PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 21, 2021

Published on August 21, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (48-43) at Sugar Land Skeeters (51-40)

Game #92 of 130/Road #51 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Vidal Nuño (5-0, 6.23) vs. SUG-RHP J.P. France (3-0, 2.40)

Saturday, August 21, 2021 | Constellation Field | Sugar Land, Texas | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers look for their first win of their current series against the Sugar Land Skeeters after suffering back-to-back losses for just the second time this month. The series between the top two teams in the East Division continues at 6:05 p.m. at Constellation Field and the second-place Dodgers trail first-place Sugar Land by 3.0 games in the division standings.

Last Game: The Sugar Land Skeeters hit five home runs and scored in six of eight trips to the plate to defeat the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 12-7, Friday night at Constellation Field. For the second consecutive night, the Dodgers found themselves in a deficit of at least six runs through five innings. The Skeeters had each of the first five batters of the second inning reach base, leading to a four-run frame. The Dodgers responded in the third inning with four straight hits with one out, including a two-run double by Zach Reks. An error in the bottom of the inning handed the Skeeters an extra out, and they took advantage when the rehabbing Alex Bregman hit a three-run homer with two outs. The Dodgers trailed, 8-2, entering the sixth inning, but rallied for four runs. Deacon Liput, Hamlet Marte and Aldrich De Jongh each provided run-scoring hits with two outs to get within 8-6. However, the Skeeters answered with home runs in the sixth and seventh innings to make it 10-6. De Jongh provided his second two-out RBI hit of the night in the eighth, but the Skeeters tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Vidal Nuño (5-0) makes his 11th appearance and fourth start of the season for OKC...He last pitched Aug. 17 against Round Rock in the series finale between the teams at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. He tossed 3.0 scoreless innings of relief and was credited with the win, allowing three hits with two strikeouts and no walks...Prior to tonight, his last start was July 30 at Round Rock. He pitched 5.0 innings and allowed three runs and four hits. He did not issue a walk and recorded five strikeouts in the Dodgers' 8-3 victory...The lefty has spilt time between starting and relief roles. As a starter, Nuño is 2-0 and has a 4.05 ERA, with opponents batting .204. He's racked up 10 strikeouts against no walks over 13.1 IP...Nuño signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent June 1 and was assigned to OKC June 12 after beginning the season with Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League. With the Toros, he made two starts and threw 11.0 scoreless innings, going 2-0 and allowing 10 hits with two walks and 11 K's...He did not play during the 2020 season due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season and in 2019, appeared in 45 Triple-A games (three starts) with Fresno (WSH) and Durham (TB)...He has appeared in 151 career ML games with the Yankees (2013-14), Diamondbacks (2014-15), Mariners (2015-16), Orioles (2017) and Rays (2018), with a career 8-21 record and 4.06 ERA...The native of National City, Calif., played college baseball for Baker University (Kan.), and was a 48th round pick of Cleveland in 2009...Tonight is Nuño's second game of the season against Sugar Land. He did not factor into the decision of a July 24 game between the teams in OKC, allowing three runs and five hits over 3.1 innings with four strikeouts.

Against the Skeeters: 2021: 11-9 2019: N/A All-time: 11-9 At SUG: 5-3

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, 116-98, in the season series, while Sugar Land has a slight advantage in hits, 179-172. The Dodgers have also hit 27 homers while the Skeeters have gone deep 20 times...Eleven of the last 14 games between the division rivals have been decided by one or two runs, including seven of eight games at Constellation Field. The go-ahead run(s) has scored in the seventh inning or later four times within the eight games in Sugar Land...The Skeeters have now won six of the last eight meetings between the teams after the Dodgers went 9-3 in the first 12 meetings. Sugar Lands has its first three-game win streak against the Dodgers this season and has won four of five against OKC.

Containing the Swarm: Through the first 12 meetings with Sugar Land, the Dodgers held the Skeeters to .233 batting average and a total of 41 runs (3.4 rpg). During that time, the Skeeters reached at least seven runs just once and at least five runs just twice while tallying only 25 extra-base hits in the 12 contests. But things have drastically changed in the last eight meetings. The Skeeters have scored 57 runs (7.1 rpg) and have reached at least seven runs in four of the eight games and at least five runs in seven of the eight games. They are batting .297 (88x296) with 37 extra-base hits (4.6 pg), including 11 homers and 22 doubles. The Skeeters are batting .281 (27x96) with runners in scoring position and have averaged 12 at-bats with RISP per game during the eight-game stretch...When the Skeeters have not struck out over those eight games, they are batting .425 (88x207). In the last three games between the teams, Sugar Land is batting .461 (41x89) when making contact.

Stalled Out: After winning five of their previous six games, the Dodgers have now dropped back-to-back games to open their series in Sugar Land, marking their first consecutive losses since Aug. 5-6 in Albuquerque when they also opened that series 0-2. This just the fourth time this season they have opened a series 0-2 (Aug. 5-6 @ ABQ; May 13-14 vs. SAC; May 5-6 @ RR)...Even with the two losses, OKC has won five of the last eight games, seven of the last 11 games and 11 of the last 16 games...After starting 2021 with a 4-13 record, OKC has gone 44-30 since.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana tied his season high with three hits last night and took over the team lead with his 19th multi-hit game of the season. Santana has now hit safely in 19 consecutive starts, and during the stretch he is 32-for-79 (.405) with 13 RBI and 11 multi-hit games. He's also hit safely in 20 of his last 22 games overall and is currently on a six-game hitting streak, going 10-for-24 (.417)...Since July 23, Santana ranks tied for third in Triple-A West with 33 hits and fourth with a .402 batting average...Since July 1, he's batted .356 (47x132) and leads the Dodgers with 47 hits during the stretch after batting .236 through June 30.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks hit his team-leading 19th double Friday and drove in two runs, as five of his last six hits with OKC have gone for extra bases, including four homers. Although Reks has only played in nine of the team's 16 games this month while also splitting his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Reks leads the OKC Dodgers with 13 RBI in August and is tied for the team lead with four homers. He's picked up two or more RBI in five of his last seven games...Overall this season, Reks leads OKC with 68 hits, 19 doubles, 57 runs scored and 32 walks this season, while his 51 RBI 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 fourth among Triple-A West leaders, while his .995 OPS is fifth and his .597 SLG is sixth.

Young Sheldon: Sheldon Neuse recorded his fifth game of the season with three or more hits Friday night, tying for the game high and going 3-for-5 with a run scored. Neuse has now hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, going 20-for-58 (.345) with 10 extra-base hits and 11 RBI...Since joining OKC for his first game May 31, Neuse leads the team with 64 hits (56 games).

Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 14-for-37 (.378) with three homers, four doubles and seven RBI and 10 runs scored...Over his last 46 starts with OKC, Raley has batted .331 (55x166) with 13 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 48 RBI and 45 runs scored...Even though he's only played in 54 of the team's 91 games this season, he is tied for the team lead with 51 RBI while his 47 runs scored are second. He ranks second in Triple-A West with 15 HBP...In 34 road games while playing with OKC, Raley is slashing .347/.446/.710 with 22 extra-base hits and 38 RBI.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers were held without a home run last night for the first time in five games and just the second time in the last 11 games. Even without a homer last night, the Dodgers have hit 60 homers in their last 37 games and have the second-most homers in Triple-A West since July 8...On the other hand, Sugar Land hit five home runs Friday night, matching the most allowed by the Dodgers this season and most since May 7 - the second game of the 2021 season. Sugar Land went deep in four consecutive innings from the fifth through eighth innings, leading off each inning with a homer. The Skeeters had hit a total of 15 home runs over the first 19 games against the Dodgers...Opponents have now homered in five straight games against OKC, but the Dodgers have still allowed a league-low 110 homers this season overall.

Road Block: The Dodgers have lost consecutive road games for just the second time since May, but for the second time this month. After getting behind Albuquerque in their road series earlier this month, the Dodgers fought back and finished with a series split and are 5-0-1 in their last six road series. The Dodgers have not lost three consecutive road games since May 22-24 in Albuquerque...The Dodgers are 28-22 on the road overall this season and own the second-most road wins in Triple-A West, only behind Reno (32). Entering tonight, the Dodgers are 26-13 in their last 39 road games...The Dodgers have scored 326 runs in 50 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...In the last five road games, the Dodgers have struggled to pitch effectively. They've allowed at least nine runs in each game for a total of 52 runs, with opponents scoring in double digits four times.

The RUNdown: The Dodgers scored seven runs Friday night and have now scored at least five runs in nine of their last 11 games (80 R), in 13 of their last 16 games (112 R) and 14 of their last 18 games (123 R). The team has plated at least seven runs in nine of the last 16 games and have had seven games during that time with double-digit hit totals. They've batted .281 with 66 extra-base hits overall (4.1 pg) and are hitting at a .342 (53x155) clip with runners in scoring position.

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