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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 15, 2021

August 15, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (42-45) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (46-41)

Game #88 of 130/Home #40 of 65

Pitching Probables: RR-LHP Brock Burke (1-5, 6.60) vs. OKC-RHP Aaron Wilkerson (6-5, 4.71)

Sunday, August 15, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue their Red Dirt Rumble rivalry series against the Round Rock Express at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC's three-game winning streak came to an end last night, but the Dodgers lead the series, 2-1, and are 8-4 in the last 12 games. They sit in second place in the East Division, 1.5 games behind division-leading Sugar Land.

Last Game: The Round Rock Express held the Oklahoma City Dodgers scoreless and to two hits through eight innings as they sent the Dodgers to a 7-3 loss Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Express led the entire game, scoring three runs in the third inning on a sacrifice fly and two-run single by Curtis Terry. The Express then built a 5-0 lead with runs in the fifth and sixth innings before adding a two-run homer by John Hicks in the top of the ninth inning to take a 7-0 lead. The Dodgers got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth inning with a three-run homer by Zach Reks. With the win, the Express snapped a five-game skid against the Dodgers.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Aaron Wilkerson (6-5) is slated to make his team-leading 16th start of the season tonight...In his last outing Aug. 9 in Albuquerque, he allowed three runs and seven hits over 6.0 innings, taking a loss for a second consecutive start. He issued two walks and recorded five K's...Wilkerson enters tonight with the team lead in starts, innings and strikeouts...Wilkerson's 94 strikeouts lead Triple-A West, while his 1.18 WHIP and 84.0 IP are second, his .251 AVG and 4.71 ERA are third and his six wins and 15 starts are tied for fourth...After going 11 straight outings (10 starts) and over two months without a loss, Wilkerson has been handed a loss in each of his last two starts...Wilkerson signed with the Dodgers as a free agent May 1. He originally signed with Rakuten of the Chinese Professional Baseball League during the 2020-21 offseason, but opted out of his contract...Wilkerson was under contract with the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2020 season, but was not part of the team's player pool and did not play due to the canceled Minor League season...Wilkerson has made three previous starts against the Express this season, going 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA. He has allowed a combined 10 runs and 15 hits over 12.0 IP with five walks and 17 K's.

Against the Express: 2021: 12-9 2019: 6-10 All-time: 142-117 At OKC: 65-57 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 17 meetings after opening the season with four consecutive losses to the Express in May...Entering tonight, the Dodgers have a 111-99 edge in runs scored, while the Express have outhit OKC, 178-167, and have 32 homers compared to OKC's 28. The Express have homered at least once in 18 of the first 21 games against OKC...Before last night's loss, the Dodgers had won each of the previous five games against the Express by a combined score of 36-8. The seven runs by Round Rock last night were the most in 13 games against the Dodgers, having last scored seven on June 18 at Dell Diamond when the Dodgers won, 8-7.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks homered for a third straight game last night, connecting on a three-run homer in the ninth inning to help the Dodgers avoid being shut out. It's the second time in his career he's gone deep in three straight, previously pulling it off June 7-9, 2019 in OKC against Fresno...His 65 hits this season pace the Dodgers, while his 15 homers are second-most on the team and his 46 RBI are third-most among OKC players. He has now hit safely in six of his last seven Triple-A games, going 8-for-26 with four homers, a double, 10 RBI and 10 runs scored...Reks ranks fourth in Triple-A West in OPS (1.009), tied for fourth in runs scored (55), sixth in SLG (.607) and ninth in OBP (.402).

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana collected the Dodgers' first hit of the night in the third inning and went 1-for-3 overall in the game. He has hit safely in his last 15 starts, going 25-for-61 (.410) with 11 RBI and nine multi-hit games. He's also hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games overall, going 26-for-64 (.406) with 12 RBI...Since July 1, he's batted .351 (40x114) and leads the Dodgers with 40 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.

Movin' On Up: Despite Saturday's defeat, the Dodgers have won five of their last seven games, eight of their last 12 games and nine of their last 14 games. They can match their season-high mark of six games above .500 with a victory tonight...Since July 30, their nine wins are tied for second most in Triple-A West.

Dinger Details: Zach Reks' homer last night was OKC's 56th home run in the last 33 games. The Dodgers have hit the most homers in Triple-A West since July 8 and second-most in all of Triple-A during the span, trailing only St. Paul (57)...The Dodgers have homered in six of their last seven games, totaling 12 homers during the stretch. They have also homered in nine of their last 11 games, racking up 18 homers - tied for most in Triple-A West since Aug. 2...On the other hand, the Express hit a homer in the ninth inning last night after being held without a home run in back-to-back games. Opponents have hit eight homers over the last eight games, but four of those came Aug. 10 in Albuquerque. The Dodgers have kept their opponent inside the park in four of the eight games.

U-Turn at the Plate: 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). And in the four games leading up to Friday, they totaled 43 runs and 51 hits, including 23 extra-base hits. But over the last two games, the Dodgers have scored five total runs while going 10-for-58 (.172) with just one extra-base hit. Against Round Rock's starting pitchers between Friday and Saturday, the Dodgers did not score across 11.0 innings, going 3-for-32 with no extra-base hits, two walks, 15 strikeouts and placing just two runners in scoring position...Despite the light offense overall, the Dodgers have still performed well when runners have reached scoring position, going 4-for-11 in the last two games...Even with the recent dip, OKC's 86 runs since Aug. 1 are second-most in all of Triple-A and the team has batted .342 (38x111) with runners in scoring position

Rehab Recap: Gavin Lux went 1-for-4 as OKC's designated hitter Saturday night, collecting a hit in the ninth inning and scoring a run. Through his six games with OKC during his Major League Rehab Assignment, Lux is 5-for-18 with two walks, a RBI and seven runs scored...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.

Kings of K's: Dodgers pitchers racked up 12 strikeouts last night as the staff recorded at least 10 K's for the sixth time in the last 11 games and at least nine K's for the ninth time in the last 11 games (110 K)...The Dodgers pace Triple-A West with 855 strikeouts total this season. OKC led the Pacific Coast League with a team record 1,287 strikeouts in 2019 and with 1,272 strikeouts in 2017.

Error Message: OKC committed three errors in Saturday's game, marking the second time in three games this series they committed three errors. Through the first three games of the current series, the Dodgers have committed eight errors and have committed 10 errors over the last five games, leading to a total of 11 unearned runs. Of the eight runs scored by Round Rock this series, only three have been earned against the OKC pitching staff.

Making Neuse: Sheldon Neuse picked up a hit last night and has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 14-for-41 (.341) with eight extra-base hits and 10 RBI...Neuse has also hit safely in 20 of his last 23 games with OKC and since July 9 is slashing .302/.350/.521...Since joining OKC for his first game May 31, Neuse leads the team with 58 hits (52 games).

Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley has hit safely in five of his last six games, going 10-for-26 (.385) with two homers, five RBI, a walk and seven runs scored...Over his last 43 starts with OKC, Raley has batted .329 (51x155) with 11 doubles, two triples, nine homers, 46 RBI and 42 runs scored...Even though he's only played in 51 of the team's 87 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.

Around the Horn: Reliever Marshall Kasowski became the 20th player for OKC this season to make his Triple-A debut (without previously appearing in the Majors). He struck out the first batter he faced, allowed a double, then struck out the next two batters. Kasowski had been on Double-A Tulsa's Injured List all season and appeared in six games with the ACL Dodgers on a rehab assignment before joining OKC Thursday...The Dodgers have converted eight of the 12 walks they've drawn this series into runs...The Dodgers are hitting .404 (21x52) with runners in scoring position over the last six games...Yoshi Tsutsugo was released yesterday in order to pursue an opportunity with another organization. In his final 12 games with OKC, Tsutsugo went 15-for-37 (.405), including two homers, five doubles, five multi-hit games, 13 RBI, 11 runs scored and nine walks while posting a .490 OBP. He picked up at least one RBI in nine of his last 12 games...Catcher Tim Federowicz is expected to rejoin the OKC Dodgers today. Federowicz has been away from the team since July 15 while with Team USA at the Summer Olympics. Even though he did not see any formal game action during the Olympic Tournament as the team's backup catcher, he won a silver medal along with the rest of the team.

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