PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 17, 2021

Published on August 17, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (42-46) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (47-41)

Game #89 of 130/Home #41 of 65

Pitching Probables: RR-LHP Jake Latz (0-0, 5.40) vs. OKC-RHP Yefry Ramírez (4-3, 5.08)

Tuesday, August 17, 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 lead their current series against the Round Rock Express, 3-1, and seek back-to-back wins when the teams close out their Red Dirt Rumble rivalry series at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers have won four of their last five games and are in second place in the East Division, 1.0 game behind Sugar Land...The Dodgers enter tonight having won eight of their last 10 series finales.

Last Game: Last night's game was postponed due to rain, but on Sunday, Omar Estévez lined a two-run double to the wall in left field in the eighth inning to break a tie and help send the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 6-4 win against the Round Rock Express at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers scored three runs in the first inning to take the lead. Sheldon Neuse led off with a solo homer out to center field. Cristian Santana and Estévez added RBI singles to extend the Dodgers' lead to 3-0 in the first inning. Round Rock scored two runs in the top of the second inning before Gavin Lux answered in the bottom of the inning with a RBI single to push the Dodgers' lead to 4-2. Round Rock pitchers then retired the next 15 Dodgers batters, and Dodgers starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson retired 15 of the 17 batters he faced between the third and seventh innings. The Express scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game, 4-4, before Estévez's two-run double in the bottom of the inning pushed OKC in front. In the ninth, James Pazos struck out Ryan Dorow with the tying runs on base to end the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Yefry Ramírez (4-3) makes his 14th start of the season with OKC...Ramírez pitched in the series opener Thursday, holding Round Rock to one unearned run and one hit over 5.0 innings and picked up his fourth win of the season. He tied his season-low mark for hits allowed, issued three walks and recorded three K's...Thursday marked his first appearance with OKC after making his Los Angeles Dodgers debut Aug. 1 at Arizona. Ramírez pitched 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings with two K's and one walk against the Diamondbacks to close out a 13-0 win...Ramírez was optioned to OKC Aug. 2, designated for assignment when the Dodgers signed four-time All-Star Cole Hamels and subsequently outrighted to OKC Aug. 7...Ramírez was named Triple-A West Pitcher of the Month for June after going 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in five starts. He allowed 20 hits and struck out 27 over 26.0 IP while holding opponents to a .213 average. Ramírez led the league in ERA and opponent average while he tied for the best WHIP (1.12). He also ranked third in strikeouts and innings...Ramírez's 70 strikeouts are currently seventh most in Triple-A West...Ramírez signed with the Dodgers as a free agent March 25. He is in his 10th pro season after originally signing with Arizona as an international free agent in 2011...Tonight is his fourth appearance of the season against the Express. Over a combined 14.0 innings, Ramírez is 1-1, allowing 11 runs (10 earned) and 12 hits - including five homers - with eight walks and 15 K's.

Against the Express: 2021: 13-9 2019: 6-10 All-time: 143-117 At OKC: 66-57 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 13 of the last 18 meetings after opening the season with four consecutive losses to the Express in May...Entering tonight, the Dodgers have a 117-103 edge in runs scored, while the Express have outhit OKC, 186-176, and have 33 homers compared to OKC's 29. The Express have homered at least once in 19 of the first 22 games...OKC has won six of the last seven games between the teams entering tonight...The Express has scored 11 runs over the past two games after the Dodgers held them to eight total runs in the previous five games.

Change of Plans: Due to rain and MLB's COVID-19 health and safety protocols pertaining to game start times, last night's game was postponed. The teams will make up the game as part of a doubleheader of two, seven-inning games Sunday, Sept. 19 beginning at 2:05 p.m. CT...Last night was OKC's second game this season to be postponed due to inclement weather and first since June 5 against Sugar Land at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Movin' On Up: The Dodgers have won six of their last eight games and are 9-4 in the last 13 games. They have matched their season-high mark at six games above .500 and their nine wins since Aug. 1 are tied for most in Triple-A West...The Dodgers trail first place Sugar Land by 1.0 games in the East Division standings, and this is the closest the Dodgers have been to the top of the division since being within 0.5 games entering play July 3...After starting 2021 with a 4-13 record, OKC has gone 43-28.

Young Sheldon: Sheldon Neuse finished Sunday's game 2-for-4 with a double, leadoff homer, RBI and two runs scored. He has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, going 16-for-45 (.356) with 10 extra-base hits and 11 RBI...Neuse has also hit safely in 21 of his last 24 games with OKC and since July 9 is slashing .310/.355/.560...Since joining OKC for his first game May 31, Neuse leads the team with 60 hits (53 games).

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana batted third in the lineup for the first time this season and went 2-for-4 Sunday with a RBI and scored two runs. He has hit safely in his last 16 starts, going 27-for-65 (.415) with 12 RBI and 10 multi-hit games. He's also hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games overall, going 28-for-68 (.412) with 13 RBI. Since July 23, Santana ranks second in Triple-A West with a .412 batting average and tied for fourth with 28 hits...Since July 1, he's batted .356 (42x118) and leads the Dodgers with 42 hits during the stretch after batting .236 through June 30. Due to the recent surge, Santana now leads OKC with 18 multi-hit games this season.

Dinger Details: Sheldon Neuse hit OKC's third leadoff homer of the season Sunday. The Dodgers' first two leadoff homers of 2021 both came against Sugar Land (Steven Souza Jr. July 23 in OKC and Zach Reks June 24 at Sugar Land)...The Dodgers have hit 57 homers overall in their last 34 games. They have hit the second-most homers in Triple-A West since July 8 and the third-most homers in all of Triple-A during the span, trailing only Las Vegas (60 HR) and St. Paul (58 HR)...The Dodgers have homered in seven of their last eight games, totaling 13 homers during the stretch. They have also homered in 10 of their last 12 games, racking up 19 homers - tied for second-most in Triple-A West since Aug. 2...On the other hand, the Express hit a homer in the eighth inning Sunday night and have homered in back-to-back games. The Dodgers have kept their opponent inside the park in four of the last nine games and have allowed a league-low 103 homers this season overall.

Back and Forth in the Box: The Dodgers scored six runs Sunday and have now scored at least six runs in six of their last eight games (60 R), in 10 of their last 13 games (92 R) and 11 of their last 15 games (103 R). OKC also totaled at least nine hits Sunday for the sixth time in the last eight games and ninth time in the last 13 games...Over the previous two games, the Dodgers had been held to five total runs while going 10-for-58 (.172) with just one extra-base hit...OKC went 5-for-8 with runners in scoring position Sunday and over the last seven games is batting .433 (26x60) with RISP...OKC's 92 runs since Aug. 1 are tied for third most in all of Triple-A West, trailing league leaders Reno and Tacoma by two runs, although both teams have now played one more game than OKC this month.

Kings of K's: Dodgers pitchers racked up nine more strikeouts Sunday, recording at least nine K's for the 10th time in the last 12 games (119 K). OKC has also recorded six games with 10 or more strikeouts during the stretch...The Dodgers pace Triple-A West with 864 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.

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 88 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.

Picking Up the Pace: Sunday's game clocked in at 2 hours, 33 minutes - OKC's shortest nine-inning game of the season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and tied for the team's second-shortest nine-inning game overall this season. The Dodgers' average nine-inning game time at home this season is 3:18 - longest among the 90 teams across Double-A, Triple-A and the Major Leagues.

Around the Horn: Yesterday Andre Jackson became the 25th player to appear for both the OKC and Los Angeles Dodgers this season (excluding rehab assignments). Jackson made his ML debut with 4.0 scoreless innings against Pittsburgh and became the fifth OKC Dodger to make his ML debut following the start of the Triple-A season...Sunday marked the team's fourth last at-bat win of the season and third at home...Omar Estévez had been mired in a 3-for-38 slump before going 2-for-4 with the game-winning hit Sunday. It was his first multi-hit game since July 27 against Sugar Land (15 games) and he tied his season high with three RBI...The Dodgers have converted nine of the 14 walks they've drawn this series into runs...Starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson turned in his longest outing of the season Sunday at 7.0 innings. Before Friday, no OKC pitcher had completed 7.0 innings this season until Austin Bibens-Dirkx became the first and Wilkerson also did it two days later. Including Sunday, OKC's starting/primary pitcher has tossed at least 6.0 innings in four of the last nine games. Prior to Aug. 6, it only happened once between July 6-Aug. 5 (26 games)...Zach Reks ranks tied for fourth in Triple-A West with 55 runs scored, fifth with a .598 SLG and sixth with a .998 OPS.

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