OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 29, 2023
Published on April 29, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Sacramento River Cats (10-14) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (18-6)
Game #25 of 150/First Half #25 of 75/Home #13 of 75
Pitching Probables: SAC-RHP Drew Strotman (1-2, 5.19) vs. OKC-RHP Bobby Miller (NR, -.--)
Saturday, April 29, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: Bally Live, MiLB.tv
Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers try to match their longest winning streak of the season as they continue their series against the Sacramento River Cats at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers have won five consecutive games and own the best record in all of Triple-A...Tonight is scheduled to be the first ABS Challenge Game of the season for OKC, as well as the first-ever at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark tonight. The team will debut new 405 area code caps and wear special city-themed jerseys that will be auctioned to benefit the OKC Dodgers Baseball Foundation. The first 1,000 fans through the gates, which open at 6 p.m., will receive an OKC Dodgers 405 hat.
Thursday's Games: Friday night's game was postponed until Sunday due to rain, but on Thursday, the Dodgers swept both games of a home doubleheader against Sacramento, winning the first game, 5-2, and taking the second game, 1-0. In Game 1, OKC scored five runs over the first three innings. Sacramento took the initial lead in the first inning on a RBI single by Gary Sánchez before OKC took the lead for good in its first at-bat. A RBI single by Ben DeLuzio and a RBI double by Devin Mann gave OKC a 2-1 lead. In the second inning, Yonny Hernández hit a triple and scored on a RBI single by Steven Duggar. Justin Yurchak's RBI triple in the third inning gave OKC a 5-1 lead. OKC starting pitcher Gavin Stone (2-2) recorded a season-high eight strikeouts, allowing one run and three hits with two walks over 5.0 innings...In Game 2, three Dodgers pitchers held the River Cats to one hit in OKC's first shutout win of 2023. William Cuevas (2-1) allowed one single over 5.0 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Tayler Scott and Wander Suero each pitched one scoreless inning with Scott picking up a hold and Suero his fifth save. OKC scored the lone run of the game in the second inning on Ryan Ward's RBI double.
Today's Probable Pitchers: Bobby Miller makes his first start of 2023 and his first appearance since Sept. 21, 2022 with OKC in El Paso...Miller endured right shoulder soreness during Spring Training and did not appear in a Cactus League game...He enters the 2023 season ranked as the No. 2 prospect and top pitching prospect in the Dodgers farm system by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. He is also rated as the No. 20 prospect overall by Baseball America and the No. 24 prospect overall by MLB Pipeline...Last season, he appeared in a total of 24 games (23 starts) with Double-A Tulsa and OKC, going 7-7 with a 4.25 ERA over 112.1 IP. He ranked third among qualified Dodgers minor league pitchers in WHIP (1.18), third in BAA (.222), third in strikeouts (145), third in innings (112.1) and fourth in ERA...Miller was promoted to Triple-A in August and made his OKC team debut Aug. 20 in Sugar Land. Over his four starts with OKC, he allowed 10 runs (eight earned) and 17 hits in 21.2 innings with 28 strikeouts against six walks...He was selected to the 2022 All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium and started for the National League...Miller was selected by the Dodgers in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft (29th overall) out of the University of Louisville...Tonight is his first career appearance against Sacramento.
Dylan Covey (0-0) is scheduled to piggyback Miller's start and make his fifth appearance and first in relief...During his last game April 21 in Albuquerque, Covey allowed two runs (one earned) and four hits, along with one walk and five strikeouts over a season-high 5.0 innings. He did not factor into the decision of the Dodgers' 4-3 defeat...In his last start, Covey induced 10 groundouts and has a 2.7 groundouts-to-flyout ratio this season. Opponents are batting only .229...Covey signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Jan. 30 after spending the 2022 season with the Rakuten Monkeys of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball, posting a 13-6 record with a 3.47 ERA and 100 K's in 23 starts. He led the team in wins and ranked second in innings (140.0 IP), starts and strikeouts...Covey originally signed with Oakland after being selected in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of the University of San Diego...He made his MLB debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2017 and most recently appeared in a MLB game during the 2020 season with the Boston Red Sox...Covey last pitched in Triple-A during the 2019 season with Charlotte and this is his first career appearance against Sacramento.
Against the River Cats: 2023: 3-0 2022: 6-3 All-time: 51-52 At OKC: 27-27
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 19-16 advantage in the Triple-A version of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry, and a 12-10 edge against the River Cats in Bricktown during the same period. OKC has now defeated Sacramento in each of the last six home games.
Up to the Challenge: Tonight marks the start of Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system Challenge Games in the PCL. During Friday, Saturday and Sunday games throughout the remainder of the season, the home plate umpire will call balls and strikes, but each team will be permitted to challenge an individual ball or strike call by appealing to ABS. Each team will have three challenges per game and successful challenges will be retained. Only the pitcher, catcher or hitter may challenge a call. The defensive team cannot challenge a strike and the offensive team cannot challenge a ball...ABS Challenge Games were utilized at select PCL ballparks during the 2022 season, but tonight marks the first ABS Challenge Game at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
Strong Start: The Dodgers have now won five consecutive games for the second time this season and are one win shy of their season-high streak of six consecutive wins April 1-7. The Dodgers' 18-6 record leads the PCL and is also the best record in all of Triple-A to start the season...OKC's 18 wins through 24 games are tied for the most during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998), as the 2018 and 2015 Dodgers teams also started their seasons with 18-6 records. Both the 2018 and 2015 teams won Game 25 to advance to 19-6.
Double the Fun: With two wins Thursday, the Dodgers swept both games of a doubleheader for the first time since July 5, 2019 against Round Rock in OKC when they won two seven-inning games, 1-0 and 4-3. Entering Thursday, the Dodgers had been 7-15 in doubleheader games since the start of the 2019 season with a series record of 1-5-5 and had lost Game 1 in six of the last eight doubleheaders.
Yonny B. Good: Yonny Hernández went a combined 4-for-6 in Thursday's games with two triples, a RBI and two runs scored. He had a game-high three hits in Game 1 and tripled in a second straight game in the nightcap. He has now hit safely in six straight games and has reached base in each of his first nine games with OKC. His six-game hitting streak is the longest active streak for a Dodgers player and he is 9-for-23 (.391) during the stretch with a double, two triples, four RBI, three walks and six runs scored.
What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann hit two doubles in Game 1 Thursday to boost his Minor League-leading total to 13 - two more than the next-highest. Last season, Mann finished with 21 total doubles over 118 games in Double-A (16) and Triple-A (5) and his career-high mark for doubles in a season is 27 over 110 games with Tulsa in 2021...Also in Game 1, Mann extended his hitting streak to nine games, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, a run scored and a RBI before being held without a hit in his two at-bats in the second game. His nine-game hitting streak was the longest of the season by an OKC player, and he went 14-for-35 (.400) with 10 doubles, six RBI and seven runs scored during the stretch.
Holding It Down: Over the last six games combined, the Dodgers have allowed a total of 13 runs and held opponents 3-for-42 with runners in scoring position. Opponents are batting .173 (30x173) during the stretch, with no more than seven hits in each game. OKC has allowed two or fewer runs in four of the last five games (nine runs total)...The Dodgers allowed just one hit in Game 2, marking the first time the Dodgers held an opponent to one hit since Aug. 9, 2016 at Iowa, when four pitchers combined for the one-hitter during a 6-0 victory in nine innings...OKC's shutout win in Game 2 Thursday was the team's first shutout victory since Aug. 5, 2022 in Salt Lake (13-0) and the team's first shutout win at home since Aug. 13, 2021 against Round Rock (2-0).
He Gets on Base: Drew Avans was held without a hit Thursday but drew a walk in both games and was also hit by a pitch. He has now reached base safely in 17 straight games for the second-longest on-base streak of 2023 for OKC, trailing only Michael Busch's 21-game streak. During the streak, Avans is batting .266 (17x64) but has a .440 OBP (OB 37/84 PA)...The streak is his longest since a 50-game 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...Avans leads the Dodgers with 19 walks this season - tied for sixth-most in the PCL - and has at least one walk in seven straight games (10 walks). His 22 runs scored also lead the team and are tied for sixth in the league.
Close Calls: Thursday's Game 2 was the 10th one-run game of the season for the Dodgers, who are now 9-1 in those tight games. Thirteen of the Dodgers' first 24 games have been decided by two runs or less (12-1). Only six of the Dodgers' first 18 wins have been by margins of three of more runs, including Thursday's 5-2 win in Game 1. 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 10 of the 18 wins.
Around the Horn: Ryan Ward picked up a RBI in a fourth straight game Thursday night in Game 2, driving in the game's only run with a RBI double in the second inning. He paces the Dodgers with 22 RBI this season, which ranks fifth in the PCL, and has 16 RBI over his last 12 games. Ward has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 13-for-35 (.371) with four doubles, 11 RBI and four runs scored...For the first time this season, the Dodgers have played back-to-back games without committing an error. They have 26 errors through 24 games...Tonight the Dodgers aim to win the first four games of a six-games series for the second time this season (previously April 5-8 at Las Vegas) but for just the third time since PCL teams started playing primarily six-game series in 2021. They have yet to begin a six-game series at home with a 4-0 lead.
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