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OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 14, 2021

August 14, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (41-45) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (46-40)

Game #87 of 130/Home #39 of 65

Pitching Probables: RR-Glenn Otto (0-1, 6.00) vs. OKC-RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-0, 7.00)

Saturday, August 14, 2021 | 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 own a 2-0 lead in their series against the Round Rock Express and seek a fourth straight win overall when they continue their series at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...OKC is 8-3 in the last 11 games and is in second place in the East Division, 1.5 games behind Sugar Land.

Last Game: Austin Bibens-Dirkx pitched seven scoreless innings and the Oklahoma City Dodgers scored runs in the seventh and eighth innings on the way to a 2-0 win against the Round Rock Express Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The teams played to a scoreless tie through 6.5 innings before OKC scored the first run of the night in the bottom of the seventh inning. Luke Raley led off with a single and advanced to second base on a one-out single by Drew Avans. He came around to score when Cristian Santana ripped a single into left field for a 1-0 OKC lead. The Dodgers added another run in the eighth inning on a two-out RBI single by Raley. The Express put the tying runs aboard with one out in the ninth, but Bibens-Dirkx struck out the final two batters to finish the game and record his Triple-A West-leading ninth win of the season.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryan Pepiot (1-0) is set to make his third Triple-A start of the season tonight and first appearance at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...He last started Aug. 8 in Albuquerque, allowing five runs on eight hits, including two homers, over 4.0 innings. He issued one walk and recorded three strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC's 15-10 win. Both the run and hit totals were the highest of his young pro career (30 G/25 GS)...Pepiot was transferred to OKC from Double-A Tulsa July 31. The Dodgers' No. 5 prospect according to MLB Pipeline made 15 appearances (13 starts) for the Drillers and posted a 3-4 record and 2.87 ERA. He allowed 19 runs and 30 hits with 26 walks and 81 strikeouts over 59.2 innings. Pepiot held the opposition scoreless in five of his 15 games and allowed no more than one run in 10 of 15 games. At the time of his promotion, he led the Drillers with 81 strikeouts and had the lowest ERA among regular starting pitchers. His 81 K's ranked fifth-most in the Double-A Central...Entering tonight, Pepiot leads all Dodgers minor leaguers with a minimum of 60.0 IP with a .168 BAA. He also ranks second in WHIP (1.02) and third in both ERA (3.41) and strikeouts (91)...Pepiot did not play during the 2020 season due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season, but spent part of the year at the Dodgers' Alternate Training Site on the campus of USC...He began his pro career after being selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University, becoming the Bulldogs' highest-ever draft pick. Pepiot zoomed up to Triple-A, reaching the level after just 28 career games (23 starts) and 83.0 IP...In his Triple-A debut Aug. 2 against Round Rock, Pepiot allowed two runs and two hits over 5.0 innings, with three walks and seven K's to earn the win.

Against the Express: 2021: 12-8 2019: 6-10 All-time: 142-116 At OKC: 65-56 After a stretch of 22 straight games between the Dodgers and Express played at Dell Diamond, including the last four meetings in 2019, the Red Dirt Rumble rivalry series shifts to OKC for the final 12 meetings of 2021...This is the fourth series of the season between the division rivals and first series between them at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark since July 4-7, 2019...The teams last met July 29-Aug. 3 in Round Rock with the Dodgers winning the series, 4-2. OKC has now won 12 of the last 16 meetings after opening the season with four consecutive losses to the Express in May...Entering tonight, the Dodgers have a 108-92 edge in runs scored, while the Express have outhit OKC, 168-163, and have 31 homers compared to OKC's 27. Last night was the second straight game the Express was held without a homer after they had gone deep at least once in 17 of the first 18 games against OKC...The Dodgers have won each of the last five games against the Express by a combined score of 36-8.

Movin' On Up: The Dodgers have won three straight games, five of their last six games, eight of their last 11 games and nine of their last 13 games. They are now a season-best six games above .500...OKC is 2-0 in the current series with the Express and have won back-to-back home games within the same series for the first time since winning the first two games against El Paso June 10-11 in OKC...The Dodgers last won three consecutive home games June 8-11, winning the final game of their series against Sugar Land before opening their series against El Paso with two wins. They have not won three straight home games within the same series this season.

ABD = Always Be Dealing: Austin Bibens-Dirkx entered last night's game at the start of the third inning following opener Nick Tropeano and remained on the mound for the rest of the game. Bibens-Dirkx retired the first 16 Express batters he faced, not allowing a hit until the eighth inning. Even though the Express finished 4-for-9 after starting 0-for16, Bibens-Dirkx stranded the tying run at third base in the eighth inning and tying runs at first and second base in the ninth inning. Now with a record of 9-1, Bibens-Dirkx became the first Triple-A pitcher to nine wins this season. He did not issue a walk and recorded a season-high eight strikeouts...Bibens-Dirkx last recorded nine wins in a season in 2013 when he finished a combined 12-9 in the Blue Jays organization, including nine wins with High-A Dunedin and three wins with Double-A New Hampshire. He last recorded eight strikeouts in a game May 2, 2018 while playing for Round Rock at New Orleans. Last night was also his longest outing since June 24, 2017, when he pitched 7.0 innings for the Texas Rangers at the New York Yankees. It was his longest scoreless outing since throwing 7.0 scoreless innings for Round Rock Sept. 2, 2016 against Memphis.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana went 2-for-3 last night, including the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning. He has hit safely in his last 14 starts, going 24-for-58 (.414) with 11 RBI and nine multi-hit games. He's also hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games overall, going 25-for-61 (.410) with 12 RBI...Since July 1, he's batted .351 (39x111) and leads the Dodgers with 39 hits during the stretch after batting .236 through June 30. Due to the recent surge, Santana is now tied for the overall team lead with 17 multi-hit games this season, along with Zach Reks and Keibert Ruiz.

Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley picked up his third multi-hit outing in his last four games last night, going 2-for-4 with a RBI and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning. He has now hit safely in his last five games, going 10-for-22 (.455) with two homers, five RBI, a walk and seven runs scored...Over his last 42 starts with OKC, Raley has batted .338 (51x151) with 11 doubles, two triples, nine homers, 46 RBI and 42 runs scored...Even though he's only played in 50 of the team's 86 games this season, he is tied for the OKC team lead with 49 RBI, while his 44 runs scored are second. He ranks second in Triple-A West with 15 HBP.

Mound Matters: After allowing 10-plus runs in three straight games in Albuquerque (31 runs total), the Dodgers have limited Round Rock to one run total over the last two games, with 17 consecutive scoreless innings entering tonight. Yesterday was the Dodgers' third shutout win of the season, and first of 2021 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC has held the Express 11-for-65 (.169) overall with two extra-base hits and 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position the last two nights...OKC pitchers Nick Tropeano and Austin Bibens-Dirkx did not allow a walk Friday night, marking the third time this season OKC has not issued a walk and first time since July 4 against Salt Lake. They also combined for 11 strikeouts, as Dodgers pitchers recorded at least 10 K's for the fifth time in the last 10 games and at least nine K's for the eighth time in the last 10 games. The Dodgers pace Triple-A West with 843 strikeouts...Austin Bibens Dirkx's 7.0-inning outing was the longest by an OKC pitcher this season and longest since J.D. Martin also went 7.0 innings June 25, 2019 vs. New Orleans. It was the team's longest scoreless outing since Daniel Corcino on Aug. 14, 2018 at Omaha (7.0 IP)...Including last night, OKC's starting/primary pitcher has tossed at least 6.0 innings in three of the last seven games. Prior to Aug. 6, it only happened once between July 6-Aug. 5 (26 games).

Taking Offense: After scoring at least 11 runs in three of their previous four games, the Dodgers' offense was held to two runs last night. The Express also outhit the Dodgers, 8-6, as OKC picked up its sixth win of the season when outhit by its opponent (6-31). All six of the Dodgers' hits Friday night were singles, marking just the third time this season OKC was held without an extra-base hit and the first time since July 2 against Salt Lake in OKC...Entering Friday, the Dodgers had scored at least six runs nine times in the last 10 games (81 R) and 10 times in the last 12 games (92 R). OKC had also racked up at least 10 hits in seven of their last 10 games (104 H)...OKC's 83 runs since Aug. 1 are second-most in all of Triple-A.

Yoshi's Island: Yoshi Tsutsugo went 0-for-1 with a walk Friday night before being replaced by pinch-runner Drew Avans in the fifth inning. Over his last 12 games, Tsutsugo is 15-for-37 (.405), including two homers, five doubles, five multi-hit games, 13 RBI, 11 runs scored and nine walks. He's picked up at least one RBI in nine of the last 12 games...Tsutsugo has reached base safely in 25 of his last 27 games and since July 10, his 19 walks are tied for second in Triple-A West, while his .459 OBP is fourth, his 1.129 OPS is fifth, his .671 SLG is sixth, his .353 AVG is seventh, his 24 runs scored are tied for seventh and his 25 RBI are tied for eighth in the league.

Rehab Recap: Gavin Lux played the fifth game of his Major League Rehab Assignment Friday and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Since joining the team Sunday, he is 4-for-14 with two walks, a RBI and six runs scored. Last night he made his third consecutive start at third base and played seven innings in the field...Lux has been on the Los Angeles Dodgers' Injured List since July 19 with a left hamstring strain and has played in 82 games with LAD during his first full season in MLB, slashing .227/.307/.349 with 10 doubles, three triples and six homers, 37 RBI and 39 runs scored...In 2019, Lux was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year.

Around the Horn: Sheldon Neuse's eight-game hitting streak came to an end last night, as he was held 0-for-3. During the streak, he was 13-for-34 (.382) with eight extra-base hits and 10 RBI...The Dodgers were held without a home run last night, snapping a stretch of five straight games with a homer (11 HR). The Dodgers have hit 55 homers over their last 32 games - tied for most in all of Triple-A since July 8. Yesterday was the Dodgers' 10th game this season in which neither team hit a home run...The Dodgers are 1-3 in Game 3 of a series after winning the first two games. The only time this season OKC has won the first three games of a series was June 17-19 in Round Rock. The team hasn't won the first three games of a home series since Aug. 7-9, 2019 against Tacoma, when they swept a three-game series.

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