PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 31, 2023

Published on August 31, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (34-19/78-49) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (27-26/77-49)

Game #127 of 148/Second Half #54 of 75/Home #64 of 73

Pitching Probables: RR-LHP Cody Bradford (9-2, 3.63) vs. OKC-LHP Bryan Hudson (5-1, 2.76)/RHP Kyle Hurt (1-1, 4.11)

Thursday, August 31, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: 94.7 FM The Ref, 947theref.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, trying to take the lead in the six-game series. The series is tied, 1-1, after the Dodgers won last night...The Express suffered just their second loss in the last 20 games, while the Dodgers picked up their fifth win in the last 20 games. However, the Dodgers have now won two of their last three games.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored all six of their runs in the sixth inning as they defeated the Round Rock Express, 6-3, Wednesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Express broke a scoreless tie with a RBI double by Blane Crim in the sixth inning. The Dodgers answered in the bottom of the sixth inning, tying the score, 1-1, when Miguel Vargas lined a RBI single into left field. Ryan Ward followed with a two-run double into left field to give OKC a 3-1 lead. David Dahl grounded a RBI double into right field before another OKC run scored on an Express fielding error. A RBI single by Drew Avans later with one out boosted the Dodgers to a 6-1 advantage. The Express scored two runs in the ninth inning with two outs on a RBI double by Elier Hernandez followed by a RBI single by Evan Carter to cut the OKC lead to three runs, bringing the tying run to the plate. Ken Giles then struck out Sam Huff to end the game and preserve the win.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Bryan Hudson (5-1) is slated to open tonight's game...Hudson most recently pitched with the Los Angeles Dodgers Aug. 26 in Boston, pitching 1.0 inning of relief, allowing one run, one hit and one walk with one strikeout. He made two additional relief appearances in Cleveland Aug. 22-23 with LAD and was optioned to OKC Aug. 27...Over his four stints with LAD this season, Hudson owns a 7.27 ERA over 8.2 IP with four walks against seven strikeouts...Hudson last pitched for OKC Aug. 16 in Salt Lake, starting and matching his season-long outing with two innings pitched. He was charged with two runs (one earned) and four hits and recorded four strikeouts and had to settle for the loss in OKC's 6-2 defeat...This is the seventh time Hudson has served as an opener for OKC this season. In that role, he owns a 1.00 ERA over 9.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and six hits with two walks and 17 K's.

Kyle Hurt (1-1) is set to make his fifth appearance with OKC tonight and follow Hudson...Hurt started Aug. 25 against Albuquerque in OKC. He allowed two runs and four hits, including two homers, over 3.1 innings. He did not issue a walk and recorded five strikeouts. It marked the first time in Hurt's career he allowed more than one home run in a game...Hurt had been used as a bulk reliever in each of his first three Triple-A appearances, including most recently Aug. 19 in Salt Lake. He allowed one run and three hits over 4.0 innings of relief with two walks and eight strikeouts - his most in a game since recording a season-high 11 K's June 23 with Double-A Tulsa against Northwest Arkansas. He picked up his first Triple-A win during the team's 4-1 victory...Hurt has struck out 26 of his first 62 batters faced with OKC (41.9 percent). Between his time with OKC and Double-A Tulsa, he currently leads all pitchers in the Minors with at least 80.0 IP this season in both strikeouts per nine innings (15.24) and strikeout rate (39.9 percent)...Hurt made 19 appearances (15 starts) with Double-A Tulsa this season, posting a 2-3 record with a 4.15 ERA and a team-high 110 strikeouts over 65.0 innings...Hurt was selected by Miami in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of Southern California and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers Feb. 12, 2021 with Alex Vesia in exchange for Dylan Floro...Tonight is his second career appearance against the Express as he made his Triple-A debut against Round Rock Aug. 5 in OKC (5.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, HR).

Against the Express: 2023: 11-3 2022: 16-14 All-time: 173-138 At OKC: 80-68

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 20 games to overtake OKC by 0.5 games, while the Dodgers have limped to a 5-15 record in that same time. Round Rock's only two losses over that span came Aug. 24 against Salt Lake in a 4-3 defeat in 12 innings, and a 6-3 loss last night against the Dodgers. The Express set a franchise record with 14 straight wins Aug. 8-23. Since Aug. 8, the Express lead the PCL in hits, runs and OPS (.898) while also posting a league-best 3.41 ERA and having allowed the fewest hits and runs across the league.

Summer Stumble: The Dodgers have now won two of the last three games, but have lost seven of the last nine games, 12 of the last 16 games, 15 of the last 20 games and 16 of the last 22 games...The Dodgers have lost three straight series for the 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 5-1 series loss 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...A win last night avoided a fourth straight 0-2 start to a series for OKC. The Dodgers had not started any of its first 19 series this season with even two losses but opened the previous three series by losing at least the first three games...Over the first 80 games of the season, the Dodgers had just one three-game losing streak. In the last 46 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 16 games...OKC's nine wins in August are second-fewest in the PCL this month (9-17). Only Sugar Land (8-18) 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: From April 1-Aug. 25, the Dodgers held at least a share of first place in the PCL overall standings until Round Rock surpassed the Dodgers Saturday and now owns the league's best overall record at 79-48 by half a game...The Dodgers are now tied for the third-most wins in the Minors with High-A Cedar Rapids (77-45), trailing only Round Rock and Triple-A Norfolk (78-49)...Oklahoma City is in sixth place in the second half of the Pacific Coast League season standings at 27-26, seven games behind first-place Round Rock (34-19)...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 126 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 76-50...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.

Offensive Outburst: The Dodgers scored six runs in the sixth inning, marking the 10th time this season OKC scored six or more runs in an inning and the second time it happened three games after the Dodgers scored seven runs in the third inning Aug. 27 during their 14-0 victory over Albuquerque...The Dodgers have scored a combined 29 runs on 39 hits over their last three games and have recorded 16 total extra-base hits in those three games after they had just 13 extra-base hits over the previous seven games combined...The Dodgers went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position last night and are 17-for-35 with RISP over the last three games, following a 7-for-42 stretch with RISP over the four games prior...Last night marked the third straight game the Dodgers recorded an inning of five-plus runs.

The Warden: Ryan Ward extended his hitting streak to eight games, going 1-for-4 with two-run double that put OKC in the lead for good During his hitting streak, Ward is 11-for-35 (.314) with a double, triple, home run and nine RBI. This is his second hitting streak of at least eight games this season, trailing only a season-best nine-game streak July 25-Aug. 4...Overall this season, Ward's 88 RBI and five triples lead the Dodgers, while his 19 homers and 79 runs scored rank second. He currently ranks third in the PCL in RBI, while his 205 total bases and 49 extra-base hits are tied for seventh.

Mucho Miggy: Miguel Vargas finished with the lone multi-hit outing of Wednesday night's game, going 2-for-3 with a RBI, walk and run scored. He is 4-for-7 to start the series against the Express and has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games, going 16-for-40 (.400) with six multi-hit games, eight RBI and seven runs scored. He also has 20 hits in his last 13 games and has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games. His 20 hits since Aug. 15 are tied for second-most in the PCL, while his .417 AVG (20x48) is second and his .517 OBP and 1.080 OPS are third in the league during the span.

Mound Matters: During the team's current 5-15 stretch, the Dodgers have allowed a total of seven runs in their five wins but 110 runs across the 15 losses (7.3 rpg), with at least six runs in 12 of the 15 defeats. Within the current homestand, the Dodgers have allowed three runs over their two wins, but 50 runs in the six losses (8.3 rpg), with at least six runs in each game and at least eight runs in five of those six games...With 11 more strikeouts last night, the Dodgers have notched 183 strikeouts over the last 17 games (10.8 pg), with at least 10 K in 12 of the 17 contests. OKC leads the PCL and ranks second among all Triple-A teams this season with 1,203 strikeouts.

Around the Horn: Outfielder Jonny DeLuca continued his Major League Rehab Assignment, going 1-for-3 with a double, walk and run scored Wednesday. After going 0-for-5 with a walk and sac fly over his first two games, DeLuca is 5-for-10 (.333) with two doubles, a triple, home run, two walks, three RBI and five runs over his last three games...Jorbit Vivas has reached base in each of his first eight Triple-A games, going 9-for-32 (.281). He is 7-for-20 over his last five games...David Dahl has hit safely in five straight games, going 5-for-19 with three doubles. Since joining OKC June 20, his 18 doubles lead the league...The Dodgers have not homered in three of four games for the first time since May 30. In two of the last three games, neither team has gone deep.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 31, 2023


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