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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 5, 2023

August 5, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (15-16/59-46) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (21-10/71-33)

Game #105 of 148/Second Half #32 of 75/Home #54 of 73

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Zak Kent (0-0, 0.00) vs. OKC-RHP Landon Knack (2-0, 3.46)

Saturday, August 5, 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 seek a fourth consecutive win when they continue their series against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tonight is OKC 89ers Night and Dodgers players and coaches will wear special retro OKC 89ers jerseys and hats on the field in recognition of the franchise's pre-Bricktown history. Also, the first three inductees to the Oklahoma City Triple-A Baseball Hall of Fame will be recognized during a pregame ceremony - outfielder/designated hitter Jason Botts, pitcher R.A. Dickey and manager Bobby Jones.

Last Game: Gavin Stone pitched six scoreless and no-hit innings in the Oklahoma City Dodgers' 7-1 win against the Round Rock Express Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Stone (5-4) matched his season high with 10 strikeouts as the Dodgers held the Express without a hit until the eighth inning. The Dodgers built a 7-0 lead through five innings. Yonny Hernández scored on a wild pitch in the second inning for the first run of the night. The Dodgers added three runs in the third inning as Ryan Ward hit a RBI triple to the wall in center field and David Dahl followed with a RBI single before OKC tacked on another run later in the inning on a Round Rock throwing error. A RBI double by Ward in the fourth inning gave the Dodgers a 5-0 advantage. OKC's final two runs of the game scored in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Pat Valaika and a RBI single by Michael Busch. Round Rock broke through with its first hit of the night with two outs in the eighth inning and ended the shutout bid with a RBI single by Dustin Harris with two outs in the ninth inning.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Landon Knack (2-0) makes his seventh start with OKC this season...He made two appearances during the team's previous series in Reno, including in Sunday's series finale. He allowed one unearned run and four hits with four walks (t-season high) over 4.0 innings. He notched five strikeouts and did not receive a decision in the Dodgers' wild 16-15 win in 11 innings...Entering tonight, he has not allowed an earned run in three of his last four games...Knack joined the Dodgers June 17 from Double-A Tulsa where he ranked among Texas League leaders in ERA (2nd, 2.20), AVG (2nd, .202), WHIP (2nd, 0.94) and innings (5th, 57.1) at the time of his promotion. Knack made 12 starts with the Drillers, going 2-0 with 61 strikeouts against 12 walks. He allowed one or no runs in eight of 12 starts...After allowing a total of three home runs in 57.1 IP with Tulsa, Knack has allowed five home runs in his first 26.0 innings the OKC Dodgers...Knack began the 2023 season as the No. 22 prospect and No. 12 pitcher in the Dodgers system by Baseball America and the No. 18 prospect and No. 9 pitcher by MLB Pipeline...The Johnson City, Tenn., native was selected in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of East Tennessee State...He spent the entire 2022 season with Tulsa after starting his pro career in 2021...Tonight is his first career appearance against the Express.

Kyle Hurt is expected to follow Knack and make his Triple-A debut...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...He last pitched July 30 against Springfield in Tulsa, and although he only allowed one hit over 3.2 innings, he set a career high with seven walks and allowed three runs. He also recorded five strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of Tulsa's 8-7 loss...Among all pitchers in the Minors with at least 60.0 IP, Hurt ranks first with both 15.2 strikeouts per nine innings and a 39.4 percent strikeout rate...He's currently ranked as the No. 23 prospect and No. 8 pitcher in the Dodgers system by MLB Pipeline...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.

Against the Express: 2023: 9-1 2022: 16-14 All-time: 171-136 At OKC: 78-66

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 won their 71st game of the season Friday as they improved to 71-33 overall. The Dodgers own the most wins and best winning percentage (.683) in the Minors and lead the second half of the Pacific Coast League season with a 21-10 record...The Dodgers now sit a season-best 38 games above .500, as they added to their Bricktown-era record (since 1998) for games above .500...During the Bricktown era, OKC's best previous record through 104 games was in both 2022 and 2015 when the Dodgers went 62-42...They became the fastest Pacific Coast League team to reach 70 wins (103 games) since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. The previous fastest a PCL team reached 70 wins since 2005 was the 2017 Memphis Redbirds, who did so in 106 games (70-36)...Oklahoma City has won 10 of the last 12 games and 15 of the last 20 games...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).

A Stone's Throw: Starting pitcher Gavin Stone tossed 6.0 scoreless, no-hit innings last night, allowing two walks. He recorded 10 strikeouts to match his season-high mark - the most strikeouts in a game by a Dodgers pitcher this season. Stone faced 20 batters and retired 17 of them (two walks, one error). He threw 85 pitches (55 strikes) during the longest hitless outing of his career...He has allowed two earned runs or less in each of his last three starts with OKC and also in four of his last four starts with OKC. Stone compiled a 6.71 ERA through his first 12 Triple-A appearances of the season, but has a 2.67 ERA over his last five Triple-A starts. Since July 1, his 0.89 WHIP leads the league, while his .175 AVG is third, his 2.67 ERA is fourth and his 31 strikeouts are fifth.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch finished with a game-high three hits last night, going 3-for-5 with a double and RBI as he recorded his team-leading 13th game of the season with three or more hits. He extended his season-best and career-high on-base streak to 29 consecutive games for the longest active on-base streak in the PCL and tied for the second-longest on-base streak by an OKC player this season with Jahmai Jones (May 6-June 17). During the streak, Busch is 41-for-125 (.328) with 19 extra-base hits, 12 homers, 31 RBI, 26 runs scored and 19 walks. He is one game shy of tying Devin Mann for the longest on-base streak by an OKC player this season (30 games; May 2-June 13)...Busch has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .412 (21x51) with six homers, 14 RBI and 14 runs scored.

The Warden: Ryan Ward went 2-for-4 with a double, triple, two RBI, a walk and a run scored last night. He has now hit safely in a season-best nine straight games, going 17-for-39 (.436) with eight extra-base hits, 12 RBI, nine runs scored and six multi-hit games. The nine-game hitting streak matches his career-long streak from July 11-23, 2019 with Rookie-level Ogden...Ward has hit four homers in his last six games and his 15 home runs this season are second-most among OKC players. He leads the team and ranks third in the league with 73 RBI this season. His four triples pace the OKC Dodgers...Ward has also hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, going 26-for-71 (.367) with 19 RBI and 12 extra-base hits.

Better Call Dahl: David Dahl went 2-for-4 with a walk, run scored and RBI Friday. He has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 19-for-42 (.452) with nine extra-base hits, 15 RBI and nine runs scored. Following a 3-for-40 start after joining the Dodgers, he has now hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, going 25-for-64 (.391) with 12 extra-base hits...He has picked up 11 RBI in his last six games, 15 RBI in his last 10 games and 19 RBI in his last 14 games.

Getting Miggy With It: Miguel Vargas hit two doubles and scored two runs Friday. He has now reached base in all 19 games he has played with OKC since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers in mid-July, collecting 24 hits during the span, including 11 for extra bases. He is slashing .304/.415/.570 in Triple-A this season. Since joining OKC July 14, his 20 runs scored are tied for most in the PCL, while his six doubles are tied for fourth and his five homers are tied for fifth...This is Vargas' longest on-base streak since also reaching base in 19 consecutive games during the 2022 season with OKC April 26-May 17. Vargas last had an on-base streak longer than 19 games during the 2021 season with High-A Great Lakes reaching base in 30 straight games May 7-June 10, 2021.

Dinger Details: Last night snapped a stretch of six straight games with a home run for the OKC Dodgers. The Dodgers had hit 16 homers over the previous six games, 22 homers over the previous 10 games and 34 homers over the previous 20 games...On the other hand, the Dodgers did not allow a homer for only the second time in the last 10 games, as opponents had hit 15 HR over the previous nine games...Yesterday was the 13th completely homer-less game of the season and first since July 7 against Albuquerque..

Around the Horn: The Dodgers have now won three straight home games for the first time since winning four in a row against Sugar Land May 16-19. OKC has also won five of the last six home games immediately following a 2-7 stretch at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as well as 12 losses in their previous 19 home games...With last night's win, the Dodgers improved to 34-1 this season when allowing three or fewer runs. It was the 15th game this season they allowed one or no runs and eighth time they allowed three hits or less...Although they Dodgers did not leave the yard last night, six of their 12 hits went for extra bases. The Dodgers have collected 50 extra-base hits over the last 10 games and have 61 extra-base hits over the last 12 games...Round Rock has committed five errors over the last two games. All opponents had combined to commit a total of three errors over the previous 22 games, and prior to Thursday, no opponent had a game with two or more errors since Las Vegas on June 20.

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