OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 19, 2022
August 19, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (65-48) at Sugar Land Space Cowboys (52-61)
Games #114 & 115 of 150/Road #54 & 55 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (NR, -.--) vs. SUG-RHP Brandon Bielak (3-4, 2.85)
OKC-RHP Andre Jackson (1-7, 5.16) vs. SUG-RHP Brett Conine (5-3, 7.55)
Friday, August 19, 2022 | Constellation Field | Sugar Land, Texas | 7:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today's Games: The Oklahoma City Dodgers play a doubleheader of two seven-inning games against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys starting at 5:05 p.m. at Constellation Field after Thursday night's game was postponed due to rain. The series between the PCL East Division teams is tied, 1-1, and the Dodgers seek back-to-back wins after a victory Wednesday night.
Last Game: Jason Martin hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning to give the Oklahoma City Dodgers their first runs and lead of the game as they stunned the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, 2-1, Wednesday night at Constellation Field. Through the first eight innings, the Dodgers had been held scoreless and to three hits - all singles. Trailing, 1-0, with one out in the ninth inning, Edwin Ríos drew a walk, ending a run of 12 straight batters retired by Sugar Land pitcher Hunter Brown. Martin stepped up next and delivered a go-ahead, two-run homer to left-center field to give Oklahoma City a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Space Cowboys put runners at first and second base with none out before Dodgers reliever Daniel Zamora retired the next three batters on two strikeouts and a flyout to end the game. Until the ninth inning, the game's only run scored on a RBI single by Marty Costes in the second inning.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone is slated to make his Triple-A debut in Game 1 tonight. The Dodgers' No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline was promoted earlier this week from Double-A Tulsa...Between his time with Tulsa and High-A Great Lakes, Stone currently ranks second overall among qualified pitcher in the Minors with a 1.56 ERA. He's also tied for eighth with 135 strikeouts...Stone made 14 appearances (13 starts) with the Drillers, leading the team's starters in ERA (1.60) and ranking second in strikeouts (107) - tied for sixth in the Texas League at the time of his promotion. He went 6-4 with 107 strikeouts against 30 walks over 73.1 IP...He's struck out at least 11 batters four times this season, including a career-high 13 K's June 7 in a win against Northwest Arkansas that included 6.0 shutout innings...He started his second professional baseball season with High-A Great Lakes where he appeared in six games, going 1-1 with a 1.44 ERA over 25.0 IP with six walks and 28 K's...He pitched the majority of his first pro season with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2021, being named Low-A West Pitcher of the Week twice, before a promotion to Great Lakes in August...Stone was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft from the University of Central Arkansas, becoming the program's highest-drafted pitcher.
Andre Jackson (1-7) is scheduled to make his team-leading 18th start of the season in Game 2...He last pitched Aug. 12 against Round Rock in OKC, allowing two runs and four hits in 4.0 innings with two walks and five strikeouts. He was charged with the loss in OKC's 7-3 home defeat...Jackson went 10 days between starts after being recalled by LAD Aug. 7, but he did not appear in a game and was optioned to OKC Aug. 10...Aug. 2 in Salt Lake, Jackson matched his career high with 10 strikeouts over 5.0 scoreless innings, recording his third career double-digit strikeout game and his first since June 10, 2019 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga against Inland Empire. Jackson gave up four hits and three walks, but held Salt Lake 0-for-6 with six strikeouts with runners in scoring position...Over his last five starts, Jackson has allowed seven runs and 16 hits over 21.0 innings (3.00 ERA) with 34 strikeouts against 13 walks. Opponents have batted .195 (16x82)...The Dodgers are 6-11 in his starts this season...Jackson was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of the University of Utah and made his Major League debut last season...Tonight is Jackson's fourth start of the season against the Space Cowboys. In his three previous starts, Jackson is 0-1, allowing six runs and six hits with seven walks and 15 strikeouts in 13.0 IP.
Against the Space Cowboys: 2022: 14-6 2021: 12-12 All-time: 26-18 At SUG: 9-8 The Dodgers and Space Cowboys meet for their fifth and final series this season, but just their second of the season in Sugar Land...The teams last met for a six-game series in OKC July 26-31, with OKC winning the set, 4-2, including two walk-off wins in 10 innings...The Dodgers have now won 10 of the last 13 meetings between the division foes this season and have not lost back-to-back games to the Space Cowboys in 2022...OKC went 11-4 against Sugar Land at home with wins in 10 of the last 12 games, including four walk-off wins in the last nine games. In each of the walk-off wins, the Dodgers trailed in the eighth inning or later...Previously in Sugar Land this season, the Dodgers also won a three-game series May 20-22, 2-1...Miguel Vargas leads the Dodgers with 25 hits, 16 RBI and 21 runs scored in 20 games against Sugar Land this season. Pitchers Ryan Pepiot and Carson Fulmer each have four wins against Sugar Land. Pepiot has a 1.82 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 29.2 IP...The teams split their 2021 season series, 12-12. Both teams went 6-6 on their home fields as Sugar Land played its first season as a Triple-A franchise...Three of the last eight games and four of the last 10 games between the teams have gone to extra innings. Seven of the last 17 games and six of the last 13 games have been decided by one run, including four of the last five and each of the last three.
Hanging On: The Dodgers have now won three of their last four games following a six-game losing streak and own the best record in the PCL at 65-48. They have a 2.0-game lead ahead of second-place El Paso in the East Division standings...The Dodgers are in the midst of a key stretch of 24 straight games against East Division foes and are 3-5 so far...The Dodgers went 9-2 immediately following the All-Star Break, but are 4-8 since. The Dodgers are 29-24 on the road this season and are one of four PCL teams with a winning road record. Wednesday night snapped a three-game road losing streak, which was tied for the team's longest this season.
Double Trouble: Today will be the Dodgers' third true doubleheader of the season and first on the road. They split a pair of games against Albuquerque May 5 and were swept May 26 by Reno. In both cases, the Dodgers lost Game 1. On July 3 in El Paso, the Dodgers resumed a suspended game from the night before that was tied, 4-4, in the fifth inning before playing the regularly scheduled game. The Chihuahuas proceeded to outscore OKC, 26-3, that day to take both games...Today is the Dodgers' first true road doubleheader since July 13, 2019 at Memphis (split). Since the start of the 2019 season, the Dodgers are 6-12 in doubleheader games, with a series record of 1-4-4. They have lost Game 1 in five of the last six doubleheaders.
Comeback Kids: In two of the Dodgers' last three wins overall, they've trailed in the eighth inning or later. Wednesday's win was the team's third this season when trailing after eight innings, but first on the road. It's also the third time this season against Sugar Land the Dodgers took the lead/won the game when trailing in their final at-bat. In the series opener Tuesday, the Dodgers led, 7-4, in the 10th inning before Sugar Land scored four runs to come back and win.
J-Mart Special: Jason Martin hit his team-leading 26th home run Wednesday and his home run total ranks second in the PCL and tied for second among Dodgers minor leaguers. His 87 RBI this season are also second in the PCL and tied for first among Dodgers minor leaguers. Martin finished Wednesday 1-for-3 with a walk and is now on an eight-game hitting streak, going 10-for-25 (.400) with two homers, a double and six RBI. He owns the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player and it's his second hitting streak of the season of at least eight games...Martin also ranks among the league's top 10 players in extra-base hits (3rd, 50), total bases (3rd, 211), runs (3rd, 80), OPS (4th, .967), walks (4th, 57), SLG (5th, .584), triples (T-6th, 5), hits (9th, 104) and OBP (9th, .383)...He is one of eight players to reach 26 homers in a season during OKC's Bricktown era (since 1998)...Since June 25 (42 games), Martin's 16 home runs are tied for the most among all players in the Minors. During the same time span, Martin ranks second in the PCL with 40 RBI, third with a .636 SLG and fourth with a 1.019 OPS.
Rehab Report: Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol made the third appearance of his Major League Rehab Assignment and pitched a scoreless seventh inning Wednesday. Graterol retired the side in order with two groundouts and one strikeout, throwing a total of 13 pitches. In his three games with OKC, Graterol has not allowed a run or hit over 3.0 innings with one walk and three strikeouts...He was placed on the LAD Injured List with right shoulder inflammation July 11.
Phys. Ed: Edwin Ríos went 0-for-3 with a walk Wednesday and saw his 12-game hitting streak come to an end. During the streak, Ríos went 16-for-50 (.320) with a home run and five doubles. It was the longest active hitting streak in the PCL entering Wednesday and one of four hitting streaks of 12 or more games by an OKC player this season...On Tuesday, he hit a two-run homer for the 51st home run of his OKC career (2017-19, 2022). He is one home run shy of tying Nelson Cruz for fifth-place on the career leaderboard.
Buschwacked: Michael Busch was held 0-for-4 Wednesday after going 7-for-10 with two three-run homers and eight RBI in his previous two games. Busch has 15 home runs with OKC and 26 home runs overall this year, tied for second among Dodgers minor leaguers with Jason Martin and one behind Double-A Tulsa's Ryan Ward for the organizational lead. His overall RBI total is up to 85 between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, which is currently third among Dodgers minor leaguers...Since his first game with OKC May 17 after being promoted from Double-A Tulsa, Busch leads the Dodgers with 82 hits, including 20 doubles, and is tied for first with 35 extra-base hits. His 147 total bases, 15 home runs, 56 RBI and 55 runs scored in his 74 games with OKC rank second on the team during the stretch.
Walking Papers: OKC drew four walks Wednesday - the team's lowest total in four games after racking up 28 walks over the previous three games. The Dodgers lead all Triple-A teams with 561 walks this season - 47 more than the next-closest teams - and their total ranks fourth overall in the Minors. The team has drawn 137 walks across the 23 games following the All-Star Break for an average of 5.96 per game, including nine games with seven or more walks. The Dodgers are now just 13 walks shy of setting a new team single-season record...Of the last 32 walks drawn, the Dodgers have converted 15 of them into runs...The Dodgers allowed two walks Wednesday, marking the fourth time in five games they've walked three or fewer batters. However, OKC still leads all Triple-A teams with 544 walks allowed this season.
Slim Margins: Over the last five games between the Dodgers and Space Cowboys, four have been decided by one run, including each of the last three. Wednesday's game was also the third time in those same five games a team won when trailing entering its final at-bat...Wednesday marked the fourth time this season the Dodgers won a game scoring two or fewer runs, and it was their only their second win this season with four or fewer hits, joining a 1-0 victory April 22 at Sacramento...The team is now 18-12 in one-run games, which is second-best in the PCL behind Reno at 22-14. During last year's 129-game schedule, the Dodgers were 13-22 in one-run games and had the league's worst record.
Around the Horn: The Dodgers pitching staff matched its season-high mark with 16 strikeouts Wednesday, initially set July 6 against Las Vegas. OKC ranks tied for first in Triple-A with 158 strikeouts through 14 games this month...Over his last 12 games, Ryan Noda is 15-for-38 (.395) with three doubles, three homers, 14 RBI, nine runs and 14 walks. He ranks second in the PCL with 68 walks this season, while also ranking in the league's top 10 in OBP (6th, .391) and RBI (8th, 70)...After hitting just one solo homer over six games Aug. 7-13, the Dodgers have hit five homers over the last three games, all with runners on base...Wednesday ended a season-high streak of nine consecutive games for OKC allowing a home run as opponents collected 16 homers during the span...The Dodgers held Sugar Land to six singles Wednesday, marking the 11th time this season they did not allow an extra-base hit. Entering Wednesday, the Dodgers had allowed at least four extra-base hits in eight of the previous nine games, including six straight, for a total of 41 XBH.
Pacific Coast League Stories from August 19, 2022
- Keuchel Leads Round Rock to 4-0 Win Over El Paso - Round Rock Express
- Round Rock Blanks El Paso 4-0 Friday - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Space Cowboys Game Notes vs. Oklahoma City - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. ABQ (7:05 PT) - Tacoma Rainiers
- Reno Errors Lead to Salt Lake Victory - Salt Lake Bees
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 19, 2022 - Oklahoma City Comets
- El Paso Wins 2-1 Over Round Rock Thursday - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Rainiers Score Six Unanswered Runs to Beat Albuquerque, 9-5 - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Double R Pleasure: Rainiers Romp over ABQ, 9-5 - Tacoma Rainiers
- Carroll Homers in Reno's 5-3 Loss to Salt Lake - Reno Aces
- Chihuahuas Slow Down Express Offense for 2-1 Win - Round Rock Express
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
