PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 19, 2021

Published on August 19, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (48-41) at Sugar Land Skeeters (49-40)

Game #90 of 130/Road #49 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (9-1, 4.08) vs. SUG-RHP Brandon Bielak (1-0, 2.84)

Thursday, August 19, 2021 | Constellation Field | Sugar Land, Texas | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open a six-game road series against the Sugar Land Skeeters at 7:05 p.m. at Constellation Field in a battle of the top two teams in the East Division...OKC has won five of the last six games and enter tonight 1.0 game behind division-leading Sugar Land.

Last Game: Cristian Santana hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning to break a tie and help send the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 5-4 win against the Round Rock Express Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. With the score tied, 4-4, Zach McKinstry led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a triple. Two batters later, Santana hit a RBI double into right-center field to put the Dodgers in front, 5-4. The Dodgers' bullpen held the Express scoreless over the final four innings, including 3.0 innings from winning pitcher Vidal Nuño (5-0). James Pazos retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning for his fifth save. The Dodgers took the game's first lead when Luke Raley belted a leadoff homer out to center field. The Express tied the game with a run in the third inning, but OKC answered in the bottom of the inning when Drew Avans reached base on a walk, stole second and third base, then advanced home on an Express throwing error to put OKC ahead, 2-1. Round Rock tied the game again with a run in the fourth inning before Omar Estévez's two-run homer out to left field and onto the Budweiser Deck gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the inning. A two-run homer by Round Rock's Leody Taveras in the fifth inning tied the game, 4-4.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Austin Bibens-Dirkx (9-1) tries to become the first Triple-A pitcher in 2021 to 10 wins when he takes the mound tonight...His nine wins lead all of Triple-A while his 4.08 ERA paces Triple-A West. He also ranks among league leaders in WHIP (4th, 1.31), IP (5th, 81.2) and AVG (6th, .274)...Bibens-Dirkx recorded his ninth win of 2021 in his last outing Aug. 13 against Round Rock in OKC, as the Dodgers prevailed, 2-0. He entered 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. Bibens-Dirkx stranded the tying run at third base in the eighth inning and tying runs at first and second base in the ninth...Bibens-Dirkx finished Friday's game allowing four hits, with no walks and a season-high eight strikeouts. He last recorded eight K's in a game May 2, 2018 while playing for Round Rock at New Orleans. It was also his longest outing since June 24, 2017, when he pitched 7.0 innings for the Texas Rangers at the New York Yankees and was his longest scoreless outing since throwing 7.0 scoreless innings for Round Rock Sept. 2, 2016 against Memphis...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...Since June 6, Bibens-Dirkx has made 13 appearances and is 7-0 with a 3.36 ERA...Over his last nine games, Bibens-Dirkx has notched 33 strikeouts against six walks across 42.0 IP...Bibens-Dirkx signed with the Dodgers May 4 after he did not see any formal game action in 2020. He was with the Texas Rangers during Spring Training in 2020 and was released June 1...In four games (two starts) against Sugar Land, he is 0-0 with a 3.93 ERA, allowing eight runs and 27 hits over 18.1 innings with two walks and 17 K's.

Against the Skeeters: 2021: 11-7 2019: N/A All-time: 11-7 At SUG: 5-1 The top two teams in the East Division meet for their fourth and final series of the season and second at Constellation Field...The teams most recently met at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark July 22-27 with the Skeeters winning the series, 4-2. The Dodgers had won each of the first two series between the teams, including June 24-29 at Constellation Field, 5-1. They also took four of six games at home June 3-8...Keibert Ruiz, who has since been traded to the Washington Nationals, paced the Dodgers with 23 hits, 16 RBI and 16 runs scored in the first 16 games against the Skeeters...The Dodgers have outscored the Skeeters, 101-77, in the season series, while Sugar Land has a slight advantage in hits, 152-150. The Dodgers have also hit 26 homers in the season series while holding Sugar land to 14 homers...The Skeeters own Triple-A West's best run differential at +76, their pitching staff's 4.30 ERA leads Triple-A West and they have allowed a league-low 409 runs so far in 2021...Ten of the last 12 games between the division rivals have been decided by one or two runs. In the previous series at Sugar Land, each of the six games were decided by one or two runs, with the go-ahead run(s) scoring in the seventh inning or later four times.

Movin' On Up: With Tuesday's win, the Dodgers improved to a season-best seven games above .500 at 48-41. OKC has won back-to-back games, five of the last six games, seven of the last nine games and 10 of the last 14 games...The Dodgers trail first place Sugar Land by 1.0 game 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. The Dodgers have not had a share of first place at any point this season...After starting 2021 with a 4-13 record, OKC has gone 44-28.

Road Warriors: The Dodgers have won three of their last four road games as well as six of their last nine road games and are 5-0-1 in their last six road series. The Dodgers are 28-20 on the road overall this season and own the second-most road wins in Triple-A West, only behind Reno (30). Entering tonight, the Dodgers are 26-11 in their last 37 road games...The Dodgers have scored 311 runs in 48 road games (6.5 per game) and hit 78 homers, while at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark the team has scored 214 runs (5.2 per game) and hit 52 homers in 41 home games...However, the team is just 2-6 in road series openers, with losses in three straight.

Dinger Details: Luke Raley hit the Dodgers' fourth leadoff homer of the season Tuesday and the team's second in as many games after Sheldon Neuse also did it Sunday night against Round Rock. The team's previous two leadoff homers both came against current opponent Sugar Land...The Dodgers have hit 59 homers overall in their last 35 games and have the second-most homers in Triple-A West since July 8. OKC has now homered in eight of their last nine games, totaling 15 homers during the stretch. They have also homered in 11 of their last 13 games, racking up 21 homers - tied for second-most in Triple-A West since Aug. 2...On the other hand, Round Rock homered in a third straight game against the Dodgers Tuesday. However, the Dodgers have allowed a league-low 104 homers this season overall.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit Tuesday with a RBI double in the seventh inning. It was the second time in the last four games Santana has provided a go-ahead hit in the seventh inning, also breaking a scoreless tie Friday with a RBI single in the team's eventual 2-0 win...Santana has now hit safely in his last 17 starts. During the stretch, he is 28-for-69 (.406) with 13 RBI and 10 multi-hit games. He's also hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games overall. Since July 23, Santana ranks third in Triple-A West with a .403 batting average and tied for fourth with 29 hits...Since July 1, he's batted .352 (43x122) and leads the Dodgers with 43 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.

Young Sheldon: Sheldon Neuse entered Tuesday's game as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning and remained in the game, going 1-for-3. He has now hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 17-for-48 (.354) with 10 extra-base hits and 11 RBI...Neuse has also hit safely in 22 of his last 25 games with OKC and since July 9 is slashing .311/.355/.553...Since joining OKC for his first game May 31, Neuse leads the team with 61 hits (54 games).

Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley homered Tuesday and has hit safely in six of his last seven games, going 11-for-29 (.380) with three homers, six RBI, two walks and eight runs scored...Over his last 44 starts with OKC, Raley has batted .329 (52x158) with 11 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 47 RBI and 43 runs scored...Even though he's only played in 52 of the team's 89 games this season, he leads OKC with 50 RBI, while his 45 runs scored are second. He ranks second in Triple-A West with 15 HBP...Raley's home run Tuesday was his first of the season at home, having hit each of his previous 11 dingers on the road.

Back and Forth in the Box: The Dodgers scored five runs Tuesday and have now scored at least five runs in seven of their last nine games (65 R), in 11 of their last 14 games (97 R) and 12 of their last 16 games (108 R). OKC also totaled nine hits Tuesday, collecting at least nine hits in a game for the seventh time in the last nine games and 10th time in the last 14 games...Friday and Saturday, the Dodgers were held to five total runs while going 10-for-58 (.172) with just one extra-base hit...OKC was held 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position Tuesday, but over the previous seven games, batted .433 (26x60) with RISP...OKC's 97 runs since Aug. 1 are fourth most in all of Triple-A West, but the team has played one fewer game than Reno (104 R), Las Vegas (100 R) and Tacoma (98 R). (15 E No Glove, No Love: The Dodgers committed two more errors Tuesday, marking the team's sixth multi-error game in the last nine games overall, with at least one error in seven of the nine games (15 E total). In the last seven games, the Dodgers have committed 12 errors, leading to 12 unearned runs...The Dodgers' 74 errors this season are now tied for most in Triple-A West, and the team's .976 fielding percentage is tied for the lowest.

Around the Horn: Zach McKinstry tied his season-high mark with a team-high three hits Tuesday night, going 3-for-4 with a triple and a run scored. He has now hit safely in his last three games with OKC, going 5-for-11 with a homer, triple, two RBI and three runs scored...In each of the team's last three wins, the Dodgers have scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning or later...The Dodgers converted 10 of the 16 walks they drew during the Round Rock series into runs...Omar Estévez has totaled seven RBI from his last four hits, including a two-run homer Tuesday. Entering Sunday, Estévez had been mired in a 3-for-38 slump, but he went 3-for-8 with a homer, double and five RBI between Sunday and Tuesday's games...Drew Avans recorded two stolen bases Tuesday night to boost his team-leading total to 14 steals. Carlos Asuaje also stole a base and the Dodgers' three steals in the game were a season high.

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