PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 7, 2021

Published on August 7, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (41-39) at Albuquerque Isotopes (37-42)

Game #81 of 130/Road #45 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (8-1, 4.33) vs. ABQ-RHP Frank Duncan (3-0, 2.88)

Saturday, August 7, 2021 | Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park | Albuquerque, N.M. | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers have lost back-to-back games to open a series for the first time since May and will look to climb back in their series against the Albuquerque Isotopes starting at 7:35 p.m. CT at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park...OKC is in second place in the East Division of Triple-A West, 4.5 games behind division-leading Sugar Land. The Isotopes are in fourth place, 3.5 games behind OKC.

Last Game: The Albuquerque Isotopes took a 3-0 lead through three innings and kept the Oklahoma City Dodgers to two runs and five hits, taking home a 3-2 win Friday night at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. For the second straight night, the Isotopes scored a run in the first inning to take the early lead. A pair of seeing-eye RBI singles in the third inning put the Isotopes ahead, 3-0. The Dodgers were held scoreless and to one hit through four innings, but cracked the run column with a RBI triple by Drew Avans in the fifth inning. The Dodgers had the first two batters of the eighth inning reach base, putting the tying runs aboard with none out. Luke Raley came up next and nearly hit a go-ahead, three-run homer, but it was caught at the wall in right-center field, turning into a sacrifice fly instead. OKC put the tying run in scoring position with two outs in the inning, but could not rally and fell by one run for the second straight night.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Austin Bibens-Dirkx (8-1) looks to add to his Triple-A West league-leading win total when he returns to the mound tonight...He earned his Triple-A West-best eighth win of the season Aug. 1 in Round Rock, allowing one run and two hits over 5.0 innings, with two walks and two K's. Following a walk to the first batter he faced, Bibens-Dirkx then retired 13 of the next 14 Express hitters...Bibens-Dirkx ranks third in the league with a 4.33 ERA, fifth in WHIP (1.37) and innings (70.2) and seventh in opponent average (.284). He is one of three pitchers in Triple-A with eight wins and tonight looks to become the first to nine wins...Since June 6, Bibens-Dirkx has made 10 appearances and is 6-0 with a 3.55 ERA...Over his last seven games, Bibens-Dirkx has notched 23 strikeouts against four walks across 31.0 IP...He was named Triple-A West Pitcher of the Week following an outing of 5.0 scoreless innings June 6 vs. Sugar Land, marking his first weekly award since May 2013 with High-A Dunedin...Bibens-Dirkx signed with the Dodgers May 4 after he did not see any formal game action in 2020. He was with the Texas Rangers during Spring Training in 2020 and was released June 1...Tonight is his second start of the season against the Isotopes. He was hit with his lone loss of the season May 24 in Albuquerque, allowing three runs and four hits, including two homers, with two walks and five strikeouts over 5.0 innings in OKC's 9-2 defeat.

Against the Isotopes: 2021: 2-6 2019: 3-0 All-time: 109-96 At ABQ: 47-60 The Dodgers make their second trip of the season to Albuquerque...The Isotopes took four of six games, May 20-25, with OKC winning the second meeting and series finale between the teams. The Dodgers scored 10 or more runs three times during the series as they outscored the Isotopes, 47-38, and outhit them, 62-50. OKC also shut out the Isotopes 12-0 in the series finale. Four OKC players each collected seven hits in the first series and Luke Raley picked up seven RBI...The Dodgers swept a three-game set between the teams June 12-14, 2019 by a combined score of 27-13 at Isotopes Park, including a 10-0 victory June 13, 2019. The sweep also marked the first time OKC had won three straight games in one series at Isotopes Park since June 22-24, 2011...Since the teams each began new affiliations in 2015, the Isotopes lead the series, 14-12...After winning six straight games against the Isotopes between 2018-19, the Dodgers have now lost six of eight to Albuquerque to begin 2021, including five of the last six meetings.

Road Trip Rest Stop: The Dodgers have lost consecutive road games for the first time since losing three straight games May 22-24 in Albuquerque. They entered Friday's game with a 23-9 record in their last 32 road games and had followed up each of the previous eight losses with a win in the next game. This is the first time they've started any series in an 0-2 hole since dropping the first two games of their first home series of the season May 13-14 against Sacramento. It's also the first road series they've started 0-2 since opening the season in Round Rock with consecutive defeats May 6-7...OKC is 25-19 on the road overall this season with the third-most road wins in Triple-A West behind league leaders Reno and Sugar Land, who each have 26 road wins...OKC averages 6.2 runs and 9.3 hits per game on the road compared to 5.2 runs and 8.3 hits at home and has hit 21 more homers on the road even though the team has only played eight more road games...The Dodgers have won five consecutive road series, and in each of the last two, they bounced back from a loss in the series opener to win four of the final five games of the set.

Same Names, Different Teams: When the Dodgers last played the Isotopes, they left the Duke City with a 5-13 record through the first 18 games of the season. Since then, the Dodgers are 36-26 - the best record in Triple-A West since May 26. The Isotopes have also significantly improved during that time, going from a 6-12 record to 31-30 since. Since the calendar turned to July 1, the Isotopes own the best record in Triple-A at 22-9. They're 9-2 in their last 11 games and have won eight of their last nine games.

Margin of Error: The Dodgers' losses the last two nights have each come by one run. OKC is now 6-15 in one-run games overall this season and have lost eight of the last 10 one-run games they've been involved in. The 15 one-run losses are most in Triple-A West, while the six wins are the fewest...Four of the last five wins for Albuquerque against the Dodgers have been by one run, including three last at-bat victories for the Isotopes.

The Runaround: After scoring at least seven runs in four consecutive games for the second time this season, the Dodgers were held to two runs and five hits Friday night. In the previous four games they had scored 30 runs, tallied 22 extra-base hits - including eight Thursday night - and went 14-for-45 (.311) with runners in scoring position. On Friday they had one extra-base hit and went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Yoshi's Island: Yoshi Tsutsugo has reached base safely in 20 of his last 22 games, batting .333 (25x75) with six homers, six doubles, 20 RBI, 20 runs scored and a .440 OBP (OB 40/91 PA). Over his last seven games, Tustsugo is 10-for-27 (.370), including a homer, five doubles, four multi-hit games, eight RBI, seven runs scored and four walks. He's picked up at least one extra-base hit in five of the seven games...Over his first 16 games with OKC, Tsutsugo batted .127 (8x63) and had a .211 OBP.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson went 2-for-4 Friday and had the only multi-hit game for OKC. He also turned an unassisted double play at first base in the eighth inning...Davidson is 5-for-9 in the first two games of the series and is 6-for-12 over his last three games. He's reached base safely in seven consecutive games, collecting eight hits, scoring six runs with two RBI and four walks...Over his last 29 games, Davidson has batted .324 (35x108) with 13 homers, 21 extra-base hits and 30 RBI.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana grounded out in his lone at-bat as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning last night, thereby snapping his season-high 10-game hitting streak. He has still hit safely in his last 10 starts, going 18-for-43 (.419) with nine RBI and seven multi-hit games. He has tallied two or more hits in six of his last eight starts (14x34), seven of his last 10 starts (18x43) and eight of his last 12 starts (20x47). He has also hit safely in 20 of his last 22 starts...Since July 1, he's batted .340 (32x94) after batting .236 through June 30...With the recent surge, Santana is now third on the team this season with 15 multi-hit games, tied for third with 12 doubles and tied for fourth with 49 total hits this season.

Rehab Recap: Corey Knebel continued his Major League Rehab Assignment Friday night and struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh inning. Knebel threw 11 pitches, including nine strikes, and all three strikeouts were on swinging third strikes...Over five outings with OKC during his rehab assignment, Knebel has allowed one run and three hits over 5.1 innings, with one walk and 10 strikeouts.

Dinger Details: Neither the Dodgers nor the Isotopes hit a home run Friday and the teams combined for three extra-base hits - all triples - after combining for 16 extra-base hits Thursday. The teams entered Friday with the top two home run totals among all Triple-A teams since July 8 (OKC - 44; ABQ - 45). It marked the ninth game this season (80 games) the Dodgers played in which neither team hit a home run, equaling the total from the entire 2019 season (139 games)...Last night snapped a stretch of 11 consecutive games in which an opponent homered against OKC (16 HR). Even including the recent bump, the Dodgers have allowed the fewest homers in Triple-A West this season (94).

Sales Pitch: For the sixth time in eight games on the current road trip, the Dodgers held their opponent to three or fewer runs. Markus Solbach turned in his first quality start of the season last night and just the seventh quality start all season by an OKC pitcher. It's the first since Mitch White pitched 6.0 scoreless innings July 12 at El Paso and marked just the second time since July 5 the starting pitcher lasted 6.0 innings regardless of how many runs were allowed...Over the last 13 games, the Dodgers have racked up 157 strikeouts against 41 walks (3.8 K/BB). The Dodgers lead Triple-A West with 786 strikeouts this season.

Around the Horn: Yesterday was OKC's lowest-scoring game at hitter-friendly Isotopes Park since a 3-1 victory April 20, 2013...The Dodgers look to avoid their first three-game losing skid since dropping three straight games July 5-8. Since then they've lost consecutive games on three occasions, but won in the next game each time...With Friday's loss, the Dodgers have now dropped eight straight games when their opponent has scored first...Reliever Justin Bruihl has not allowed an earned run in his last 10 outings since July 3 (13.0 IP), and over the 10-game stretch, he's allowed nine hits with four walks and 15 strikeouts...Albuquerque is 8-for-23 (.348) with RISP over the first two games of the series after OKC had limited opponents 8-for-62 (.129) in the previous eight games combined.

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