PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 30, 2023

August 30, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (34-18/78-48) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (26-26/76-49)

Game #126 of 148/Second Half #53 of 75/Home #63 of 73

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Zak Kent (0-0, 1.76) vs. OKC-LHP Robbie Erlin (4-2, 7.08)

Wednesday, August 30, 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. The Dodgers lost Tuesday's series opener and will try to avoid losing the first two games of a series for a fourth straight series...The Dodgers enter tonight's game 4-15 in their last 19 games, while the Express have wins in 18 of their last 19 games, as Round Rock has surpassed the Dodgers in the overall season standings and leads the PCL's second half.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers hit three home runs, but the Round Rock Express held on for a 10-9 win against the Dodgers Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Round Rock jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning on a three-run homer by Davis Wendzel. The Dodgers then went in front, 5-3, in the bottom of the first inning, taking the lead on a two-run double by David Dahl. Round Rock trimmed the lead to one run in the second inning before the Dodgers went ahead, 6-4, on a solo home run by Kolten Wong in the third inning. The teams exchanged runs in the fourth inning before the Express scored four runs in the fifth inning for a 9-7 advantage, moving into the lead on a two-run single by Sam Huff. Round Rock extended to a 10-7 lead before solo home runs by Jonny DeLuca and Miguel Vargas cut the OKC deficit to one run.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Robbie Erlin (4-2) makes his first start and second appearance following an injury that kept him off the field for almost three months...Erlin most recently pitched Aug. 26 against Albuquerque, pitching 2.0 scoreless innings of relief with three hits and two strikeouts...It was his first appearance since May 31 when he made his last start with OKC, allowing six runs and seven hits against Reno, including a home run, over 4.1 innings with two walks and one strikeout in his second loss of 2023. He was then placed on the Injured List June 3-Aug. 25...Erlin made 11 starts during the first two months of the season, going 4-2 with a 7.35 ERA...He has allowed 16 home runs over 54.2 innings, accounting for 25 of 51 runs allowed (49 percent)...Erlin spent the majority of the 2022 season with OKC, making 21 appearances (14 starts). He went 5-4 with a 7.01 ERA, tied for fourth on the team in starts and ranked fourth in strikeouts. The team went 8-6 in his starts...He originally signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Feb. 21, 2022, and the lefty re-signed with the organization during this past offseason...Erlin was originally selected by Texas in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft and traded to San Diego July 31, 2011. He has appeared in 117 games (43 starts) in the Majors, primarily with San Diego, but has also logged time with Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Los Angeles (NL)...Erlin last faced the Express May 13 at Dell Diamond. He held the Express to one run and four hits over 5.0 innings with one walk and five strikeouts and was the winning pitcher in the team's 2-1 victory.

Against the Express: 2023: 10-3 2022: 16-14 All-time: 172-138 At OKC: 79-68

The Express and Dodgers meet for their third and final series of the season as well as their second series this month...The Dodgers won the last series between the teams, 4-2, Aug. 1-6 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers won four of the final five games of the series after losing the series opener. The series finale was a 17-7 Dodgers win in which OKC set a new team record for hits in a home game with 22...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 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.

Since We Last Met: After taking four of six games from the Express Aug. 1-6, the Dodgers' overall record stood at 72-34 and the Express' was 60-47, as the Dodgers led the overall standings by 12.5 games. But starting Aug. 8, surging Round Rock has won 18 of its last 19 games to overtake OKC by 1.5 games, while the Dodgers have limped to a 4-15 record in that same time. Round Rock's only loss over that span was a 4-3 defeat in 12 innings Aug. 24 against Salt Lake, and the Express set a franchise record with 14 straight wins Aug. 8-23. Since Aug. 8, the Express lead the PCL in hits, runs, batting average (.309) and OPS (.913) while also posting a league-best 3.31 ERA and having allowed the fewest hits and runs across the league.

Summer Stumble: The Dodgers have now opened five straight series with a loss and will try to avoid a 0-2 start to a fourth consecutive series tonight...The Dodgers have lost seven of the last eight games, 12 of the last 15 games, 15 of the last 19 games and 16 of the last 21 games...The Dodgers lost their previous series against Albuquerque, 5-1, dropping a third straight series for the first time this season and first time since May 6-25, 2021 when OKC opened the season losing three straight series...Since the switch to primarily six-game series in 2021, the previous series against the Isotopes marked the first time that the Dodgers lost five straight games within one series (59 previous series). Before their series in Tacoma Aug. 8-13, the Dodgers had not lost five of six games in any series since Aug. 26-31, 2021 at home against Las Vegas, going 40 six-game series between 1-5 results prior to it happening twice in three series...OKC had not started any of its first 19 series this season with even two losses but has now opened three straight series by losing at least the first three games. In fact, prior to their road series at Tacoma (Aug. 8-13), OKC had not opened a series with three straight losses since losing four in a row to begin a home series against Round Rock Aug. 9-12, 2022, going 26 series between 0-3 starts and 28 series between 0-4 starts...Over the first 80 games of the season, the Dodgers had just one three-game losing streak. In the last 45 games, they've now had five losing streaks of at least three games, three losing streaks of at least four games and two losing streaks of at least five games in the last 15 games...OKC's eight wins in August are second-fewest in the PCL this month (8-17). Only Sugar Land (7-18) has fewer wins. At most, the Dodgers can finish with 10 wins this month. The team has not won fewer than 12 games in a month since May 2021, when the Dodgers went 9-14.

The Big Picture: For the first time since losing their first game of the 2023 season on March 31, the Dodgers (76-49) are not in first place in the overall Pacific Coast League season standings. From April 1-Aug. 25, the Dodgers held at least a share of first place in the league standings until Round Rock surpassed the Dodgers Saturday night and now own the league's best overall record at 78-48...The Dodgers are now tied for the third-most wins in the Minors with High-A Cedar Rapids (76-49), trailing only Round Rock (78-48) and Triple-A Norfolk (77-49)...Oklahoma City is in sixth place in the second half of the Pacific Coast League season standings at 26-26, eight games behind first-place Round Rock (34-18)...This season's OKC squad became the fastest PCL team to reach 50, 60 and 70 wins since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. They also became the second-fastest Pacific Coast League team to reach 75 wins (117 games) since at least 2005, with the 2017 Memphis Redbirds doing it two games earlier in 115 games...During the Bricktown era (since 1998), OKC's best previous record through 125 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 75-50...The Dodgers won the PCL's first-half title (50-23) and will host a best-of-three PCL Championship Series Sept. 26-28 against the winner of the second half.

Aloha, Kolten: Veteran infielder Kolten Wong continued his hot start with OKC last night, going 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Through his first three games with OKC he is 7-for-13 with two doubles, a homer and six RBI. He's notched consecutive three-hit games for the first time since April 21-22, 2015 with the St. Louis Cardinals against the Washington Nationals...Wong signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent Aug. 9 and played two games in the Arizona Complex League after spending the first four months of the season with the Seattle Mariners. The Hawaii native has played in 1,169 career Major League games with the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners with a career .256/.329/.398 slashline and is a two-time Gold Glove winner at second base (2019-20).

Offensive Outburst: The Dodgers have scored a combined 23 runs on 32 hits over their last two games and have recorded 13 total extra-base hits in those two games after they had just 13 extra-base hits over the previous seven games combined...The Dodgers belted three homers Tuesday night - their most in a game since a five-homer outing Aug. 11 in Tacoma and their most in a home game since June 13 against Salt Lake (3 HR) at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers went 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position Tuesday and are 12-for-24 with RISP over the last two games after going 7-for-42 with RISP over the previous four games.

The Warden: Ryan Ward extended his hitting streak to seven games, going 1-for-5 last night. During his hitting streak, Ward is 10-for-31 (.323) with seven RBI. This is his second hitting streak of at least seven games this season, trailing only a nine-game streak July 25-Aug. 4...Overall this season, Ward's 86 RBI and five triples lead the Dodgers, while his 19 homers and 78 runs scored rank second. He currently ranks fourth in the PCL in RBI, while his 203 total bases rank eighth and his 48 extra-base hits are tied for eighth.

Loose Grip: OKC is 1-7 over the last eight games, and the Dodgers have had a lead at some point during all seven losses. Last night marked the fifth time in those seven losses the team led by at least two runs. Yesterday was also the seventh time in the last 12 games that OKC led by at least two runs but were unable to hold onto the lead...Including last night, the Dodgers are now 1-4 during the current homestand when outhitting the opponent. They were 56-9 (.862) when finishing with more hits this season prior to that...Last night was the second time in four games the Dodgers scored at least eight runs but lost, and third time in six games to score at least seven runs and lose. Before Friday, the team had four total losses all season when scoring at least eight runs (26-4).

Around the Horn: Outfielder Jonny DeLuca continued his Major League Rehab Assignment, going 2-for-4 with a triple, home run and three runs scored Tuesday. He's 4-for-7 with three extra-base hits over his last two games...Jorbit Vivas recorded three hits Tuesday, going 3-for-5 with a RBI and run scored. He has hit safely in four straight games (7x17) and in six of his first seven games since joining the Dodgers Aug. 22 from Double-A Tulsa, going 9-for-29 (.310)...The Dodgers' 15 hits last night are tied for their most in a loss this season, joining a 13-10 defeat at Albuquerque April 18...Pat Valaika recorded the team's first pinch hit of the season last night with a single in the seventh inning. OKC pinch hitters are 1-for-3 with four walks and a hit by pitch this season...The Express recorded four stolen bases last night, marking the third time in the last seven games an opponent tallied four or more steals. During the current homestand, opponents have 22 stolen bases through seven games (22x26).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 30, 2023


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