PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 27, 2021

Published on August 27, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Las Vegas Aviators (52-45) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (49-47)

Game #97 of 130/Home #43 of 65

Pitching Probables: LV-RHP Kyle Friedrichs (0-0, 11.37) vs. OKC-LHP Vidal Nuño (5-0, 7.60)

Friday, August 27, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue their series against the Las Vegas Aviators at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as the Dodgers partner with MidFirst Bank to "Pack the Park Pink." Dodgers players and coaches will wear special pink jerseys and hats that will be auctioned off to benefit Susan G. Komen Oklahoma, and a pink fireworks show will follow the game.

Last Game: The Las Vegas Aviators scored five runs via two homers on the way to a 6-1 win against the Oklahoma City Dodgers Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Las Vegas took the first lead of the night in the first inning on a RBI single by Francisco Peña. The Dodgers tied the game, 1-1, in the third inning when Zach Reks ripped a RBI single into center field. Dodgers starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot (1-3) held the Aviators to one hit through five innings before the Aviators tallied four hits in the sixth inning and broke open the game with a three-run homer by Austin Allen with two outs. Las Vegas then tacked on another two-run homer in the eighth inning for a 6-1 lead. Following OKC's run in the third inning, the team collected just two hits for the rest of the night, both doubles by Aldrich De Jongh.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Vidal Nuño (5-0) makes his 12th appearance and fifth start of the season for OKC...During his last outing Aug. 21 at Sugar Land, Nuño allowed a season-high eight runs and season-high eight hits, including two homers, over 4.0 innings with a season-high three walks and season-high six strikeouts. The eight runs also tied his career high, and he did not factor into the decision of OKC's 12-11 loss...The lefty has spilt time between starting and relief roles while with the OKC Dodgers. In his four starts, he is 2-0 with a 7.27 ERA, and the team is 2-2. Opponents have batted .261, and the lefty has notched 16 strikeouts against only three walks...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.

Against the Aviators: 2021: 0-1 2019: 1-3 All-time: 48-56 At OKC: 23-25 Oklahoma City and Las Vegas are meeting for their first of two series this season and only series of the regular season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The teams will also meet as part of Triple-A's Final Stretch during a five-game series Sept. 23-27 in Las Vegas...The teams last met during a four-game series in Las Vegas Aug. 2-5, 2019. The Aviators won the series, 3-1, and scored 10 runs in each of their three wins during the series, outscoring the Dodgers, 36-29, as the Aviators batted .342. Twice in their three wins, the Aviators trailed in their final at-bat, only to rally and walk off with a win...Austin Barnes and Gavin Lux each led OKC with eight hits and Barnes homered four times in the series, collecting 10 RBI...Prior to 2019, the teams split their previous two season series. This is the first time Las Vegas has played in Bricktown since June 16-19, 2018, when the team was known as the 51s and they were affiliated with the New York Mets...OKC last won a series against Las Vegas in 2015 (3-1) on the road and last won a home series against Las Vegas in 2014 (3-1)...Entering tonight, Las Vegas has won six of the last seven games against OKC going back to 2018.

There Have Been Better Weeks: Following a win Aug. 17 vs. Round Rock, the Dodgers sat a season-best seven games above .500 at 48-41 and were just 1.0 game out of first place. But since then, the team has dropped six of seven games and has now fallen 5.5 games out of first place. This is the first time since May 8-15 the team has dropped six games during a seven-game span, and it includes a pair of three-game losing streaks. Before the recent skid, the team's previous two three-game losing streaks had not occurred since June 12-14 and July 5-8. The Dodgers have not lost four straight games since May 11-15...Over the seven-game stretch, the Dodgers have been outscored, 57-41. The pitching staff has allowed at least six runs in each of the six losses, and opponents have batted .315 (78x248) with a total of 34 extra-base hits, including 14 home runs. They've also issued 32 walks and have a 1.90 WHIP over 58.0 IP. During that same time, the Dodgers are batting .231 (54x234) with 17 extra-base hits, including five home runs.

One and Only: OKC was held to one run last night for a second straight game and has scored a combined two runs over the last two games for the team's lowest run total over a two-game span this season. It's the first time since Aug. 30-31, 2019 vs. New Orleans the Dodgers scored one or no runs in consecutive games. The team had been held to two runs or fewer in consecutive games just once earlier this season (July 2-3 vs. Salt Lake)...Prior to Tuesday night's 8-1 loss in Sugar Land, the Dodgers had not been held to one run or less since a 3-1 defeat at Round Rock July 29. Last night was just the eighth time in 96 games overall this season that the Dodgers were held to fewer than two runs in a game and just the fifth time this month the Dodgers scored fewer than five runs in a game. OKC had plated at least seven runs in 11 of the last 19 games entering Tuesday and had eight games with double-digit hit totals during the stretch...From Aug. 1-23, the Dodgers scored 136 runs over 19 games (7.2) and ranked second in Triple-A West in runs scored during the month. After the last two games, OKC's 138 runs scored in August are now fourth-most in Triple-A West...The team has been outscored, 14-2, the last two games while going 8-for-61 (.131) and totaling just six at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks went 1-for-2 with two walks Thursday and tallied OKC's lone RBI. Over his last six games, Reks has eight RBI, six hits, five walks and four runs scored. Even though he's batting just .231 (9x39) over his last 10 games, he has 16 RBI in that time, with at least one RBI in eight of the 10 games and multiple RBI in five of the 10 games. He now owns the team lead with 16 RBI in August even though he has only played in 13 of the team's 21 games this month...Overall this season, Reks leads OKC with 71 hits, 59 runs, 35 walks and ranks tied for first with 54 RBI. Among Triple-A West leaders, his 59 runs are fourth, his .976 OPS ranks fifth, his .580 SLG is seventh and his .396 OBP is eighth.

De Jongh and the Restless: Aldrich De Jongh went 2-for-4 with two doubles Thursday night, tallying both of the Dodgers' extra-base hits in the game. Through his first four games with OKC, he is 4-for-14 with three doubles, a walk, three RBI and two runs scored. It was his second game of the season overall with two extra-base hits in one game after he hit two homers May 20 with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga at Lake Elsinore...Over his last 15 games between OKC and Rancho Cucamonga, De Jongh is batting .298 (17x57) with 10 extra-base hits and 12 RBI.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana drew two walks Thursday, but was held without a hit as he went 0-for-2 to snap his 10-game hitting streak. He went 14-for-41 (.341) during the 10-game stretch and had also hit safely in 23 consecutive starts entering last night's game, going 36-for-96 (.375) with 16 RBI and 11 multi-hit games. He has still hit safely in 24 of his last 27 games and is the only OKC player this season with multiple 10-game hitting streaks...Since July 23, Santana ranks fifth in Triple-A West with a .366 AVG and tied for sixth with 37 hits. Since July 1, he's batted .338 (51x151) and leads the Dodgers with 51 hits during the stretch after batting .236 through June 30...Prior to last night, Santana had not drawn a walk since July 1 - a span of 39 games and 149 plate appearances.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers were held without a home run last night for the third time in the last six games. The Dodgers tallied 22 homers over their first 15 games of August, but have been held to four homers in the last six games, and just two solo homers over the last four games. From July 8-Aug. 19, the Dodgers' 60 homers over 36 games were second most in Triple-A West, trailing only current opponent Last Vegas, which hit 64 homers in 37 games...Five of Las Vegas' six runs last night scored via two homers, as opponents have hit five homers against OKC over the last three games and have homered in nine of the last 10 games against the Dodgers, totaling 17 home runs. That includes 14 homers in the last seven games, with opponents going deep more than once in four of the seven contests.

August Arithmetic: The Dodgers are 11-10 in August. In their 11 wins, they've allowed a total of 44 runs, with four or fewer runs allowed in nine of the 11 games. In the 10 losses, they've allowed 82 runs, with at least seven runs in seven of the 10 games.

RISPy Business: Even though the Dodgers went 1-for-6 last night, in their last seven games they are batting .357 (20x56) with runners in scoring position and .340 (64x188) over their last 21 games. However, the team has only had six at-bats with RISP in the last two games.

Around the Horn: Since taking over the closer's role, James Pazos had made six appearances and thrown 5.0 scoreless innings, holding opponents 2-for-17 with nine strikeouts while going 5-for-5 in save chances...The Dodgers drew five more walks last night and continue to pace Triple-A West in walks this season (403)...Last night marked the fifth time in the last 16 games OKC's starting/primary pitcher lasted at least 6.0 innings. Prior to Aug. 6, it only happened once between July 6-Aug. 5 (26 games)...The Dodgers committed an error last night and have committed at least one error in four straight games (5 E). They've committed 19 errors in the last 14 games, paving the way for 19 unearned runs. In seven of the 14 games, they have committed two or more errors...The Dodgers went 2-for-14 with runners on base Thursday and are now 5-for-35 with runners on over the last three games...Today is pitcher Nick Tropeano's 31st birthday. Tropeano is scheduled to start tomorrow's game.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 27, 2021


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