OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 3, 2023
Published on August 3, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Round Rock Express (15-14/59-44) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (19-10/69-33)
Game #103 of 148/Second Half #30 of 75/Home #52 of 73
Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Glenn Otto (0-1, 4.50) vs. OKC-RHP Mark Washington (4-1, 3.27)
Thursday, August 3, 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 look to take the lead in their series against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The six-game series is tied, 1-1, and the Dodgers have won eight of their last 10 games overall...OKC leads the Pacific Coast league second half standings with a 19-10 record.
Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored all six of their runs in the first two innings in a 6-3 win against the Round Rock Express Wednesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers took the lead in their first at-bat when Michael Busch hit a solo home run out to right-center field. Round Rock tied the score in the second inning on a sacrifice fly. The Dodgers responded with five runs on six hits in the bottom of the second inning. Ryan Ward hit a two-run homer for a 3-1 lead. Back-to-back RBI doubles by David Dahl and Drew Avans followed by a RBI single by Busch pushed the Dodgers' lead to 6-1 later in the inning. Round Rock scored twice in the sixth inning on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly to cut OKC's lead to three runs. Dodgers starting pitcher Mike Montgomery (3-1) earned a second straight win, allowing one run and three hits over 5.0 innings. Victor González, Gus Varland and Wander Suero kept Round Rock scoreless over the final three innings to close out the game for OKC with Suero earning his 12th save of the season.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Mark Washington (4-1) will open tonight's bullpen game for the OKC Dodgers...Washington has made 29 appearances and one start with the Dodgers this season, pitching most recently July 28 in Reno. He entered the game in the third inning and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk with one strikeout and was credited with the win in OKC's eventual 14-12 victory. The three hits tied his season high...Washington was limited to three appearances during the month of July due to a stint on the Injured List July 5-19...His lone start of the season was May 30 against Reno in OKC, when he made an emergency start and pitched 3.0 scoreless innings, with two hits, one walk and two strikeouts to open OKC's 7-0 shutout win...After compiling a 7.84 ERA in April (nine games), Washington has posted a 1.97 ERA over his last 19 appearances, going 2-0 and allowing seven runs over 32.0 IP with 29 strikeouts against eight walks. He has held opponents to a .194 AVG since May 1...He was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for May 30-June 4, throwing a combined 5.2 scoreless innings during the week...Washington was selected by the Dodgers in the 25th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Lehigh University...Tonight is his second appearance of the season against the Express. In his first appearance on the road at Dell Diamond, Washington tossed 2.0 scoreless innings May 12. He hit one batter and recorded a strikeout and combined with starting pitcher Matt Andriese and reliever Alex Vesia on a 6-0 shutout.
Against the Express: 2023: 7-1 2022: 16-14 All-time: 169-136 At OKC: 76-66
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 69-33 record as well as the best winning percentage (.676) among the 120 full-season teams...The Dodgers have won eight of the last 10 games as well as 13 of their last 18 games and own the best record in the PCL - as well as in all of Triple-A - to start the second half at 19-10...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)...The fastest a PCL team has reached 70 wins since 2005 was also the 2017 Memphis Redbirds who reached the milestone in 106 games (70-36)...During the Bricktown era, OKC's best previous record through 102 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 62-40...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).
And the Award Goes to...: The Dodgers swept the Pacific Coast League Player and Pitcher of the Month awards for July, as announced today by Minor League Baseball. Michael Busch was named PCL Player of the Month, while Mike Montgomery was named PCL Pitcher of the Month. Busch slashed .324/.434/.696 as he led the league with 11 home runs and 71 total bases while tying for first with 15 extra-base hits. The infielder ranked second in the league with 26 RBI and a .696 SLG, while he tied for second with 33 hits, ranked third with a 1.130 OPS and tied for third with 21 runs scored. Busch finished the month with 10 multi-hit games and hit safely in each of the last seven games of July while reaching base safely in all 24 games...Montgomery posted a 2-0 record and league-low 1.21 ERA over five appearances (three starts). He allowed just three earned runs and 10 hits over 22.1 innings. The left-handed pitcher kept opponents to a .132 AVG - the lowest of any PCL pitcher who threw at least 11.0 innings...The duo becomes the second and third OKC Dodgers to receive monthly awards this season, joining Matt Andriese, who was named PCL Pitcher of the Month for May.
Buschwacked: Michael Busch hit his team-leading 19th home run of the season last night as well as his third homer in three games, sixth homer in the last nine games and 12th homer since July 1 (26 games). Busch extended his hitting streak to a season-best nine games, going 18-for-42 (.429) with six homers, nine extra-base hits, 13 RBI and 12 runs scored. He has also reached base in a season-high 27 consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the PCL and third-longest on-base streak by an OKC player this season. During the stretch, Busch is 38-for-116 (.328) with 12 homers, 18 extra-base hits, 30 RBI and 24 runs scored...His 1.032 OPS and .603 SLG both rank second in the PCL among qualified players, while his 42 extra-base hits are tied for fourth and his 176 total bases are fifth.
The Warden: Ryan Ward hit his 14th homer of the season Wednesday to extend his current hitting streak to seven games - a season high. During the stretch, Ward is 14-for-31 (.452) with five extra-base hits, eight RBI and five multi-hit games. He has gone deep in three of the last four games...Ward has also hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games, going 23-for-63 (.365) with 15 RBI...Overall this season his 69 RBI are second-most on the team.
Getting Miggy With It: Miguel Vargas recorded a hit and walk last night to extend his hitting streak to eight games. During the streak he is 13-for-35 (.371) with five extra-base hits, nine RBI and 10 runs scored. He has hit three homers in his last five games...He has now reached base in all 17 games he has played with OKC since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers in mid-July and is currently slashing .314/.429/.586. He has recorded 22 hits during that time with 14 RBI and 18 runs scored...Since joining OKC July 14, his 18 runs scored are tied for most in the PCL, while his five homers are tied for third, his 22 hits are tied for sixth and his 41 total bases are seventh in the league.
Dinger Details: The Dodgers have now homered in five straight games (14 HR), in eight of the last nine games (20 HR) and in 17 of the last 19 games (32 HR). The team has hit at least two homers in six of the last nine games, totaling 20 dingers...On Sunday in Reno, the Dodgers hit a season-high six home runs, 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 now hit 74 homers in their 47 games since June 3 after hitting 47 homers through their first 55 games of the season...On the other hand, last night snapped a stretch of seven straight games in which OKC had allowed a home run (12 HR).
Better Call Dahl: David Dahl was 1-for-3 with a RBI double and a walk last night and has now hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 14-for-34 (.412) with two homers, six doubles and 11 RBI...Following a 3-for-40 start after joining the Dodgers, he has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games, going 20-for-56 (.357) with eight doubles and three homers.
Hot and Cold: The Dodgers scored six runs last night, and going back to July 21 against El Paso, the Dodgers have played 11 games. In five of those games, they've been limited to three or fewer runs, for a total of 12 runs. But in the other six games, they've scored a total of 67 runs and at least 13 runs in four of the six games...Similarly on the pitching side, last night was the fifth time in the last 10 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.
Around the Horn: With yesterday's win, the Dodgers still have yet to start a series this season - home or road - in an 0-2 hole. When tied through the first two games of a series this season, the Dodgers are 6-5 in Game 3, including 3-3 at home...The Dodger notched four more extra-base hits last night. The Dodgers have collected 42 extra-base hits over the last eight games and have 53 extra-base hits over the last 10 games...Kole Calhoun has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 18-for-51 (.353) with nine extra-base hits and 13 RBI. He's also hit safely in 22 of his last 25 games, going 34-for-103 (.331) with 14 extra-base hits, 22 RBI and 14 runs scored...Over the last seven games, the OKC bullpen has allowed 39 runs (34 ER), 47 hits and 37 walks over 36.0 innings...Five of the Dodgers' last seven games, seven of the last 10 games as well as 11 of the 17 games following the All-Star Break have been decided by two runs or less.
Pacific Coast League Stories from August 3, 2023
- Aces' Pitchers Fan 15 River Cats in 5-1 Win - Reno Aces
- Salt Lake Tops El Paso - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Four Homers Too Much for Isotopes in 9-5 Defeat - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Dodgers Force Extra Innings, Defeat Express 7-6 - Round Rock Express
- Arrighetti and Allgeyer Pitch Space Cowboys to 4-3 Victory - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Space Cowboys Dodge Late Laser Show, Hang On - Tacoma Rainiers
- Dodgers Win, 7-6, In 10 Innings - Oklahoma City Comets
- Fletcher and Drury Go Back-To-Back in Bees' Win - Salt Lake Bees
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: at Sugar Land (5:05 PT) - Tacoma Rainiers
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 3, 2023 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Walk-off Single Completes Improbable Space Cowboys' Comeback - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Hammer Shines in Bees' Debut - Salt Lake Bees
- Isotopes Run Past Aviators, 19-6 - Albuquerque Isotopes
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