PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 29, 2022

Published on April 29, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Sugar Land Space Cowboys (10-11) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (12-9)

Game #22 of 150/Home #10 of 75

Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Peter Solomon (1-1, 3.38) vs. OKC-RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-0, 1.15)

Friday, April 29, 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 continue their series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Gates open at 6 p.m. and the first 1,000 fans receive an OKC Dodgers hat. Friday Night Fireworks presented by Springhill Suites are also scheduled to follow the game...The Space Cowboys lead the series, 2-1, as the Dodgers are now 1-4 in their last five games and 2-5 in their last seven games.

Last Game: The Sugar Land Space Cowboys scored six runs over the first three innings as they sent the Oklahoma City Dodgers to an 8-4 loss Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Sugar Land scored three runs in the first inning and built a six-run advantage before the Dodgers recorded their first hit in the fourth inning and scored their first run of the game on a balk. In the fifth inning, Kevin Pillar lined a RBI triple to deep left-center field to trim Sugar Land's lead to 6-2 before the Space Cowboys added two more runs in the sixth inning, including a solo home run by Korey Lee. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Miguel Vargas hit a two-run homer to left field for Oklahoma City. The Space Cowboys outhit OKC, 12-5.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryan Pepiot (1-0) is poised to make his team-leading fifth start of 2022...Pepiot got his first win of the season April 22 in Sacramento while setting season highs with five innings, eight strikeouts and 81 pitches, as OKC won, 1-0. He allowed three hits and three walks, and over his final two innings, he retired all six batters, with five via strikeout. The eight K's were his most in his 15 career games with OKC...Pepiot has kept his opponent scoreless in three of his first four outings as well as in 15 of the 16 innings he's pitched. Although he is 1.1 innings shy of qualifying among official league leaders, he would pace the league with a 1.15 ERA and .145 BAA, while his 0.96 WHIP would rank third...He received weekly PCL honors after making two starts during OKC's first series of the season against Albuquerque. He threw a total of 7.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, three walks and seven strikeouts. He held the Isotopes 1-for-25 over the two games...Pepiot entered the season tabbed as the Los Angeles Dodgers' No. 5 prospect by Baseball America and No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline. Both publications also rank him as the second-best pitching prospect in the organization...In 2021, Pepiot started the season with Double-A Tulsa and appeared in 15 games (13 starts) with the Drillers, posting a 3-4 record with a 2.87 ERA and 81 strikeouts before appearing in 11 games (nine starts) with OKC to end the season. He was promoted July 31, reaching Triple-A after just 28 career games (23 starts)...Overall, Pepiot encountered some struggles in his first taste of Triple-A, going 2-5 with a 7.13 ERA, .305 BAA and 1.80 WHIP...Pepiot is entering his fourth season in the Dodgers organization after being selected in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University, becoming the highest-drafted player in program history...Pepiot made one start against Sugar Land Aug. 20, 2021, allowing a career-high eight runs (five earned) and eight hits, including two homers, over 4.1 innings. He issued a season-high four walks against five K's and was charged with the loss in OKC's 12-7 road defeat.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2022: 1-2 2021: 12-12 All-time: 13-14 At OKC: 7-8 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...Going back to last season, Sugar Land has won 11 of the last 15 meetings between the clubs, as well as eight of the last 10.

Pillar of Strength: Kevin Pillar hit his third triple of the season for OKC last night, as his two-out knock in the fifth inning plated the Dodgers' second run of the night. Over his last four games, Pillar is 6-for-17 with a homer, triple, double, five RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base...Overall this season, he is slashing .313/.415/.627 and has reached base in 17 of his first 18 games. He leads the PCL with 20 runs scored while his .627 SLG and 1.042 OPS both rank third. His 17 RBI and 42 total bases are tied for fourth, his .415 OBP is fifth and his 10 extra-base hits are tied for fifth...He is off to a 5-for-13 start in the current series after going 3-for-18 over the previous series in Sacramento.

Seven Down: The Dodgers are now 2-5 over the last seven games, including 1-4 over the last five. During the seven-game stretch, OKC is batting .190 (42x221) with 20 runs scored. They are last in the PCL in runs and hits during that time period, with the next-lowest totals being 27 runs (Salt Lake) and 53 hits (Las Vegas/Round Rock). The Dodgers have been held to five or fewer hits in five of the seven games. Prior to April 21, the Dodgers were slashing .297/.393/.505 and scored 104 runs over 14 games (7.4 rpg) and averaged 10.5 hits per game. Over the last seven games, OKC is batting .125 (5x40) with runners in scoring position, with four games of having just five or fewer AB's...During the same span, the pitching staff has allowed seven or more runs in four of the seven games. They had allowed as many as seven runs three times within the first 14 games of the season. Opponents have batted .387 (29x75) with RISP, averaging 10.7 at-bats per game and have notched 35 more at-bats than the Dodgers' offense during that time.

Mighty Miguel: Miguel Vargas emerged from a 1-for-14 spell last night by going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, two walks and two runs scored. It was his fifth multi-hit game of the season, and his home run with two outs in the ninth inning was his third homer of the season and his first since April 16 in El Paso...His 14 walks are tied with Ryan Noda for the team lead and are tied for second-most in the PCL.

Error Message: Last night the Dodgers committed four errors for the second time in three games. Prior to Tuesday, the Dodgers had five total errors in the previous 11 games combined, and their last game with four errors was Sept. 2, 2021 vs. Albuquerque. From June 9, 2019--April 26, 2022, the team committed four or more errors in a game a total of two times - a span of 224 games...OKC's 23 total errors this season are currently third-most in the PCL...Over the first nine home games, OKC has committed 17 errors, with five multi-error games.

All Walks of Life: The Dodgers' offense recorded six more walks yesterday after being held to a combined five walks over the previous three games, including back-to-back games with a season-low one walk. OKC's 99 walks this season pace the league...However, Dodgers pitchers also issued six walks last night after giving up a season-low one walk Wednesday afternoon, and they have now issued 16 walks through the first three games of this series. The Dodgers have issued a league-leading 95 walks so far this season.

Fresh Starts: Caleb Ferguson opened a Major League Rehab Appearance Thursday night, starting and pitching one-third of an inning while facing four batters. He struck out the first batter he faced before a triple, walk and RBI single got him to his pitch limit. It was his first game action since September 2020 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He threw 20 pitches, including 12 strikes...Yadier Álvarez faced the minimum in a scoreless ninth inning. The reliever made three appearances with the ACL Dodgers last season, but Thursday marked his first game action above that level since April 2019 with Double-A Tulsa. He threw seven pitches, including five strikes.

'Pen Pals: Jon Duplantier worked 1.1 scoreless and hitless innings yesterday, although he did set a season high with three walks. Over his first seven appearances this season, Duplantier has allowed only one run and two hits over 10.0 innings, with seven walks and 11 strikeouts. He's held opponents 2-for-30...Carson Fulmer retired six of seven batters faced during Wednesday's game. 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.

HBD Z-Mac!: Today is Zach McKinstry's 27th birthday. Last night he recorded his team-leading 22nd hit of the season, drew a walk and scored a run. McKinstry ranks third in the PCL with a .367 average, fourth with a .418 OBP and 1.018 OPS and is tied for fourth with 14 runs scored.

Around the Horn: Five Dodgers pitchers combined to record 10 strikeouts yesterday for OKC's 13th double-digit strikeout game of the season as well as third straight...Last night OKC turned two double plays in a game for the first time this season, but their nine total double plays this season are fewest in the league and tied for fewest in all of Triple-A...Kevin Pillar's triple yesterday was the team's first in nine games, but the Dodgers still rank second among all 120 Minor League teams with 12 triples this season. No other Triple-A team has more than eight triples so far...Sugar Land swiped two more bags last night, and opponents are 16-for-20 in stolen base attempts over the last eight games after going 3-for-9 across the first 13 games. The Space Cowboys are 7-for-9 in the current series.

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