PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 1, 2021

Published on July 1, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Salt Lake Bees (22-25) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (26-22)

Game #49 of 120/Home #19 of 60

Pitching Probables: SL-LHP Packy Naughton (1-1, 5.19) vs. OKC-RHP Mitch White (0-0, 3.60)/RHP Edwin Uceta (0-2, 4.97)

Thursday, July 1, 2021 | 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 Re-Opening Weekend series against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, which is back to full capacity. The Dodgers are 11-2 over the last 13 games, including going 10-2 on their recent Texas road trip...Since June 15, the Dodgers have gone from 8.0 games out of first place to 0.5 games out of first place in the East Division standings and are currently tied with Round Rock for second place.

Last Game: Matt Davidson hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning as the Oklahoma City Dodgers scored four runs over the final two innings in a 6-4 win against the Sugar Land Skeeters Tuesday night at Constellation Field. The Dodgers trailed the Skeeters, 3-2, entering the eighth inning when Davidson connected on his fifth homer of the season as part of a four-RBI night. The Skeeters scored a run in the bottom of the eighth inning and left the tying run in scoring position, but the Dodgers added a run in the top of the ninth inning when Sheldon Neuse lined a RBI single into center field with the bases loaded for a 6-4 advantage. Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia then closed out the win, striking out all three batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth inning for his second save of the season. The Dodgers had taken a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. With two outs, Yoshi Tsutsugo hit a solo home run. Andy Burns followed with a single before Davidson's RBI double boosted the Dodgers' lead to 2-0. J.J. Matijevic hit a homer in the bottom of the second inning cut the score to 2-1. A two-run sixth inning put Sugar Land ahead, 3-2, before the Dodgers' comeback in the series finale between the teams.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Mitch White (0-0) is scheduled to open tonight's game, making his second straight start and fifth appearance of the season overall for OKC...He most recently pitched June 25 at Sugar Land, opening the game with one scoreless inning, with one hit, two walks with three strikeouts. He walked the first two batters and the Skeeters had the bases loaded with one out, but White escaped the inning with back-to-back strikeouts. He threw 38 pitches to complete the inning...White was last optioned to OKC June 20 and has pitched in 12 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season across three stints, going 0-0 with a 3.77 ERA. He has allowed 14 total runs, but only six earned runs, with 14 K's against eight walks over 14.1 IP...White made his MLB debut at Texas Aug. 28, 2020 with one scoreless inning of relief and one strikeout...He recorded his first ML win Sept. 18 at Colorado, striking out one over 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings...He was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round (65th overall) of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Santa Clara University.

Edwin Uceta (0-2) is slated to piggyback White in tonight's game...He fulfilled the same role June 25 at Sugar Land, allowing one run on five hits with one hit batter and two strikeouts over 3.1 innings. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's 2-1 victory...In addition to his four outings with OKC, Uceta has made eight appearances for LAD over three stints, going 0-2 with a 6.28 ERA, 16 strikeouts and six walks over 14.1 innings, while opponents have batted .255...He made his MLB debut April 30 at Milwaukee with 2.0 innings in a spot start and was charged with the loss, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts...Uceta spent a portion of the 2020 season at the Dodgers' Alternate Training Site and was added to the Los Angeles Dodgers' 40-man roster Nov. 20...He originally signed with the Dodgers July 2, 2016 as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic at the age of 18...Tonight is his first career appearance against Salt Lake.

Against the Bees: 2021: 0-0 2019: 2-1 All-time: 52-50 At OKC: 29-22 The Dodgers and Bees are meeting for their first of two series in 2021 and their lone series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams played a three-game series in 2019 as the teams met at Smith's Ballpark. OKC won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 14-8 before the Bees won the series finale, 14-4. Kyle Garlick led the Dodgers with five hits, including two doubles, while Edwin Ríos homered twice and had six RBI...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 13-5 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series. The Dodgers enter tonight having won seven of the last nine meetings overall...OKC has won five straight season series and have not lost a season series against the Bees since going 1-3 in 2013 in OKC...The Dodgers won the 2018 series, 2-1, losing the series opener at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark before winning the final two games by a combined score of 10-2...Salt Lake's Jo Adell is tied for the Triple-A West lead with 16 homers this season, while his 29 extra-base hits and 37 runs are tied for second and his 40 RBI rank tied for third.

Moving On Up: With Tuesday's win in Sugar Land, the Dodgers won the six-game series against the Skeeters, 5-1, including winning the final three games at Constellation Field. With wins in six of the last seven games overall, OKC is four games above .500 for the first time this season after surpassing the .500 mark last Thursday for the first time since the end of the 2018 season. After starting 2021 with a 4-13 record, OKC has gone 22-9 since. Since the turnaround began May 25, OKC owns the best record among all Triple-A teams and is tied with Omaha (22-10) for the most wins in all of Triple-A...During the team's current 11-2 run, they've gone from 8.0 games out of first place to 0.5 games out of first place and are now tied for second place along with Round Rock.

June Boon: The Dodgers went 17-8 in June and finished the month with the team's fewest losses in June during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998). OKC had reached at least 17 wins in June six previous times, but over a minimum of 28 games (last in 2017; 17-12). OKC posted its all-time highest winning percentage in June (.680), surpassing the 2007 squad that went 19-10 (.655)...Although the Dodgers tied for last in the league during the month in batting average (.246) and finished the month second-to-last with 207 hits, they tied for the league lead with 122 walks and hit 35 homers in 25 games. The pitching staff led the league with a 3.71 ERA and allowed 35 fewer runs than any other team. They also paced the league in strikeouts (242), WHIP (1.34), opponent average (.245) and fewest home runs allowed (17), while tying for fewest hits allowed...On the defensive front, the Dodgers led the league in fielding percentage (.984) and committed a league-low 14 errors in 25 games while tying for the second-most double plays turned (22). Not including automatic runners that scored in extra innings, which are considered unearned runs, the team allowed just one unearned run during the entire month.

Pitching Plaudits: Tuesday marked the 20th time in the last 26 games the Dodgers allowed four or fewer runs in a game. Over the last 13 games, they've allowed three or fewer earned runs six times and two or fewer runs in four games...The Dodgers recorded 13 strikeouts Tuesday night, reaching double digits for the ninth time in the last 13 games. At the same time, the Dodgers walked two batters Tuesday night, marking the seventh time in 10 games they've issued two or fewer walks, as well as for the fifth time in the last seven games...Over the last three games, the bullpen has allowed two runs in 13.2 innings. During that time they've held opponents 7-for-45 (.156) and have four walks against 16 strikeouts (0.80 WHIP). After stumbling to a 7.98 ERA, .316 BAA and 1.98 WHIP with 20 homers allowed and 57 percent of inherited runners scored in May, the relief corps posted a 3.67 ERA, .238 BAA and 1.37 WHIP with six homers allowed and 24 percent of inherited runners scored in June.

The Late Shift: The Dodgers have played eight straight games decided by one or two runs, going 6-2 in those games. Ten of the 12 games of their recent road trip were decided by one or two runs, and OKC went 8-2. The Dodgers won three games by one run during the road trip after collecting just one one-run win all season prior to the road trip...Entering Monday, Sugar Land was 22-0 when leading after seven innings this season and the Dodgers were 0-18 when trailing after seven innings. The Dodgers went on to win both Monday and Tuesday nights' games despite trailing after seven innings...In each of their last four wins, the Dodgers have scored the go-ahead run(s) in the seventh inning or later, including go-ahead home runs in the seventh inning or later in two of the last three games (June 27 - Keibert Ruiz; June 29 - Matt Davidson).

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson went 2-for-4 with a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning in addition to a RBI double earlier in the game, driving in all four runs with two outs. It was his highest RBI total since Aug. 21, 2020 with Cincinnati at St. Louis when he hit a pinch-hit grand slam...Tuesday marked Davidson's third multi-hit game in his last four starts, going 6-for-18 during that time with a double, two homers, five RBI and two runs.

Dinger Details: After being held without a home run in three of the previous four games, the Dodgers hit two homers Tuesday night, including a first-inning solo homer from Yoshi Tsutsugo and Matt Davidson's three-run shot in the eighth inning for OKC's 20th multi-homer game of the season. The Dodgers have hit 55 home runs in their last 36 games, including 29 in the last 19 games. In contrast, the Dodgers hit just 11 homers over the first 12 games of 2021. Prior to Friday, the Dodgers had homered in a season-high 10 straight games, hitting 18 homers during the stretch...Sugar Land hit one solo home run Tuesday night, but the Dodgers have now held an opponent without a homer 11 times in the last 18 games and in 14 of the last 24 games after they had gone deep at least once in 22 of the first 24 games (42 HR)...The Dodgers allowed just 17 home runs over 25 games in June. The next lowest total in Triple-A West was 30 (Round Rock).

Around the Horn: The Dodgers went 8-for-17 at the plate with two outs Tuesday, scoring five runs. In the three games prior, OKC had gone 4-for-33 with two outs...Alex Vesia recorded his second save of the season Tuesday, striking out the side in order. He has now struck out each of the last 10 batters he has faced going back to his appearance June 17 at Round Rock. He has not allowed a run or hit in four straight appearances as well as in eight of his last nine games with OKC and the Los Angeles Dodgers combined...Yoshi Tsutsugo homered and went 2-for-4 Tuesday, snapping a 0-for-19 drought. He now has three homers in 11 games during his rehab assignment...Sheldon Neuse has now hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games, going 21-for-60 (.350) with 15 RBI. He led the Dodgers with 24 hits in June...Elliot Soto extended his hit streak to a season-high six games, going 1-for-4 Tuesday. He is 8-for-25 with three doubles during the stretch....OKC is 4-4 in series openers, including 2-1 at home and have won four consecutive series openers. When the Dodgers win the first game of a series, they are 3-0-1 in those series and have won just one series after losing a series opener this season...After posting a -49 run differential over the first 13 games (3-10), the Dodgers have a +80 run differential over their last 35 games (23-12).

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