - Sacramento River Cats
- Bees Return Home for Nine-Game Homestand against Express and Rainiers - Salt Lake Bees
- Taters Propel Isotopes for Second Straight Game against Sacramento - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Given a Second Chance at Sight and Life: Local Cornea and Kidney Transplant Recipient to Run Bases at May 6 Reno Aces Game - Reno Aces
- Round Rock Announces Additional Promotional Events for 2022 - Round Rock Express
- "Home Run for Life" Honoree Jack Chappell Received Heart Transplant at Integris Health - Oklahoma City Comets
- Aviators Buzz Rainiers, 6-5 - Tacoma Rainiers
- Round Rock Rides Three-Run Inning to Victory over Salt Lake - Round Rock Express
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