PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - August 9, 2022

Published on August 9, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (55-50) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (62-43)

Game #106 of 150/Home #55 of 75

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Tyson Miller (2-5, 4.85) vs. OKC-RHP Dustin May (0-0, 2.00)

Tuesday, August 9, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers return home to open a six-game series against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 p.m. on a $2 Tuesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers went 9-2 immediately following the mid-July All-Star Break but have since lost three of the last four games, including each of the last two.

Last Game: The Salt Lake Bees scored nine unanswered runs over the fifth and sixth innings as they sent the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 12-1 loss Sunday afternoon in the series finale between the teams at Smith's Ballpark. The Bees scored two runs in the second inning on a two-run double by Braxton Martinez and built a 3-0 lead with a solo home run by Chad Wallach in the third inning. Michael Busch got the Dodgers on the scoreboard in the fifth inning, connecting on a RBI single to score Tony Wolters and trim Salt Lake's lead to 3-1. Salt Lake then opened up the game by scoring six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, including five runs with two outs. The Bees then added three more runs in the sixth inning on a RBI single, wild pitch and bases-loaded walk for a 12-1 lead. Bees pitchers retired 10 of the final 13 OKC batters of the game via strikeout.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Dustin May (0-0) continues a Major League Rehab Assignment and makes his fourth appearance with OKC, including his third at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...May most recently pitched Aug. 3 in Salt Lake, allowing one run and two hits over 4.0 innings for his longest outing of the season. He issued one walk and recorded six strikeouts, throwing 62 pitches (39 strikes) and did not factor into OKC's 6-1 win. He retired each of the first eight batters faced, as well as 11 of the first 12 batters faced before Salt Lake collected back-to-back hits with two outs in the fourth inning to plate a run...Over his last two games with OKC, May has allowed one run and four hits over 7.0 innings, with one walk against 12 strikeouts...May began his rehab assignment July 16 with the Arizona Complex League Dodgers, marking his first game action in more than 14 months...He started five games for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season before tearing his right ulnar collateral ligament May 1 at Milwaukee and undergoing Tommy John surgery 10 days later. In five starts prior to the injury, May went 1-1 and posted a 2.74 ERA with six walks and 35 strikeouts over 23.0 innings and held opponents to a .186 average...Since making his ML debut in 2019, May has made 31 appearances (19 starts) for the LA Dodgers and has a 2.93 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and .222 BAA...He pitched in seven playoff games in 2020 as the Dodgers went on to win the World Series...The right-handed pitcher from Justin, Texas was selected by Los Angeles in the 3rd round (101st overall) of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Northwest High School.

Against the Express: 2022: 12-6 2021: 16-13 All-time: 158-127 At OKC: 73-63

The Dodgers and Express meet for their fourth of five series this season and first since late June...The teams most recently played a six-game series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark June 21-26 with OKC winning the set, 4-2. The Dodgers enter the current series with a 12-6 record in the overall season series, winning each of the first three series the season, 4-2...Through the first 18 games of the season between the teams, Miguel Vargas has a team-best 26 hits and 19 RBI. Vargas and Ryan Noda each have four home runs...The teams had a wild first series in Round Rock May 10-15, which OKC won, 4-2, winning four straight games in the middle of the series. OKC recorded its largest shutout win in the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) with a 19-0 victory May 12 and Yefry Ramírez became the first OKC Dodger and first pitcher throughout the entire PCL to throw a nine-inning shutout since 2018. Six different players homered in that same game for the first time in the team's Bricktown era. In series finale May 15, OKC lost a game when scoring at least 13 runs for just the fifth time during the team's Bricktown era and for the first time since 2007, as Round Rock won, 14-13...The Dodgers have won five of the last six season series between the teams.

Life At The Top: The Dodgers lead the PCL with a 62-43 record and have a 2.5-game lead ahead of second-place El Paso, which has won five consecutive games and was rained out Sunday. After winning the first two games of the Salt Lake series as well as three of the first four games at Salt Lake, the Dodgers settled for a split in the six-game series. OKC closed out the series with its first back-to-back losses since July 14-15 and lost three of the final four games of the series...The Dodgers have the most home wins in the PCL with 34 and their 34-20 home record is second best in the league behind El Paso's 32-18 mark...After a season-high five-game losing streak July 1-5, the Dodgers have gone 15-10 and their 15 wins since July 6 are second-most in the league behind Reno's 19 victories.

The Rundown: Although the Dodgers own the top record in the PCL and have the league's second-best ERA, Sunday marked the 10th time overall this season OKC allowed 12 or more runs by an opponent. It's also the fifth time the Dodgers have lost a game by 10 or more runs, even though they have the league's best run differential for the season at +102. By comparison, the 2021 team allowed at least a dozen runs only six times in 129 games and only had two losses of at least 10 runs...Over the first five games of the series, the Bees scored 14 runs while batting .222 with 11 extra-base hits and were just 5-for-34 with runners in scoring position. On Sunday, Salt Lake scored 12 runs and batted .306 (11x36) with seven extra-base hits and went 5-for-15 with RISP...The six runs scored by the Bees in the fifth inning Sunday marked the highest-scoring inning by an OKC opponent since the Las Vegas Aviators scored eight runs in the fourth inning July 4 in a 12-4 win at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Sunday was the seventh time this season an opponent scored six or more runs in an inning against the Dodgers...The Dodgers are 10-5 since the All-Star Break. In the 10 wins, they've allowed a total of 26 runs, with no more than four runs in any game. In the five losses, they've allowed 42 runs, with at least six runs in four of the five games and at least eight runs three times.

Drew Dat: Drew Avans drew a walk Sunday to extend his on-base streak to 44 games - the longest active on-base streak in the Minors and the longest on-base streak by an OKC player during the team's affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers (since 2015). Avans has now reached base in 58 of his last 59 games and his 44-game on-base streak is the longest in the PCL since 2018. He owns one of five on-base streaks of at least 44 games recorded this season in the Minors. The last OKC player with an on-base streak longer than 44 games was Joe Sclafani, who reached base in 45 straight games July 4-Sept. 1, 2014. 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)...Avans has also hit safely in 20 of the last 24 games, batting .317 (32x101)...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 (53 games), Avans is batting .314 (65x207) with 13 doubles, five triples, three homers, 21 RBI, 26 walks and 45 runs scored. During that span he ranks tied for second with five triples, third with 65 hits, tied for third with 45 runs and tied for fourth with 16 stolen bases.

That's Offensive: The Dodgers were held to four hits for a second straight game Sunday and to one run or less for just the second time since June 22. After scoring 28 runs on 39 hits through the first four games of the series at Salt Lake, the Dodgers were held to four runs and eight hits in the last two games and to one run and five hits over the final 14 innings of the series. Over the final two games at Smith's Ballpark, the Dodgers went 8-for-62 overall, including 1-for-28 with runners on base and 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The eight hits mark the team's lowest two-game hit total among nine-inning games this season...The Dodgers' offense did not have an extra-base hit Sunday for just the third time this season and struck out 16 times for their second-highest strikeout total of the season (18, May 15 @ RR). Ten of the final 13 batters struck out Sunday, and 12 of the final 14 outs were recorded via strikeout. Sixteen of the final 17 batters struck out or walked (12 K, 4 BB, 1 flyout).

On the Mend: Edwin Ríos has hit safely in six straight games, going 7-for-24 over the five-game stretch with three doubles. He owns the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player and is 7-for-27 in eight games overall with OKC with two RBI and three runs scored. He was initially placed on the Los Angeles Dodgers' Injured List June 3 with a right hamstring injury and was transferred to the 60-day IL June 22.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch finished Sunday's game with two of the Dodgers' four hits, going 2-for-4 with a RBI. Over the first five games of the series in Salt Lake, he was held 3-for-22...He has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games and in 12 of his last 15 games, batting .322 (19x59) with five doubles, three homers, 10 RBI and 11 runs scored...Since he joined OKC May 17 from Double-A Tulsa, Busch leads the Dodgers with 71 hits, including a team-best 33 extra-base hits and 20 doubles, while his 13 homers are second-most during the span and his 45 RBI, 47 runs scored and .481 SLG are third.

Dinger Details: Sunday snapped OKC's stretch of six straight games with a home run (11 HR). The Dodgers have homered in 13 of the last 15 games, hitting 23 home runs during the span. Of those 23 homers, 12 have been hit with at least one runner on base, including seven of the last 12. The Dodgers also have eight multi-homer outings during the last 15 games...On the other hand, the Dodgers allowed two home runs Sunday and allowed five home runs over the final two games in Salt Lake after allowing two homers over the first four games of the series. The team has now allowed at least two homers in nine of 15 games since the All-Star Break (22 HR).

All Walks of Life: The Dodgers drew seven more walks Sunday and have drawn 85 walks across the 15 games since the All-Star Break for an average of 5.67 per game. OKC leads all Triple-A teams with 509 walks this season...On the other hand, the Dodgers have also allowed the most walks in Triple-A this season (506).

Around the Horn: OKC has won four straight series openers and started each of the last four series with 2-0 records, but is 2-0-2 in the four sets, having settled for series splits twice...Over his last five games, Ryan Noda has hit five homers and totaled 16 RBI...Jason Martin leads the Minors with 14 home runs since June 25 (34 games)...The Dodgers are 11-for-the-last-64 with RISP and 13-for-72 (.181) over the last eight games...The Dodgers were charged with three errors Sunday, marking the 11th time this season OKC had three or more errors in a game. They have committed the most errors in the PCL this season (93).

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