PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 2, 2023

August 2, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (15-13/59-43) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (18-10/68-33)

Game #102 of 148/Second Half #29 of 75/Home #51 of 73

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Owen White (1-0, 3.94) vs. OKC-LHP Mike Montgomery (2-1, 2.86)

Wednesday, August 2, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue their series against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Despite a loss last night, the Dodgers have won seven of the last nine games and lead the Pacific Coast League second half standings with an 18-10 record...The Dodgers own the most wins in all of the Minors with a 68-33 record overall.

Last Game: Both of the Oklahoma City Dodgers' runs scored on a home run by Miguel Vargas in a 4-2 loss to the Round Rock Express Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Express snapped a seven-game losing streak as they took a quick lead on a leadoff home run by J.P. Martinez. Round Rock scored two more runs in the fifth inning on a single by Elier Hernandez for a 3-0 advantage and extended to a 4-0 lead on a RBI single by Martinez in the sixth inning. After being held scoreless through five innings, the Dodgers got on the scoreboard via Vargas' two-run homer out to left field in the sixth inning. The Express outhit the Dodgers, 10-6, in the series opener between the teams.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Reigning PCL Pitcher of the Week Mike Montgomery (2-1) makes his eighth start and 10th appearance with OKC tonight...He last pitched July 27 in Reno, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings for the second time this season. He allowed two hits and one walk and recorded four strikeouts as he picked up his second win with the Dodgers, retiring 15 of 18 total batters faced. As a result, he was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for July 24-30...Montgomery just completed a strong month of July. Over five appearances (three starts), he went 2-0 with a 1.21 ERA (3 ER/22.1 IP) and opponents batted .132 (10x76) with no home runs and 23 strikeouts. He posted a 1.07 WHIP for the month...The left-handed pitcher signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers June 7. He started the season with the Acereros Del Norte in the Mexican League after signing with the team in February, but did not appear in a game and was released in April...The 33-year-old spent the 2022 season with Triple-A Syracuse where he made 22 appearances (17 starts)...Montgomery made 183 appearances (70 starts) in MLB from 2015-20 with the Seattle Mariners (2015-16), Chicago Cubs (2016-19) and Kansas City Royals (2019-20)..In 2016, he made 49 appearances with the Mariners and Cubs, posting a 2.52 ERA over 100.0 innings. He earned the save in the Cubs' World Series-clinching Game 7, entering in the bottom of the 10th inning and securing the game's final out in Cleveland...Montgomery was originally selected by the Royals with the 36th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft from William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita, Calif.

Against the Express: 2023: 6-1 2022: 16-14 All-time: 168-136 At OKC: 75-66

The Express and Dodgers meet for their first series since mid-May and their first series of 2023 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers swept the Express May 9-14 in their last series in Round Rock. It was OKC's first-ever six-game series sweep since PCL teams started playing primarily six-game series starting in 2021. The Dodgers outscored the Express, 34-16, in the series and held Round Rock to a .180 AVG as they allowed one run or less in three of the six meetings. OKC trailed in the seventh inning or later in four of the six wins and hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning twice...After playing one another 30 times during the 2022 season and 29 times during the 2021 season, the Dodgers and Express meet for just three six-game series in 2023, including two during the second half of the season...The Dodgers have won back-to-back season series between the teams, going 16-14 against the Express in 2022. After OKC went 12-6 through the first 18 games, the Express went 8-4 over the final 12 games, with half of those wins in games they trailed in the seventh inning or later...The teams last played each other in OKC Aug. 9-14, 2022. Although the Express won the series, 4-2, the Dodgers won the series finale by a score of 20-3, scoring 20 runs for the sixth time in team's Bricktown era (since 1998) and the most runs scored by the team in Bricktown since 2013.

Trend Setters: The Dodgers own the most wins in the Minors with a 68-33 record as well as the second-best winning percentage (.673) among the 120 full-season teams, trailing only Single-A Clearwater (.677; 65-31)...The Dodgers have won seven of the last nine games as well as 12 of their last 17 games and own the best record in the PCL - as well as in all of Triple-A - to start the second half at 18-10...The Dodgers reached 65 wins in 96 games - faster than any other Pacific Coast League team since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. The previous fastest a PCL team reached 65 wins since 2005 was when the 2017 Memphis Redbirds did it in 100 games (65-35)...During the Bricktown era, OKC's best previous record through 101 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 62-39...The Dodgers finished the first half with a 50-23 record and won the PCL's first-half championship. By virtue of winning the first half in the split-season format, the Dodgers will host a best-of-three PCL Championship Series Sept. 26-28 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark against the winner of the second half (or second-place finisher should the Dodgers also win the second half).

Getting Miggy With It: Miguel Vargas homered in a second straight game and for the third time in the last four games, as his homer in the sixth inning scored both of OKC's runs last night. He has hit safely in seven straight games, going 12-for-32 (.375) with five extra-base hits, nine RBI and 10 runs scored. He has now reached base in all 16 games he has played with OKC since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers in mid-July and is currently slashing .313/.425/.597. He has recorded 21 hits during that time with 42 RBI and 18 runs scored...Since joining OKC July 14, his 18 runs scored pace the PCL, while his five homers are tied for third, his 14 RBI are tied for fourth and his 21 hits and 40 total bases are tied for sixth in the league.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch recorded a double and scored a run Tuesday night as he extended his hitting streak to eight games, going 16-for-37 (.432) with five homers, eight extra-base hits, 11 RBI and 11 runs scored. The eight-game hitting streak marks his third eight-game hitting streak of the season, tying his season long (also April 5-13 and May 30-June 13)...Busch has also reached base in a season-high 26 consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the PCL and the third-longest on-base streak by an OKC player this season. During the stretch, he is 36-for-111 (.324) with 11 homers, 17 extra-base hits, 28 RBI and 23 runs scored...Busch led all of Triple-A with 11 home runs in July while his 18 home runs overall this season pace the Dodgers. He has hit five homers in his last eight games, including his first two multi-homer games at the Triple-A level...His 1.025 OPS and .596 SLG both rank second in the PCL overall this season among qualified players.

Dinger Details: With last night's homer by Miguel Vargas, the Dodgers have now homered in four straight games (12 HR), in seven of the last eight games (18 HR) and in 16 of the last 18 games (30 HR). On Sunday, the Dodgers hit a season-high six home runs Sunday, including two by Michael Busch and two by David Dahl, as well as back-to-back homers by Vargas and Ryan Ward in the sixth inning. The six home runs were the most hit by the Dodgers in a game since Aug. 28, 2022 against El Paso at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. It was also the first time OKC had two players finish with a multi-homer game since May 30, 2021 at El Paso, when Luke Raley and Steven Souza Jr. each hit three homers in the same game...The Dodgers hit 38 homers in July - tied for second-most in the league during the month and their highest monthly total this season. The Dodgers have hit 72 homers in their 46 games since June 3 after hitting 47 homers through their first 55 games of the season...On the other hand, the leadoff homer by Round Rock's J.P. Martinez last night was the sixth hit by an opponent this season and second in the last four games. The Dodgers have allowed a homer in seven straight games (12 HR).

The Warden: Ryan Ward recorded OKC's lone multi-hit game last night, going 2-for-4 with a double. Ward has hit safely in six straight games, going 13-for-27 (.481) with four extra-base hits and six RBI, tying his longest hitting streak of the season. This is the third time this season Ward has compiled a six-game hitting streak (also May 19-25 and July 15-21)...On Sunday he finished with a game-high four hits, going 4-for-6 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored. The four hits matched his season high from April 19 in Albuquerque...Ward finished the month of July slashing .318/.392/.568 with six homers and 17 RBI in 22 games.

Hot and Cold: The Dodgers were limited to two runs last night and their runs totals over the last five games are as follows: 2, 14, 3, 16 and 2. Going back to July 21 against El Paso, the Dodgers have played 10 games. In half of those games, they've been limited to three or fewer runs, for a total of 12 runs. But in the other five games, they've scored a total of 61 runs and at least 13 runs in four of the five games...Similarly on the pitching side, last night was the fourth time in the last nine games the Dodgers pitching staff limited an opponent to four runs or less. In the other five games, OKC has allowed at least six runs, including 11 or more runs three times.

Swiping Right: Round Rock recorded six stolen bases for the second-most stolen bases allowed in a game by OKC this season, trailing only El Paso's nine stolen bases July 21 in OKC. Last night was the fourth game in the PCL this season in which a team recorded at least six stolen bases. It was also the seventh time this season an opponent stole at least five bases against the Dodgers and the fifth time since July 5. El Paso's nine stolen bases July 21 marked the most stolen bases by a Pacific Coast League team since the 2011 season when Fresno had 10 stolen bases against Las Vegas April 10, 2011...Opponents are 52-for-58 in stolen base attempts over the last 21 games and 37-for-41 since the All-Star Break. The 141 steals against the Dodgers this season are most among all Triple-A teams.

Close Calls: Including last night, five of the Dodgers' last six games, seven of the last nine games as well as 11 of the 16 games following the All-Star Break have been decided by two runs or less. OKC is now 34-14 in games decided by one or two runs this season.

Around the Horn: With last night's defeat, the Dodgers are now 4-8 over their last 12 home games, 6-10 over the last 16 home games and 10-13 over the last 23 home games. Last night marked the first time since Opening Night (March 31) the Dodgers lost a home series opener. OKC has yet to start a series this season - home or road - in an 0-2 hole...Although the Dodgers were limited to six hits overall last night, four of them went for extra bases. The Dodgers have collected 38 extra-base hits over the last seven games and have 49 extra-base hits over the last nine games...Kole Calhoun has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, going 17-for-47 (.362) with nine extra-base hits and 13 RBI. He's also hit safely in 21 of his last 24 games, going 33-for-99 (.333) with 14 extra-base hits, 22 RBI and 14 runs scored...David Dahl's seven-game hitting streak came to an end last night. During the streak, he went 13-for-28 (.464) with two homers, five doubles and 10 RBI...Over the last six games, the OKC bullpen has allowed 37 runs (32 ER), 44 hits and 34 walks over 32.0 innings.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 2, 2023


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