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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 20, 2021

August 20, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (48-42) at Sugar Land Skeeters (50-40)

Game #91 of 130/Road #50 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-1, 5.40) vs. SUG-RHP Hunter Brown (2-0, 2.76)

Friday, August 20, 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 face the Sugar Land Skeeters at 7:05 p.m. at Constellation Field trying to tie the series between the top two teams in the East Division. Even with last night's loss, the Dodgers have won five of the last seven games and enter tonight 2.0 games behind division-leading Sugar Land.

Last Game: The Sugar Land Skeeters scored nine runs within the first five innings and then fought off an Oklahoma City Dodgers comeback during a 9-8 win Thursday night at Constellation Field. The Dodgers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning following a leadoff double by Luke Raley, who later scored on a RBI single by Zach Reks. Sugar Land's Ronnie Dawson answered with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Raley hit his second double in as many innings in the second, this time driving in a run to put the Dodgers ahead 2-1. The Skeeters proceeded to score eight straight runs to take a 9-2 lead. Sugar Land scored two runs in the second inning, four in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth inning. The Dodgers got back into the game with a four-spot in the sixth inning. Tony Wolters ripped a triple with the bases loaded and later scored on a wild pitch, cutting Sugar Land's lead to 9-6. Still trailing by three with one out in the ninth inning, Reks hit a two-run homer to close the gap to one. Sugar Land closer Ronel Blanco then retired the next two batters to end the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryan Pepiot (1-1) takes the mound for his fourth Triple-A start tonight...He last started for OKC Aug. 14 against Round Rock at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and was charged with his first loss since his promotion. He allowed four runs (one earned) and five hits over 4.1 innings, with three walks and seven strikeouts...Pepiot was transferred to OKC from Double-A Tulsa July 31. The current Dodgers' No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline made 15 appearances (13 starts) for the Drillers and posted a 3-4 record and 2.87 ERA. He allowed 19 runs and 30 hits with 26 walks and 81 strikeouts over 59.2 innings. Pepiot held the opposition scoreless in five of his 15 games and allowed no more than one run in 10 of 15 games. At the time of his promotion, he led the Drillers with 81 strikeouts and had the lowest ERA among regular starting pitchers. His 81 K's ranked fifth-most in the Double-A Central...Entering tonight, Pepiot leads all Dodgers minor leaguers with a minimum of 70.0 IP with a .174 BAA. He also ranks third in WHIP (1.07), ERA (3.33) and strikeouts (98)...Pepiot did not play during the 2020 season due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season, but spent part of the year at the Dodgers' Alternate Training Site on the campus of USC...He began his pro career after being selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University, becoming the Bulldogs' highest-ever draft pick. Pepiot zoomed up to Triple-A, reaching the level after just 28 career games (23 starts) and 83.0 IP...Tonight will be his first start against the Skeeters.

Against the Skeeters: 2021: 11-8 2019: N/A All-time: 11-8 At SUG: 5-2 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, 109-86, in the season series, while Sugar Land has a slight advantage in hits, 165-158. The Dodgers have also hit 27 homers while holding Sugar Land to 15 homers...Eleven of the last 13 games between the division rivals, including all seven games at Constellation Field, have been decided by one or two runs. The go-ahead run(s) has scored in the seventh inning or later four times within the seven games in Sugar Land...The Skeeters have now won five of the last seven meetings between the teams after the Dodgers went 9-3 in the first 12 meetings.

Movin' On Up: With a win tonight, the Dodgers can match their season-best record at seven games above .500. Even though the Dodgers lost last night's series opener, OKC has won five of the last seven games, seven of the last 10 games and 10 of the last 15 games...The Dodgers trail first place Sugar Land by 2.0 games in the East Division standings...After starting 2021 with a 4-13 record, OKC has gone 44-29.

Road Warriors: Despite a loss Thursday, the Dodgers have won three of their last five road games as well as six of their last 10 road games and are 5-0-1 in their last six road series. The Dodgers are 28-21 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 26-12 in their last 38 road games...The Dodgers have scored 319 runs in 49 road games (6.5 per game) and hit 79 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 2-7 in road series openers, with losses in four straight, including last night. But in all other road games, the Dodgers are 26-14.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks hit his fourth homer in the last six games last night and picked up his first multi-hit game since his most recent return to the team Aug. 10. Reks reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with two walks and tied his season high with three RBI...Although Reks has only played in eight of the team's 15 games this month while also splitting his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Reks is tied for the OKC team lead with four homers and 11 RBI in August...Reks leads OKC with 67 hits, 57 runs scored and 32 walks this season, while his 18 doubles are tied for the team lead and his 16 homers are tied for second most among OKC players...Reks' 57 runs scored this season are tied for third among Triple-A West leaders, while his .602 SLG is fourth, his 1.003 OPS is fifth and .402 OBP is 10th in the league.

Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley hit a leadoff double Thursday night, as he led off a second straight game with an extra-base hit. Raley also hit a leadoff homer Tuesday night against Round Rock in OKC. He went 2-for-4 Thursday in Sugar Land with two doubles, a RBI, walk and run scored and has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 13-for-33 (.394) with three homers, four doubles and seven RBI and nine runs scored...Over his last 45 starts with OKC, Raley has batted .333 (54x162) with 13 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 48 RBI and 44 runs scored...Even though he's only played in 53 of the team's 90 games this season, he leads OKC with 51 RBI, while his 46 runs scored are second. He ranks second in Triple-A West with 15 HBP...In 33 road games while playing with OKC, Raley is slashing .350/.448/.725 with 22 extra-base hits and 38 RBI.

Dinger Details: With Zack Reks' homer in the ninth inning last night, the Dodgers have now hit 60 homers in their last 36 games and have the second-most homers in Triple-A West since July 8. OKC has now homered in nine of their last 10 games, totaling 16 homers during the stretch. They have also homered in 12 of their last 14 games, racking up 22 homers - tied for second-most in Triple-A West since Aug. 2...On the other hand, Sugar Land homered last night as well, as opponents have homered in four straight games. However, the Dodgers have allowed a league-low 105 homers this season overall...Ronnie Dawson's leadoff homer last night was the third against the Dodgers this season and first since June 17 at Round Rock (Delino DeShields).

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana hit safely in an 18th straight start Thursday night with a single in the third inning. During the stretch, he is 29-for-74 (.392) with 13 RBI and 10 multi-hit games. He's also hit safely in 19 of his last 21 games overall. Since July 23, Santana ranks fourth in Triple-A West with a .390 batting average and tied for fourth with 30 hits...Since July 1, he's batted .346 (44x127) and leads the Dodgers with 44 hits during the stretch after batting .236 through June 30. Due to the recent surge, Santana is now tied with Zach Reks for the team lead with 18 multi-hit games this season.

The RUNdown: The Dodgers scored eight runs Thursday night and have now scored at least five runs in eight of their last 10 games (73 R), in 12 of their last 15 games (105 R) and 13 of their last 17 games (116 R). OKC also totaled eight hits Thursday, collecting at least eight hits in a game for the eighth time in the last 10 games and 11th time in the last 15 games. Last night was also the team's third straight game with at least four extra-base hits...OKC's 105 runs since Aug. 1 are third-most in all of Triple-A West, but the team has played one fewer game than Tacoma (108 R) and Las Vegas (106 R).

Let's Do the Time Warp...Again and Again: Thursday's game was completed in 4 hours, 6 minutes without playing the bottom of the ninth inning. It's the third game in the last four between OKC and Sugar Land that lasted at least four hours...OKC and Sugar Land have now met 19 times this year, including two seven-inning games and one 11-inning game. The average time of game overall is 3 hours, 31 minutes. In the 16 nine-inning games, the average time of game is 3 hours, 35 minutes...Yesterday's game featured a total 376 pitches (4.4 per plate appearance). Three of the 12 pitchers used finished their outing throwing more balls than strikes. Of the 85 total plate appearances, 15 resulted in walks (17.6 percent), 19 resulted in strikeouts (22.4 percent) and 14 ran to a full count (16.4 percent).

Around the Horn: OKC is 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position over the last two games after batting.433 (26x60) with RISP over the seven games prior...The Dodgers have converted 14 of their last 24 walks into runs, including four of eight last night. The team ranks second in Triple-A West this season with 377 walks...After going 1-for-11 over his previous six games, Carlos Asuaje is 3-for-7 over his last two games with a double and walk. He leads the Dodgers in games played, having appeared in 73 of OKC's 90 games this season...Last night Deacon Liput became the 21st OKC player this season to make his Triple-A debut (without appearing previously the in Majors)...After going 4-for-19 with one RBI in his first six games with OKC, Tony Wolters went 2-for-3 with a triple, walk, three RBI and two runs scored last night...Last night was just the second time in the last six games and third time in the last 10 games the Dodgers were not charged with an error.

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