OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 10, 2021
July 10, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (29-27) at El Paso Chihuahuas (24-30)
Game #57 of 130/Road #33 of 65
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Josiah Gray (0-1, 2.57) vs. ELP-RHP Caleb Boushley (2-1, 6.75)
Saturday, July 10, 2021 | Southwest University Park | El Paso, Texas | 8:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM AM-1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue their road series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 8:05 p.m. CT at Southwest University Park seeking back-to-back wins and a series lead after the teams have split the first two games...The Dodgers snapped a three-game losing skid with a come-from-behind win last night and are now 15-4 in the last 19 road games and 7-2 in the last nine away games.
Last Game: For the second straight game, the OKC Dodgers trailed by seven runs early, but the offense responded with 15 unanswered runs before winning, 15-11, Friday night over the Chihuahuas at Southwest University Park. The Chihuahuas led, 7-0, after two innings, with six runs in the second inning alone. The Dodgers shot back with four runs in the third inning, including a two-run homer by DJ Peters. The bats kept rolling in the fourth inning with five more runs, as Matt Davidson put OKC in the lead for good with a two-run double. After a scoreless fifth inning, the Dodgers plated five more runs in the sixth inning in which they tallied six hits, started with a home run by Davidson. Omar Estévez added a RBI double in eighth inning, and OKC carried a 15-7 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning before El Paso scored four runs to cap another high-scoring affair.
Today's Probable Pitchers: Top Dodgers pitching prospect Josiah Gray (0-1) is set to open tonight's game for his third start of the season and second after an extended stint on the Injured List...Gray most recently pitched July 4 in OKC against Salt Lake for his first game action since early May due to a right shoulder impingement. He pitched 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings, retiring all six batters he faced on four groundouts, one popout and one strikeout. He threw 27 pitches, including 20 strikes...In his season and Triple-A debut on Opening Night at Round Rock May 6, Gray cranked out 10 strikeouts to set a new career high. In his five innings, Gray allowed two runs, three hits and two walks...Gray spent the entire 2020 season at the Dodgers' Alternate Training site and also started the 2021 season there...Gray was named the Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year and MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2019, leading all Dodgers farmhands in starts (tie, 25), wins (tie, 11) and strikeouts (147) and ranking third in innings (130.0) across three different levels, starting in Low-A and finishing at Double-A...He was acquired by the Dodgers, along with Jeter Downs, in 2018 from Cincinnati in exchange for Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood, Kyle Farmer and cash considerations...Gray played college baseball at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., before being selected in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft by Cincinnati.
Austin Bibens-Dirkx (6-1) looks to add to his team-leading win total when he takes the mound tonight, as he is scheduled to piggyback Gray...Bibens-Dirkx followed Gray on July 4 at home against Salt Lake, pitching 5.0 innings to earn his sixth win of the season. He allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits, with no walks and one strikeout in OKC's 6-3 victory...His six wins and .857 winning percentage are tied for the league lead, while his 1.29 WHIP is sixth, his 4.35 ERA and .265 AVG both rank seventh and his 49.2 innings pitched are eighth...The Dodgers are 6-1 in his starts, including wins in four straight...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...He last pitched against the Chihuahuas June 11 in OKC, holding El Paso to one run and four hits over 4.2 innings of relief with two walks and four K's while notching a winning decision.
Against the Chihuahuas: 2021: 8-6 2019: 2-2 All-time: 22-16 At ELP: 12-8 The Dodgers and Chihuahuas meet for their third series of the season and second time at Southwest University Park in 2021...The teams split their most recent series in OKC June 10-15, with the Dodgers winning the first two games and the series finale, but El Paso winning three straight meetings in between...OKC won the first series between the teams May 27-June 1, with the Chihuahuas winning the series opener and finale and OKC winning four straight games in the middle at Southwest University Park...Entering the current series, the Dodgers outscored the Chihuahuas, 85-55, and hit 20 homers through the first 12 games...After the Dodgers won six of the first eight meetings, El Paso has now won four of the last six games between the teams...Outside of the 2018 series, OKC has won or split each season series against the Chihuahuas since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season, including all four previous series at Southwest University Park (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)...Current OKC Dodgers Carlos Asuaje (2016-18), Tim Federowicz (2015) and Kevin Quackenbush (2014-17) have all played for El Paso during their careers.
West Texas Shootout: The Dodgers' 15 runs and 17 hits last night were both the second-highest totals in each category this season, only bested by a 20-run, 20-hit game May 30, also at El Paso. The Dodgers notched six extra-base hits and went 9-for-21 with runners in scoring position. All eight starting position players collected at least one hit and scored at least one run. Five players finished with multi-hit games, led by four hits from DJ Peters and three hits from Carlos Asuaje...The Dodgers scored 14 runs between the third and sixth innings, plating four in the third, five in the fourth, and five in the sixth. They totaled 13 hits across the three innings, and the six hits in the sixth inning were the team's most in any inning this season...The seven-run comeback was the team's largest of the season and biggest since April 16, 2019, when the Dodgers trailed Omaha, 12-5, and won, 13-12 in Oklahoma City...Friday was the second game this season where both the Dodgers and their opponent scored at least 10 runs, with the other instance in an 11-10 loss at Albuquerque on May 23...The Chihuahuas scored six runs in the second inning, matching the highest scoring inning by a Dodgers opponent this year. El Paso also scored four runs in the ninth inning, as the Dodgers have now allowed six innings of four-plus runs over the first eight games in July after allowing three such innings throughout all of June.
Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson collected a game-high four RBI last night to tie his season high, recently set June 29 at Sugar Land. He went 2-for-4 with a homer, double and two walks...Davidson extended his season-best hitting streak to six games and is 9-for-25 (.360) with four homers, three doubles and 14 RBI during the stretch. He's notched four multi-RBI games during the hitting streak, with three games of at least three RBI. Prior to the current hit streak, Davidson had a total of 11 RBI over his first 23 games...Over his last nine starts, Davidson is 13-for-38 (.342) with five multi-hit games, five homers and 15 RBI.
Keibert Goes Kaboom: Keibert Ruiz reached base three times in his six plate appearances last night, picking up a RBI single and drawing two walks. On Thursday, he tied his career high with four hits, going 4-for-5 with two RBI...Ruiz has now reached base in 12 straight games, going 17-for-43 (.395) with two doubles, four homers, nine runs scored, 11 RBI and 13 walks while reaching base in 30 of 57 plate appearances (.526 OBP)...Ruiz's .626 SLG ranks sixth in Triple-A West while his 1.014 OPS is eighth. He entered this season with a career .420 SLG and .772 OPS...Between OKC and his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, Ruiz has hit 13 homers and 12 doubles in 177 total plate appearances (44 games). During his last full season in 2019, Ruiz hit six homers and nine doubles between OKC and Double-A Tulsa over 350 plate appearances (85 games). He has surpassed his previous career high of 12 homers, set in 2018 over 415 plate appearances...During his 12-game on-base streak, Ruiz has walked 13 times and only struck out three times in 57 plate appearances. For the season with OKC, he has 22 walks against 19 strikeouts...In his eight games against El Paso this season, Ruiz is now 11-for-29 (.379) with six homers and 11 RBI.
DJ's Bringing the Hits : Last night, DJ Peters went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, setting season highs in both hits and RBI. It was Peters' third career four-hit game, and his first since Aug. 5, 2018 with Double-A Tulsa against Arkansas. He collected hits in each of his first four at-bats, with a two-run homer and three singles...Peters has hit safely in three straight games (6-for-13) following a three-game stretch without a hit and a 2-for-25 stretch over the nine games entering July 6.
Reks in Effect: Zach Reks entered last night's game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and knocked a RBI double in his only at-bat. It was his team-leading 17th double of the season, and he also leads the Dodgers with 52 hits, 25 extra-base hits and 39 runs scored while his 29 RBI are third-most among OKC players...His 17 doubles are tied for fifth in Triple-A West while his .419 OBP is sixth and his .325 AVG is eighth.
Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley batted in the leadoff spot yesterday for the first time this season and went 2-for-5 with a walk, two runs scored and a RBI. He's now hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 11-for-31 (.354) with a home run, three doubles, eight runs scored and four RBI...Including last night, over his last 25 starts with OKC, Raley is 34-for-91 (.374) with eight doubles, two triples, seven homers, 35 RBI and 28 runs scored. He paces the Dodgers with 38 RBI, despite playing in only 32 of the team's 56 games...Since May 23, Raley's 37 RBI are tied for third-most in Triple-A West and he's first in the circuit with a .453 OBP and second with a 1.132 OPS.
Around the Horn: Of the Dodgers' three wins so far in July, they have trailed by at least five runs in two of those victories (also July 1 vs. Salt Lake)...Cristian Santana doubled and scored a run last night, extending his season-best hitting streak to six games (8-for-26) with two doubles, a home run, two RBI and five runs scored. He has also hit safely in nine of his last 10 games and in 12 of his last 14 games...Omar Estévez has recorded back-to-back multi-hit games for the first time this season (4-for-9). After going 6-for-46 over 16 games between June 1-July 1, Estévez is 6-for-17 over his last four games, hitting safely in each game...At 4 hours, 13 minutes, Friday's game was the team's longest nine-inning game of the season and second-longest of the season overall, only trailing an 11-inning game June 28 at Sugar Land (4:26). OKC's previous longest nine-inning game this season was June 8 against Sugar Land in OKC - a 9-6 win that lasted 3:53...The Dodgers are just 2-7 in Game 3 of a series this season, with losses in four of the last five...The Dodgers have allowed 10-plus runs in consecutive games for the first time this season. Over the first two games of the current series, the two starting pitchers combined for 2.2 innings while giving up 14 runs...Including last night, OKC pitchers are now a combined 2-for-58 (.034) with 38 strikeouts at the plate this season.
Pacific Coast League Stories from July 10, 2021
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