PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 5, 2022

Published on August 5, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (61-41) at Salt Lake Bees (49-53)

Game #103 of 150/Road #49 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Daniel Zamora (3-1, 2.66) vs. SL-RHP Cristopher Molina (0-0, 1.42)

Friday, August 5, 2022 | Smith's Ballpark | Salt Lake City, Utah | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers will try to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time in three weeks when they continue their road series against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:35 p.m. CT at Smith's Ballpark. The Dodgers have won nine of their 12 games following the All-Star Break but had a three-game winning streak snapped last night.

Last Game: The Salt Lake Bees scored eight runs on 10 hits through the first three innings and the early outburst was enough to stave off the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 8-7, Thursday night at Smith's Ballpark. Michael Busch hit a home run in the top of the first inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, but Salt Lake's Dillon Thomas answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Salt Lake scored two runs in the second inning following an Oklahoma City error to make it 4-1. The Dodgers scored four runs in the third inning to regain the lead, with a two-run double by Ryan Noda and two-run single by Tomás Telis. However, the Bees answered with a four-spot of their own in the bottom of the inning to take an 8-5 lead. The score remained the same until the seventh inning. Busch was initially ruled to have hit a two-run homer down the right field line, but the call was later overturned to a foul ball. After Busch struck out, Noda hit a two-run homer to make it a one-run game, but the Bees were able to hang on the rest of the way.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Daniel Zamora (3-1) is set to open tonight's game and make his first start of the season...The lefty has made 33 relief appearances for OKC this season, posting a 2.66 ERA over 44.0 innings with 16 walks against 52 strikeouts...He most recently pitched in Tuesday's series opener in Salt Lake and retired the final four batters of the game to secure a 2-1 win and earn his second save of the season...Starting with his outing June 14, he has not allowed an earned run in 13 straight appearances, spanning 19.0 innings. During that time, he's allowed one unearned run and opponents are 10-for-65 (.154)...Zamora has made three previous starts over his career (208 appearances), which began in 2015. He last started a game June 26, 2021 for Tacoma in Albuquerque, pitching 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings with two walks and one strikeout...He signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent March 16 after spending most of the 2021 season split between the Seattle Mariners and Triple-A Tacoma. He began the 2021 season in the New York Mets organization...Zamora was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the 40th round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Stony Brook...Tonight is his third appearance of the season against the Bees. In addition to Tuesday, he faced Salt Lake June 10 in OKC in the 10th inning, allowing three runs (two earned) to tie his season-high mark, along with two hits, one walk and two strikeouts. He was charged with his only loss of the season thus far.

Against the Bees: 2022: 4-2 2021: 7-5 All-time: 63-57 At SL: 30-30 The Dodgers and Bees are meeting for the second of three series in 2022 and their first at Smith's Ballpark...The teams met at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for a three-game set June 10-12, with OKC taking the final two games to win the series. Twice in the series, the Dodgers rallied to tie the game or take the lead in the eighth inning or later. Jake Lamb had five hits and Drew Avans collected five RBI...The Dodgers won last season's series, 7-5, including wins in five of the last six meetings. The road team went 9-3 during the season series and the Bees won four of six in Oklahoma City for their first series win against OKC since 2013...In 2021, the Dodgers outscored Salt Lake, 77-62, and outhit the Bees, 119-110...The Dodgers have won or split the last seven season series with the Bees, posting a 6-0-1 record during that time...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 24-12 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series, but are 9-7 at home compared to 15-5 in Salt Lake...Going back to last season, the Dodgers have won nine of the last 12 games against the Bees overall and seven of the last nine games at Smith's Ballpark.

Life At The Top: The Dodgers lead the PCL with a 61-41 record and have a 4.0-game lead ahead of second-place El Paso...OKC went 7-2 during their last homestand and own the league's best home record at 34-20 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this season. The Dodgers are 27-21 on the road and have the second-fewest road losses this season behind Reno's 18 road losses...After a season-high five-game losing streak July 1-5, the Dodgers have gone 14-8 since and have won three of the last four games. Their 14 wins since July 6 are second-most in the league behind Reno's 16 wins during the span.

Beast Node: Ryan Noda finished with a game-high four RBI Thursday and picked up two extra-base hits with a home run and a double. Noda has hit four home runs in his last nine games and has 14 RBI over the nine-game span. He has hit five home runs in 12 games following the All-Star Break and is up to 17 home runs this season, which ranks second on the team and tied for 11th in the PCL. Thursday was his third game this season of four or more RBI and 16th multi-RBI game this year. His 60 RBI are ninth-most in the league, while his 54 walks are tied for third and his 58 runs scored are 10th.

Drew Dat: Drew Avans collected an infield single in the third inning as he extended his on-base streak to 41 games. It is the longest active on-base streak in the Minors and the longest on-base streak by an OKC Dodgers player since Alex Verdugo also reached base in 41 consecutive games June 4-July 25, 2017. Avans has also reached base in 55 of his last 56 games and hit safely in 24 of the last 28 games...Avans owns one of six on-base streaks of at least 41 games recorded this season in the Minors. The last PCL player with an on-base streak longer than 39 games was Nashville's Nick Martini, who reached base in 66 straight games during the 2018 season (April 14-Sept. 1). The last OKC player with an on-base streak longer than 41 games was Joe Sclafani, who reached base in 45 straight games July 4-Sept. 1, 2014...Avans has also hit safely in 18 of the last 21 games, batting .311 (28x90)...From the start of the season through May 31 (31 games), Avans batted .235 (20x85) with seven extra-base hits, eight RBI and 15 runs scored. Since June 1 (50 games), Avans is batting .311 (61x196) with 12 doubles, four triples, three homers, 20 RBI, 22 walks and 41 runs scored. During that span he ranks third in the PCL with 61 hits, tied for fourth with 15 stolen bases and 41 runs, fifth with four triples and sixth in AVG.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch launched a solo homer in the first inning last night for his 13th home run with Oklahoma City and he now has 24 home runs overall this season -- third-most among Dodgers minor leaguers. Busch has hit safely in seven of his last eight games (10x33) and over his last 12 games is batting .348 (16x46) with seven extra-base hits...Since Busch joined the team May 17 from Double-A Tulsa, his 68 hits pace the Dodgers as do his 32 extra-base hits, 19 doubles and 126 total bases. His 13 home runs are second-most on the team during the span and his 45 runs scored since May 17 are tied for second on the team.

Tomás the Tank: Tomás Telis recorded a second straight multi-hit and multi-RBI game Thursday, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. In his first two games of the current series, Telis is 4-for-7 with a home run and four RBI. On Tuesday he hit his first home run since Oct. 3, 2021 with Triple-A St. Paul and plated the team's only two runs of the game. He has now hit safely in five of his last six games, going 8-for-19...Since June 30, Telis is batting .340 (18x53) with nine RBI, 11 walks and eight runs scored over 16 games.

On the Mend: Neither position player currently with OKC on Major League Rehab Assignment played last night. On Wednesday, Chris Taylor went 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBI. Taylor hit home runs in the first and seventh innings, and he also singled in the second inning. On the defensive front, Taylor played four innings at second base and three innings at third base, marking the first time he's played the infield in any game this season. Taylor was placed on the Injured List July 6 with a left foot fracture...Edwin Ríos played the entire game Wednesday as the designated hitter and went 1-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored. He is now 4-for-16 over five games during the rehab assignment and has collected a double in three straight games. Ríos was placed on the Injured List June 3 with a right hamstring injury and was transferred to the 60-day IL June 22.

Mound Matters: After allowing two runs and 13 hits over the first two games of the current series combined, the Dodgers surrendered eight runs and 11 hits last night. The run total also surpassed the previous three games combined (6). Salt Lake went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position after opponents went 4-for-31 (.129) with RISP over the previous five games...Following Salt Lake's early outburst Thursday, the OKC bullpen allowed one hit across 5.0 scoreless innings. Over the first three games in Salt Lake, the bullpen has combined for 11.1 scoreless innings and has allowed five hits while notching 11 strikeouts...Over the 12 games out of the All-Star Break, the Dodgers have posted a 3.72 ERA (45 ER/109.0 IP). In their nine wins, they've allowed four or fewer runs each game for a total of 26 runs. However, in the three losses, they've also allowed a total of 26 runs...In each of OKC's last 13 victories, the team has held opponents to four runs or less and to three runs or less in five of the last seven wins. The Dodgers have also won 17 of their last 18 games when allowing four or fewer runs. However, the Dodgers have lost 14 straight games when allowing at least six runs.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers have homered in 11 of the last 12 games and of the 19 home runs during that span, 11 have been hit with at least one runner on base, including six of the last eight. They also have seven multi-homer outings during the 12-game span...On the other hand, the Dodgers allowed two home runs last night after not allowing a homer in the first two games of the series. The Dodgers have allowed two or more homers in seven of the last 12 games and 10 of the 17 homers have been with runners on.

Close Calls: Three of the Dodgers' last four games and four of the last six games have been decided by one run. OKC is now 17-10 in one-run games this season, which is second-best in the PCL behind Reno at 21-13. During last year's 129-game schedule, OKC was 13-22 in one-run games and had the league's worst record in such contests.

Around the Horn: Omar Estévez went 2-for-3 with a double and scored a run last night, and over his last three games he is 5-for-10...The Dodgers lead all Triple-A teams with 489 walks, while their .366 OBP is second, and their 637 runs, .458 SLG and .824 OPS all ran third. OKC has also allowed the most walks in Triple-A (494). OKC owns a PCL-best +101 run differential this season...Jason Martin's 76 RBI are second-most in the PCL, while his 22 home runs are third, his .944 OPS, 44 extra-base hits, 73 runs scored and 183 total bases are all fifth...Last night was just the third loss within the last 30 times the Dodgers have scored six or more runs.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 5, 2022


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