PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 16, 2021

July 16, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Reno Aces (38-23) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (33-28)

Game #62 of 130/Home #26 of 65

Pitching Probables: RNO-LHP Tyler Gilbert (4-2, 3.82) vs. OKC-RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (7-1, 4.64)

Friday, July 16, 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 and Reno Aces continue their series at 7:05 p.m. during the first Oklahoma City 89ers Night of the season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Dodgers players and coaches will wear special retro OKC 89ers jerseys and hats to celebrate the franchise's history. Gates open at 6 p.m. and 89ers socks will be given to the first 1,000 fans...The Dodgers have won three straight games, as well as five of their last six games, and now sit five games above .500 to tie their season-high mark...Since May 25, the Dodgers (29-15) and the Aces (26-18) have the top two records in Triple-A West.

Last Game: The OKC Dodgers scored six runs over the fourth through sixth innings on the way to a 6-3 win against the Triple-A West-leading Reno Aces in the series opener between the teams Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Aces took the game's first lead on a solo homer in the third inning. Cristian Santana brought in OKC's first run of the night when he lined a RBI single into left field to tie the game, 1-1, in the fourth inning. Pitcher Josiah Gray's first career hit - a RBI knock into left field - then gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. With the bases loaded, Luke Raley was hit by a pitch to stretch the Dodgers to a 3-1 advantage in the fourth inning. Matt Davidson hit a two-run shot out to left-center field to boost the Dodgers' lead to 5-1 in the fifth inning. A two-run homer by Reno's Drew Ellis cut OKC's lead to 5-3 in the sixth inning before Keibert Ruiz helped the Dodgers answer in the bottom of the inning when he connected on a RBI double to make it 6-3.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Austin Bibens-Dirkx (7-1) is set to open tonight's game and will try to add to his league-leading win total...Bibens-Dirkx leads Triple-A West with seven wins, ranks fifth in ERA at 4.64, sixth with a 1.38 WHIP, seventh with 54.1 innings and ninth with a .284 opponent average...He last pitched July 10 in El Paso, piggybacking Josiah Gray. He allowed five runs (four earned) and a season-high 10 hits over 4.2 innings, but was credited with the win as he covered the fifth inning through two outs in the bottom ninth during OKC's 8-5 victory...The Dodgers are 6-1 in his starts, including wins in four straight, and the team is 9-2 in games he's appeared as a starter or primary pitcher...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 Reno during the 2011 season when he was with the Iowa Cubs, notching a road win and pitching six innings.

Mike Kickham (0-3) is scheduled to piggyback Bibens-Dirkx tonight...Kickham started the July 8 series opener in El Paso and allowed a season-high seven runs on four hits, with a season-high five walks, no strikeouts and hit a batter over 1.2 innings. He was charged with the loss in OKC's 15-8 defeat...Entering that game, Kickham had allowed a combined three runs over his previous six outings (four starts) spanning 20.1 innings. He also had 16 strikeouts against six walks during the stretch...Kickham missed about two weeks between late May and early June with a blister on his left index finger...He signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent Jan. 8 and made four appearances during Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Shortly before OKC's season started, he had his contract selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers and threw the final two innings of the team's 16-4 win Milwaukee May 2...Kickham spent the 2020 season in the Boston Red Sox organization and made six appearances (two starts) for the Red Sox after having his contract selected from the Alternate Training Site Aug. 31, marking his first ML action since 2014...He is in his 12th pro season after he was selected by San Francisco in the sixth round of the 2010 MLB Draft from Missouri State University...He last pitched against the Aces during the 2019 season with New Orleans, allowing a season-high six runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings with a season-high five walks and two strikeouts.

Against the Aces: 2021: 1-0 2019: 2-2 All-time: 26-19 At OKC: 18-7 The Dodgers and Aces meet for their first and only series of 2021...The Aces pace Triple-A West in several offensive categories with 447 runs scored, 643 hits (T-1st), 109 home runs and 133 doubles, along with a .373 OBP, .521 SLG and .894 OPS. They average 7.3 runs and 10.5 hits per game...The teams last met Aug. 10-13, 2019 in OKC and split the four-game series, with Reno winning the first two games and OKC winning the final two meetings. OKC outscored the Aces, 25-24, with the Aces hitting 11 homers over the four games against OKC's five - each hit by a different Dodgers player...OKC last won a series against the Aces in 2015 at home and has gone 10-11 against the Aces during the Dodgers affiliation. Reno has won two series since and the teams have split the other two series...The Dodgers are 18-7 all-time against the Aces in Bricktown and are 4-0-2 in their first six series in OKC since the teams started playing in 2009. OKC went 13-3 against the Aces during their first four series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, but are now 5-4 in the three most recent home series between the teams...Former OKC Dodgers Ryan Buchter (2015), Zach Lee (2015-16) and Henry Ramos (2017-18) are all currently on Reno's roster.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning last night and has now hit three homers over his last two games, and he is responsible for each of the Dodgers' last three home runs. He hit two homers Tuesday in OKC's series finale in El Paso for his first multi-homer game since April 30, 2019 with Nashville against Omaha...Davidson has hit eight homers in his last 11 games and 10 homers in his last 17 games, while his 10 homers since June 19 are tied for second-most in Triple-A West...Davidson has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games overall, going 14-for-43 (.326) with eight homers, three double, 20 RBI, eight walks, 11 runs scored and seven multi-RBI games. His 20 RBI since June 29 lead Triple-A West...Following last night, Davidson now leads the Dodgers with 10 multi-RBI games and is tied for the team lead with 12 homers.

Reeled In: The OKC Dodgers have held opponents to three runs or less in three straight games for the first time this season and for the first time since July 28-31, 2019 (eight total runs). The Dodgers have allowed four total runs during the current stretch for the fewest total runs they have allowed during a three-game stretch this season. This immediately follows a stretch in which they allowed 39 runs over four games in El Paso - the most runs they have allowed during a four-game stretch this season.

Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley was hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth inning last night for his team-leading 40th RBI of the season. He also scored a run Thursday and his 34 runs scored are second most on the team. Raley's 13 hit by pitches are second-most in Triple-A West this season and third-most in all of Triple-A. Between his time with OKC and LAD he has been plunked 17 times this season...Raley has been held without a hit in back-to-back games for the first time this season with the OKC Dodgers, for the first time since June 15-16 when he pinch-hit in consecutive games with the Los Angeles Dodgers and for the first time in back-to-back starts since May 16-17 with LAD...Over his last 30 starts with OKC, Raley is 38-for-108 (.352) with nine doubles, two triples, seven homers, 37 RBI and 32 runs scored...Since May 23 (34 games), Raley is second in Triple-A West with a .447 OBP, while his 1.073 OPS is fourth, his 39 RBI are fifth and his .325 AVG and .626 SLG are sixth.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers have homered in six of the last seven games (14 HR) and their 19 homers so far in July are tied for fourth-most in Triple-A West and just one homer shy of tying for second place...Reno hit two homers last night, marking just the third time in the last eight games the Dodgers allowed a home run and just the second time in the last six games. Since June 3, the Dodgers have allowed 30 home runs over the last 37 games - fewest in Triple-A West by 15.

In the Zone: The Dodgers have issued just seven walks over the last five games, with no more than two free passes in any game. OKC has now allowed two or fewer walks in 15 of the last 23 games, as well as in 13 of the last 20 games. The 23-game stretch includes 10 games with one or no walks...Since June 19 (23 games), the Dodgers have allowed 66 walks, which are the fewest among all Triple-A teams.

Quack Attack: Last night Kevin Quackenbush pitched a scoreless ninth inning to seal the Dodgers' 6-3 win for his 14th save of the season. Between this season and 2019, Quackenbush now has 25 career saves with OKC, moving him into second place on the career saves list during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998)...Quackenbush has kept opponents scoreless in 22 of 24 outings this season, allowing a pair of unearned runs over 24.0 innings - both in extra innings when an automatic runner has scored. Opponents are now 15-for-83 (.181), and last night he allowed just his fourth extra-base hit all season (all doubles)...His 14 saves lead all players in the Minors, with only one other notching as many as 12 saves so far this season.

Omar Comin': Omar Estévez's season-best seven-game hitting streak came to an end last night, but he walked twice and has now reached base safely in 12 consecutive games. Over his last eight games he is 12-for-30 (.400) with three multi-hit games, three extra-base hits, five RBI and seven walks...During the 12-game on-base streak, Estévez has hit safely in 10 games, batting .333 (15x45) and posted a .415 OBP (OB 22/53 PA). Prior to the recent hot streak, Estévez had a .178 AVG and .260 OBP for the season.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers have turned at least one double play in nine of the last 10 games. They've turned 10 double plays over the last five games and 14 in the last seven games...Keibert Ruiz has reached base in 14 of his last 15 starts, going 19-for-56 (.339) with three doubles, four homers, nine runs scored and 13 RBI...DJ Peters has hit safely in seven straight games, going 10-for-30 with two homers, two doubles, four RBI and four runs scored...Sheldon Neuse went 2-for-4 Thursday and has now hit safely in five straight games, going 7-for-22 with a double, homer, four RBI and four runs scored. The utilityman also has 14 RBI in his last 14 games...Cristian Santana went 2-for-4 with a RBI and scored a run Thursday and has now hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 12-for-38 with three doubles, a homer, six runs scored and four RBI...The Dodgers went 6-for-14 with two outs Thursday night while scoring four of their six runs...Last night marked the first time in Josiah Gray's career (42 G/198.0 IP) he allowed two home runs in one game...Following a 3-for-44 stretch, Yoshi Tsutsugo is 4-for-12 over his last three games with a home run, double and three RBI.

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