PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 6, 2023

April 6, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers have won four consecutive games and own a 2-0 lead in their current series, which continues at 9:05 p.m. CT against the Las Vegas Aviators at Las Vegas Ballpark. OKC's four-game winning streak is the longest current winning streak in all of Triple-A, and they are the only PCL team to go 4-1 through the first five games...The Dodgers seek a fifth straight win tonight, which would match their longest winning streak of the 2022 season, last achieved Sept. 15-20, 2022 at Albuquerque/El Paso.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored twice in the second inning and never relinquished the lead during an 8-1 win over the Las Vegas Aviators Wednesday night at Las Vegas Ballpark. Ryan Ward opened the scoring with a RBI triple and later scored on a sacrifice fly to give OKC a 2-0 lead. After Las Vegas scored one run in the bottom of the second inning, the Dodgers stretched the lead out with four runs in the fourth inning. Ward connected on a RBI double, and later in the inning with the bases loaded and two outs, Devin Mann ripped a double to score three more runs. Michael Busch added a RBI single in the seventh inning, and Bradley Zimmer drew a walk with the bases loaded in the eighth inning. Led by starting pitcher Gavin Stone, the Dodgers pitching staff limited Las Vegas to one run and three hits throughout the game, with no hits surrendered after the second inning.

Tonight's Probable Pitcher: Matt Andriese (0-0) makes his second start of the season and first on the road of 2023...Andriese started OKC's game Saturday against the Tacoma Rainiers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. He allowed three runs on eight hits with four walks and two strikeouts over 4.0 innings. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's eventual 6-5 walk-off win in 10 innings...Andriese enters his 13th professional season and first in the Dodgers organization...Andriese pitched in three Spring Training games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing one unearned run and four hits over 5.0 innings of relief. He recorded four strikeouts and did not issue a walk. In his last Cactus League appearance March 13 vs. Cleveland, he retired six of the seven batters faced, including three via strikeout....He signed with the Dodgers Jan. 30 after spending the 2022 season with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, going 5-2 with a 2.86 ERA over 15 games. He notched 56 strikeouts against 14 walks across 63.0 innings...In 2021, he made the Opening Day roster for the Boston Red Sox and went on to make 26 relief appearances, going 2-3 with one save and posting a 6.03 ERA before being designated for assignment Aug. 17. He quickly signed with Seattle Aug. 22 and made eight relief appearances with the Mariners, posting a 2.45 ERA with 12 K's...Andriese was selected in the third round of the 2011 MLB Draft by San Diego from UC Riverside and he made his ML debut with Tampa Bay April 10, 2015 at the Marlins...Tonight is his third career appearance against Las Vegas, but first since the 2013 season when he pitched for Tucson Padres.

Against the Aviators: 2023: 2-0 2022: 2-4 All-time: 56-66 At LV: 30-33 (6-5 at current ballpark)

The Dodgers and Aviators meet for their first of two series in 2023 and lone series of the season at Las Vegas Ballpark. This is also OKC's first series in Las Vegas since the 2021 season...The Aviators won the only series of the 2022 season between the teams July 4-9 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 4-2. The Aviators outscored OKC, 43-34, while OKC hit eight home runs in the six-game series compared to Las Vegas' six homers...Michael Busch led the Dodgers with eight hits in the 2022 series, including three doubles, while Ryan Noda finished the set with eight RBI. Noda and Eddy Alvarez both hit two homers during the series...Las Vegas has won three straight season series against OKC and the Dodgers have not won a season series with Las Vegas since 2015 when they went 3-1. The Dodgers have gone 0-4-2 in season series with the Aviators since.

First Offense: The OKC offense has scored at least six runs in each of the team's first five games of the season, seven or more runs four times and eight or more runs three times. The Dodgers' 39 total runs scored are the most by OKC through five games during the Bricktown era (since 1998). The team's previous high mark through five games was 37 runs scored to start both the 2018 season in Iowa (three games) and against Round Rock (2 games) and the 1998 season in Colorado Springs (4 games) and Albuquerque (1 game)...OKC's 39 runs to start the season are tied with Las Vegas for second-most in all of Triple-A (trailing Tacoma's 52 runs)....After OKC's first three wins of the season came by one run, the Dodgers won by seven runs Wednesday night. They also scored first for the first time this season and led the remainder of the game after taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning...The Dodgers have put together a four-run inning in each of the last three games and in four of the team's first five games this season.

Dry Run: The Dodgers pitching staff held Las Vegas to one run Wednesday night on three hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts. After back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the second inning, the Dodgers retired 24 of the final 26 batters and no Las Vegas runner reached scoring position over the final seven innings...Entering Wednesday, the Dodgers had allowed 34 runs through the first four games - the second-most allowed by an OKC team during the Bricktown era (1998 - 39 runs at Colorado Springs). They had also allowed 51 hits and 33 walks, including at least eight walks in each of the first four games. The Dodgers did not allow an extra-base hit Wednesday and held Las Vegas without a hit over the final seven innings. ...Through the first four games of the season, OKC opponents had racked up 34 runs and 51 hits for an average of 8.5 runs and 12.75 hits per game. Opponents also accumulated an incredible 62 at-bats (15.5 per game) with runners in scoring position through the first four games, with at least 13 in each game. Last night the Aviators had four such at-bats, all within the first two innings.

Jailbreak: Devin Mann and Steven Duggar both broke out from early-season slumps with two hits each last night. Mann and Duggar entered Wednesday a combined 2-for-29 to begin the season but went 4-for-9 with two doubles during the victory. Mann hit a key bases-clearing double with two outs in the fourth inning, ending an 0-for-17 slide. Duggar picked up a double and scored twice throughout the game...Ryan Ward tallied his first two extra-base hits of the season along with his first two RBI. He had been 2-for-14 through the first three games of his season and Triple-A career.

Jonesing For Some Offense: After posting multi-hit outings in each of his first three games of the season, Jahmai Jones was held without a hit Wednesday, going 0-for-3 with a walk...Jones went 8-for-13 with a double, three homers and seven RBI through his first three games of 2023. He homered in both the first and fourth innings Tuesday night, going deep in three consecutive at-bats going back to his walk-off home run Sunday afternoon. One game after hitting his first career walk-off home run, Tuesday marked the first multi-homer game of Jones' career, now spanning 617 total games between the Minors and Majors. His five RBI Tuesday tied a career high, only done once previously Aug. 5, 2018 with Double-A Mobile at Birmingham. It was also the fourth game of his career with three extra-base hits, last done May 5, 2021 with Triple-A Norfolk at Jacksonville when he hit a home run and two triples...Overall, Jones is now 8-for-16 with seven RBI to begin the season. His 1.125 SLG is third in the league, while his three homers are tied for third, his 1.681 OPS and 18 total bases are fourth, his six runs scored are tied for fourth and his seven RBI, eight hits, .500 AVG are tied for fifth in the PCL.

Photo Finishes: The Dodgers' first three wins of the season all came by one run. It was the first time the team won three consecutive games each by one run since April 15-17, 2015, with the first two games at home against Nashville and the third game at Iowa. While OKC led Tuesday night's game, 7-3, before the Aviators closed the gap with three unanswered runs to trim the Dodgers' lead to one run late, OKC came back to win both Saturday and Sunday's home games against Tacoma via walk-off hits. Jahmai Jones' walk-off homer Sunday afternoon gave the Dodgers their first series win of the season, as OKC won two of three games against Tacoma at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC trailed, 7-2, in the sixth inning Sunday, and it was the team's largest comeback win since also overcoming a five-run deficit June 8, 2022 against Sugar Land, when the Dodgers were down, 6-1, in the eighth inning...On Saturday night, Jones knocked a game-winning RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning to break a 5-5 tie and send the Dodgers to their first victory of 2023. Saturday night's 6-5 win involved five lead changes and the score was tied three times.

Dazzling Debuts: Outfielder Ben DeLuzio made his team debut Tuesday night and started in center field. He drew three walks in four plate appearances, scored twice and stole a base. It was his first game with three walks since July 17, 2021 while playing for Reno at OKC. DeLuzio was signed by the Dodgers March 30 as a free agent after he was released by the Chicago Cubs at the end of Spring Training...Making his first start of the season Sunday, outfielder Michael Reed went 2-for-3 with a double, home run, walk, three RBI and two runs scored against Tacoma. Reed homered in his first at-bat of the season in the third inning and added a two-run double in the eighth inning.

2022 Record-Setting Rewind: The OKC Dodgers wrapped up the 2022 season with an 84-66 record, posting the second-most wins during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) and scoring the second-most runs in Minor League Baseball (949). Although the Dodgers held at least a share of first place in the PCL East Division for 111 days, the team finished one game behind division-winning El Paso and has now finished in first or second place in their division in six of the seven seasons during the Los Angeles Dodgers affiliation. OKC led all teams in the Minors with 731 walks, setting a team record and posting the most walks by any Triple-A team since 2004. The Dodgers led Triple-A and finished third among full-season teams in the Minors with a team-record .370 on-base percentage. OKC's +156 run differential paced the PCL and also set a team record. Infielder Miguel Vargas was named the Triple-A Player of the Year by Baseball America and the PCL's Top MLB Prospect by MiLB. Outfielder Jason Martin was named a Triple-A All-Star by MiLB, while right-handed pitcher Ryan Pepiot received postseason Triple-A All-Star recognition from Baseball America.

Around the Horn: Luke Williams has hit safely in each of his first four games of the season, going 6-for-19 with four extra-base hits while Michael Busch has reached base in each of his first five games of 2023. Busch is the only Dodger to start all five games...Last season the Dodgers were 3-4 in Game 3 of a series after winning the first two games of the set. However, all three wins were in three-game series and they were 0-4 in such situations during a six-game series. The team has not started a five- or six-game series with a 3-0 lead since the last trip to Las Vegas Sept. 23-25, 2021.

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