PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 11, 2023

Published on August 11, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (22-14/72-37) at Tacoma Rainiers (22-14/59-52)

Game #110 of 148/Second Half #37 of 75/Road #55 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (5-4, 5.36) vs. TAC-LHP Kyle Hart (2-2, 5.36)

Friday, August 11, 2023 | Cheney Stadium | Tacoma, Wash. | 9:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers have lost the first three games of a series for the first time this season (20 series) and will try to avoid matching their longest losing streak of the season overall when they continue their road series against the Tacoma Rainiers at 9:05 p.m. CT at Cheney Stadium...The Dodgers have lost four of their last five games overall after a stretch of wins in 10 of 12 games and 15 of 20 games and have only lost four games in a row once this season - July 5-8 against Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Last Game: The Tacoma Rainiers broke a tie with two runs in the seventh inning and went on to defeat the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 4-3, Thursday night at Cheney Stadium. The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Tacoma's Taylor Trammell walked, stole both second and third base and then scored on a throwing error by OKC catcher Patrick Mazeika. Adam Engel homered in the fifth inning, pushing the Rainiers' lead to 2-0. Ryan Ward tied the game in the sixth inning when he launched a two-run homer. Tacoma took advantage of three walks to load the bases in the bottom of the eighth inning before Pedro Severino hit a go-ahead, two-run single with two outs. Yonny Hernández homered in the ninth inning to close the gap to one run before Dodgers ended up falling.

Today's Probable Pitcher: PCL Pitcher of the Week Gavin Stone (5-4) makes his 18th start of 2023 with OKC and second against the Rainiers...He was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season after tossing six scoreless, no-hit innings Aug. 4 against Round Rock. He issued two walks and notched 10 strikeouts to match his season-high mark - the most strikeouts in a game by a Dodgers pitcher this season. Stone faced 20 batters and retired 17 of them (two walks, one error). He threw 85 pitches (55 strikes) during the longest hitless outing of his career...Stone is 3-0 in his last five starts with OKC and has posted a 2.67 ERA in his 27.0 innings pitched since July 9 with 31 strikeouts and seven walks. He's posted a 0.89 WHIP during that time while holding opponents to a .175 batting average...He was also named PCL Pitcher of the Week for July 3-9 for his performance July 9 against Albuquerque, when he completed 6.0 scoreless innings and struck out eight...He made his ML debut May 3 at Dodger Stadium against Philadelphia and has made a total of four appearances (three starts) for the LA Dodgers this season...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. Stone led all pitchers in the Minors in ERA and tied for ninth overall in strikeouts...Entering this season, Stone was tabbed as the 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 second appearance of the season against Tacoma. In the 2023 season opener in OKC, Stone started and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing six runs and five hits, including a homer, with three strikeouts and three walks and was charged with the loss.

Against the Rainiers: 2023: 2-4 2022: 5-7 All-time: 58-61 At TAC: 34-26

The Dodgers and Rainiers meet for 12 games in the next six weeks after opening the season against one another with a three-game series March 31-April 2. The Dodgers took two of the three games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in a series with tons of offense. The Rainiers won the season opener, 14-8, before the Dodgers posted back-to-back walk-off wins in the final two games - 6-5, in 10 innings and, 10-9, in nine innings. Michael Busch and Jahmai Jones each led the Dodgers with five hits, while Busch and Luke Williams each had four RBI. Jones provided walk-off hits in both wins, including a home run in the series finale...Tacoma won the 2022 series between the teams, 7-5, marking the first time the Dodgers lost a season series to the Rainiers since 2014 when OKC went 0-4 in Tacoma and entered last season 2-0-3 over the previous five season series. The Dodgers and Rainiers split their series last season in Tacoma...Going back to last season, the Dodgers are now 5-11 in their last 16 games against the Rainiers. They have dropped six of their last seven games at Cheney Stadium and are 8-16 in Tacoma since the beginning of the 2012 season.

Trend Setters: Despite losses in the last three games, the Dodgers still lead the Minors with the most wins (72-37) and own the second-best winning percentage (.661), trailing only Single-A Clearwater (.676; 71-34). Oklahoma City is tied for the lead in the second half of the Pacific Coast League season with Las Vegas and Tacoma, as all three teams have 22-14 records...During the Bricktown era (since 1998), OKC's best previous record through 109 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 67-42...This season's squad became the fastest Pacific Coast League team to reach 70 wins (103 games) since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. The previous fastest a PCL team reached 70 wins since 2005 was the 2017 Memphis Redbirds, who did so in 106 games (70-36)...The Dodgers finished the first half with a 50-23 record and won the PCL's first-half championship. By virtue of winning the first half in the split-season format, the Dodgers will host a best-of-three PCL Championship Series Sept. 26-28 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark against the winner of the second half (or second-place finisher should the Dodgers also win the second half).

Bump in the Road: The Dodgers have lost three consecutive road games for the first time since May 3-5 in El Paso and did not lose back-to-back road games between the skids - a span of 35 road games between consecutive losses. Outside of that May stretch and the three losses in Tacoma this week, the Dodgers have followed up each of their other road losses this season with a win in the next road game...The Dodgers have not lost four consecutive road games since Sept. 21-24, 2022 in El Paso...The Dodgers still pace the Minors with a 38-16 record on the road this season and have won 13 of their last 17 road games and 16 of their last 21 road games. However, they have lost four of their last five road games after compiling a Bricktown-era record (since 1998) 12 consecutive road victories from June 29-July 28. The streak started with five consecutive wins in Sugar Land June 29-July 3, followed by three victories in Sacramento during a series sweep July 14-16 and wins in the first four games of OKC's previous road series in Reno. The previous team record of nine straight road wins was accomplished May 29-June 15, 2019.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch had a five-game hitting streak (11x23) come to an end last night, and he was also held without a hit for just the second time in 16 games. However, Busch drew two walks, extending his current on-base streak to 34 games. It's the longest on-base streak by an Oklahoma City player this season, is the longest active on-base streak in the PCL and the fourth-longest streak in the league this season - one game shy of the third-longest streak of 35 games by Las Vegas' Jonah Bride May 7-July 30. During his on-base streak that started June 30, Busch is 49-for-145 (.338) with 15 homers, 23 extra-base hits, 37 RBI, 24 walks and 32 runs scored...His on-base streak is the longest by an OKC player since Drew Avans reached base in 50 straight games during the 2022 season for the longest on-base streak by an OKC player during the MLBAM era (since 2005). Busch's 34-game on-base streak is the fourth-longest during OKC's Dodgers affiliation (since 2015)...Busch has hit nine home runs in his last 16 games and leads OKC with 22 home runs this season - tied for fourth in the PCL. Over the 16-game stretch, he is batting .408 (29x71) with 14 extra-base hits, 20 RBI and 20 runs scored...In addition to home runs, Busch ranks among the top five PCL leaders in SLG (2nd, .617), OPS (2nd, 1.051), extra-base hits (2nd, 47), total bases (3rd, 198), RBI (T-3rd, 75), AVG (5th, .324) and OBP (5th, .434).

The Warden: Ryan Ward led the OKC offense last night by going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer. He was the only Dodger to finish with a multi-hit game, and he is now tied with Michael Busch for the team lead at 75 RBI overall this season (T-3rd PCL)...He has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, batting .350 (21x60) with 10 extra-base hits, including five homers, 14 RBI and 14 runs scored. He has seven multi-hit games during the stretch...Ward has 16 homers overall this season - second most among OKC players.

Yonny On the Spot: Yonny Hernández went 1-for-4 with a home run and has now gone deep twice in the last five games. His four home runs this season are a career high, as he had never hit more than two home runs in one season since his pro career began in 2015...Hernández is currently on a seven-game hitting streak, going 8-for-23 (.348) with two homers and 10 runs scored. This is his third hitting streak of the season of at least seven games...Over his last eight games, he has reached base in 22 of 38 plate appearances (.579 OBP) and has 11 walks against four strikeouts. He has reached base at least three times in six of the eight contests...His 11 walks so far this month lead all players in the PCL.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers have recorded three straight multi-homer games (7 HR) for the third time this season and look to extend the stretch to four straight games for the first time in 2023. OKC has now homered in 10 of the last 12 games (24 HR) and in 22 of the last 26 games (42 HR). The Dodgers have blasted 84 homers over their last 54 games since June 3 after compiling 47 homers through their first 55 games of the 2023 season...On the other hand, the Dodgers allowed a home run in a fifth straight game (11 HR) last night. They have now allowed seven homers through the first three games of the series, 10 home runs over the last four games - accounting for 14 runs total - and have allowed at least one homer in 13 of the last 15 games (26 HR).

Better Call Dahl: David Dahl was held 0-for-3 last night and drew a walk as his seven-game hitting streak came to an end. The streak tied his longest of the season and he went 13-for-30 with three homers, two doubles and 11 RBI...He has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games, going 26-for-64 (.406) with 12 extra-base hits (5 HR), 22 RBI, 13 runs scored and eight multi-hit games. Since July 20 (15 G), he leads the PCL with 22 RBI while ranking second in AVG (.406), third in hits (26), tied for third with seven doubles and fourth in OPS (1.222).

Around the Horn: This is the first time OKC has opened a series with three straight losses since losing four in a row to begin a home series against Round Rock Aug. 9-12, 2022 (26 series between 0-3 starts) and this is the first time OKC has opened a road series with three straight losses since April 12-14, 2022 in El Paso (22 road series between 0-3 starts). OKC has not lost four games to open a series since May 6-9, 2021 in Round Rock - the very first series the Dodgers played under the six-game series format...Despite sporadic playing time, David Freitas has hit safely in each of his last 15 games, beginning June 9. The hitting streak is the longest active streak in the PCL and the second-longest hitting streak of the season by an OKC player. Freitas is batting .300 (18-for-60) during the stretch...Pat Valaika has hit safely in three straight games, going 6-for-15 with five RBI after being held 1-for-26 in his previous seven games...After missing a week due to injury, Drew Avans returned to the lineup last night and went 1-for-4. He has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games with a plate appearance, going 25-for-83 (.301) with eight doubles, a triple, homer, 12 RBI and 15 runs scored along with eight multi-hit games...The Dodgers have committed an error in six straight games, totaling nine errors and tying their longest stretch of consecutive games with an error this season (July 2-7 - 8 E).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 11, 2023


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