OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 15, 2023
July 15, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (8-5/58-28) at Sacramento River Cats (6-7/40-47)
Game #87 of 148/Second Half #14 of 75/Road #44 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-Noah Syndergaard (NR, -.--) vs. SAC-RHP Sean Hjelle (1-4, 5.56)
Saturday, July 15, 2023 | Sutter Health Park | West Sacramento, Calif. | 8:37 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: Bally Live, MiLB.tv
Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers try for a third consecutive win overall and seventh straight road win when they continue their series against the Sacramento River Cats at 8:37 p.m. CT at Sutter Health Park. A win tonight would match the team's longest road winning streak of the season May 9-23, and the Dodgers have the best road record in all of Triple-A at 31-12.
Last Game: Steven Duggar hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning and then added a key two-run double in the 10th inning, as the Oklahoma City Dodgers came back to defeat the Sacramento River Cats, 5-3, Friday night at Sutter Health Park. The Dodgers trailed, 2-0, after six innings before a Drew Avans RBI double in the seventh inning scored the team's first run. Still behind by one run with one out in the ninth inning, Duggar hit a home run into the Sacramento bullpen in right-center field to even the score. In the top of the 10th inning, Devin Mann gave the Dodgers their first lead with a RBI single, and two batters later, Duggar hit a two-run double to extend the lead to 5-2. The River Cats scored their automatic runner in the bottom of the 10th inning with one out before Victor González induced a pair of groundouts to finish the game. Sacramento had scored one run in each of the first and sixth innings to build a 2-0 lead earlier in the game.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Veteran pitcher and 2016 MLB All-Star Noah Syndergaard opens a Major League Rehab Assignment with the OKC Dodgers today...Syndergaard has been on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List since June 8 with a right index finger blister following his most recent outing June 7 in Cincinnati in which he allowed six runs, including two homers, over 3.0 IP...He has made 12 starts with the LA Dodgers this season, posting a 7.16 ERA and 1-4 record over 55.1 innings with 38 strikeouts and nine walks...He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent Dec. 16, 2022 after splitting last season between the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies. He made 15 starts with the Angels before being traded to the Phillies Aug. 2 for Mickey Moniak and Jadiel Sanchez. He went on to make 10 regular-season appearances (nine starts) and four postseason appearances with Philadelphia, including one World Series appearance against Houston...Syndergaard is in his eighth Major League season and has pitched in two World Series (2022 with Philadelphia and 2015 with the Mets)...He was selected to the 2016 National League All-Star team during his first full ML season with the New York Mets after making his ML debut during the 2015 season...He posted 200-plus strikeout seasons in 2016 and 2019 and reached 500 strikeouts in 438.1 innings - faster than any other Mets pitcher in franchise history...Syndergaard last pitched against Sacramento in 2015 while with Las Vegas.
Against the River Cats: 2023: 10-3 2022: 6-3 All-time: 58-55 At SAC: 29-27
The Dodgers and River Cats are meeting for their third of three series this season and second at Sutter Health Park...The teams most recently met for a six-game series in Sacramento May 23-28, which OKC won, 4-2, with the Dodgers winning three of the final four games. Five of the six games in the set were decided in the eighth inning or later, including three wins by a team trailing in the eighth inning...The teams met for a six-game series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark April 25-30 that included two doubleheaders due to weather-related postponements. The Dodgers won the series, 5-1, winning the first five games before losing the finale, which was Game 2 of a doubleheader...Through the first 13 meetings between the teams this season, the Dodgers have outscored the River Cats, 68-42, while Sacramento has eight homers compared to OKC's seven. Yonny Hernández leads the Dodgers with 13 hits in 11 games against Sacramento in 2023, while Devin Mann has hit five doubles and has 11 RBI...Last season, the Dodgers won their first season series against the River Cats since the 2018 season, going 6-3, including a 3-0 series sweep July 22-24 in OKC during which the Dodgers outscored Sacramento, 30-11...Since OKC became affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the River Cats with the San Francisco Giants in 2015, the Dodgers have a 26-19 advantage in the Triple-A version of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry, including a 13-3 mark over the last 16 games...This marks the second consecutive season the teams are playing each other out of the All-Star Break.
Trend Setters: The Dodgers own the most wins in the Minors with a 58-28 record while owning the third-best overall percentage (.674) among the 120 full-season teams, trailing only fellow Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate High-A Great Lakes (.679) and Single-A Clearwater (.679)...The Dodgers reached 55 wins in 79 games - faster than any other Pacific Coast League team since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. The previous fastest a PCL team reached 55 wins in a season since 2005 was in 86 games when the 2015 OKC Dodgers went 55-31...During the Bricktown era (since 1998), the team's best previous record through 86 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 55-31...The Dodgers went more than two months without losing three consecutive games between their recent four-game skid July 5-8 at home against Albuquerque and when they lost three in a row at El Paso May 3-5...The Dodgers finished the first half with a 50-23 record and won the Pacific Coast League'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).
Road Warriors: The Dodgers have won six straight road games for their longest road winning streak since a season-best seven-game stretch May 9-23, with six wins at Round Rock May 9-14 and then another in Sacramento May 23. Going back to June 9 at El Paso, the Dodgers are 9-1 over their last 10 road games. The Dodgers own the most road wins in Triple-A (31-12) and are tied for the most road wins in all of the Minors with fellow LA Dodgers affiliate High-A Great Lakes, which is 31-11 on the road this season...Through 43 road games this season, the Dodgers are batting .267 with 409 hits, 286 runs scored, 55 homers and a league-leading 103 doubles. The pitching staff owns a league-best 4.14 ERA on the road with a PCL-high 399 strikeouts, 152 walks (tied for fewest in the league on the road) and 202 runs allowed...On the other hand, through 43 home games, the Dodgers are batting .259 with 357 hits, 247 runs scored, 37 homers and 84 doubles. The pitching staff owns a 4.49 ERA at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with 418 strikeouts, 174 walks and 215 runs allowed.
The Late Show: Last night marked the Dodgers' sixth win of the season after trailing in the ninth inning and their 16th last at-bat win of 2023. The Dodgers improved to 5-3 in extra-innings games, including 3-2 on the road. Their eight extra-inning games this season are second-most in the PCL, trailing only Tacoma's nine games...Yesterday also marked the Dodgers' 19th win this season after trailing by at least two runs and the seventh time they never led in a game until their until final at-bat...Of the seven games played between the Dodgers and River Cats at Sutter Health Park this season, six have been decided in the eighth inning or later, with four wins by a team that was trailing in the eighth inning. Four of the last six games between the teams have been decided by one or two runs, and going back to last season, six of the last 10 games between the foes in Sacramento have been decided by one or two runs.
Mound Matters: The Dodgers have allowed a total of three runs (two earned) over their last two games and seven runs over their last three games following a three-game stretch against Albuquerque in which they allowed 24 runs over three games in OKC. Going back further, the Dodgers have held opponents to four runs or less in 10 of their last 13 games. OKC's 2.62 ERA since June 28 is lowest in Triple-A, as are the team's 49 runs allowed over the 13-game span. They have allowed a Triple-A-low seven homers during the stretch, while the pitching staff's 138 strikeouts are most in Triple-A. The team has not allowed a home run in a season-best four straight games...Five Dodgers pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts last night and Dodgers pitchers have recorded 10 strikeouts or more in nine of the last 11 games. Last night was the 17th consecutive game with at least seven punchouts. Overall, the OKC pitching staff's 817 strikeouts (9.5 per game) lead the PCL.
Dug In: Steven Duggar went 2-for-3 last night with a home run, double, two walks, two runs and three RBI. The outfielder hit his second ninth-inning game-tying home run of the season, along with May 16 at home against Sugar Land when he hit a two-run shot with one out in the ninth inning during an eventual 4-3 win. Since coming off the Injured List July 4, Duggar is 6-for-16 with two home runs, two doubles and five RBI in five games.
How He Drew It Up: Drew Avans went 2-for-5 with a RBI double and a walk Friday, as he recorded his fourth multi-hit outing in the last five games, going 8-for-23 with three doubles and four RBI during the stretch...Avans has 21 multi-hit games for the Dodgers this season - second-most on the team. His 80 hits are second-most among OKC players this season, while he paces the team in games played (81), runs scored (61) and walks (56). His walk total ranks third in the PCL this season, while his run total is tied for fifth overall in the league.
Buschwacked: Last night, Michael Busch recorded his fifth multi-hit game since his most recent option from the LA Dodgers June 30 and he has now reached base safely in all 11 games since his return, going 13-for-44 (.295) with seven extra-base hits, 10 RBI and eight runs scored. He owns a .446 OBP since his return with 11 walks during the stretch. He leads OKC with 10 RBI and four homers since June 30 and ranks second with 13 hits...In his last 20 games with OKC, Busch is 30-for-80 (.375) with 18 extra-base hits (8 HR) and 25 RBI, including 10 multi-hit games...His .996 OPS this season ranks third in the PCL.
Slightly Offensive: The Dodgers have scored 11 runs over the last four games, but only eight runs through nine innings in those games. Their six runs July 7-9 marked the team's lowest three-game run total of the season. Over the four-game stretch, the Dodgers are batting .191 (25x131), including 6-for-28 (.214) with runners in scoring position...The Dodgers left 13 runners on base last night and have stranded at least 10 runners on base in five of the last six games and in 10 of the last 14 games.
Around the Horn: The Dodgers have hit at least one home run in nine of the last 11 games (13 HR). Since June 3, the Dodgers have hit 45 homers over 31 games after the team hit 47 homers over the first 55 games of the season...Reliever Gus Varland struck out all three batters he faced last night. Over his last 13 games, Varland has surrendered just one earned run (two runs total) and 10 hits over 14.1 innings, holding opponents 10-for-52 (.192) with 21 strikeouts against two walks...Tonight OKC seeks its sixth 2-0 start to a series this season. They are 5-6 in Game 2 after winning the series opener (2-2 on the road)...With yesterday's win, the Dodgers are now 28-1 when allowing three runs or less and 17-6 when not allowing a home run.
Pacific Coast League Stories from July 15, 2023
- Express Take Down Rainiers 5-3 Thanks to Extra Innings - Round Rock Express
- Express Brush Back Rainiers in Extras - Tacoma Rainiers
- Reno's Lineup Awakens Late But Falls Short to Las Vegas - Reno Aces
- Cats Erase Deficit but Still Fall to Dodgers, 7-3 - Sacramento River Cats
- Dodgers Earn 7-3 win - Oklahoma City Comets
- Salt Lake Slips Past Isotopes, 4-2 - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Trio of Home Runs Sink Space Cowboys - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Chihuahuas Top Space Cowboys, 7-2 - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Round Rock (6:05 PT) - Tacoma Rainiers
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 15, 2023 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Dodgers Drop River Cats, 5-3 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Rally Falls a Run Short on Friday - Tacoma Rainiers
- Round Rock Defeats Tacoma 5-4 in Friday's Series Opener - Round Rock Express
- Reno Comes Out Firing From Break, Beats Las Vegas In Series Opener - Reno Aces
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
