PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 18, 2021

July 18, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Reno Aces (39-24) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (34-29)

Game #64 of 130/Home #28 of 65

Pitching Probables: RNO-RHP Humberto Castellanos (3-1, 5.25) vs. OKC-RHP Mitch White (1-0, 1.29)

Sunday, July 18, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 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 meet for the fourth time in their six-game series at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers lead the series against the Triple-A West-leading Aces, 2-1, and have won four of the last five games as well as six of the last eight games. The Dodgers are five games above .500, matching their season-high mark and sit in second place in the East Division...Since May 25, the Dodgers (30-16) and the Aces (27-19) have the top two records in Triple-A West.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored runs in five straight innings on the way to an 8-7 win Saturday night against Reno Aces at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers took the game's first lead in the first inning when Yoshi Tsutsugo lined a RBI single into left field. Reno went in front, 2-1, with a two-run single by Juniel Querecuto in the second inning. Tsutsugo then sent a two-run homer out to right field in the third inning to give the Dodgers a one-run lead. The Dodgers went on to add three runs over the fourth and fifth innings to extend to a 6-2 advantage. The Aces scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to trim OKC's lead to one run before the Dodgers pushed to an 8-5 lead with runs in the sixth and seventh innings. A two-run homer by the Aces' Christian Lopes brought Reno within one run, 8-7, in the eighth inning, and although the potential tying run reached base in both the eighth and ninth innings, it never advanced into scoring position.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Mitch White (1-0) takes the mound tonight as he looks to build on his longest outing of the season...On July 12 in El Paso, White did not allow a run over 6.0 innings, marking the first time in his career he completed 6.0 innings at the Triple-A or Major League levels. He helped lead the Dodgers to a 2-0 win in a seven-inning game, combining with Kevin Quackenbush on the team's second shutout of the season. All six hits against White were singles, including four infield hits. White notched two strikeouts and did not allow a walk while throwing a season-high 75 pitches...Between OKC and Los Angeles, White has made three appearances in July and has allowed two earned runs and 10 hits over 13.0 IP. That includes two scoreless outings with OKC totaling 9.0 IP...White has been recalled four times by Los Angeles throughout the season. He's pitched in 13 games for LAD this season across the four stints, going 0-0 with a 3.93 ERA. He was most recently optioned to OKC July 8, one day after throwing 4.0 innings of relief in Miami...Tonight is his first career meeting with the Aces.

Against the Aces: 2021: 2-1 2019: 2-2 All-time: 27-20 At OKC: 19-8 The Dodgers and Aces are meeting for their first and only series of 2021...The Aces pace Triple-A West with 458 runs scored and 111 home runs, along with a .373 OBP, .516 SLG and .889 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 is 11-12 against the Aces during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015). The Dodgers last won a series against the Aces in 2015 at home, and since then, Reno has won two series and the teams have split the other two series...OKC is 19-8 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 6-5 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.

Yoshi's Island: Yoshi Tsutsugo continued his recent success at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a season-high three RBI, a homer, walk and two runs scored last night. The three RBI are his most in a game with OKC this season and tied his overall season high, set April 20 with the Tampa Bay Rays in Kansas City...Tsutsugo has now hit safely in a season-best five straight games and is 8-for-19 with a double, two homers, six RBI and five runs scored during that time. The offensive boost follows a 5-for-45 stretch over his previous 11 games...Tsutsugo has recorded back-to-back multi-hit games for not only the first time this season, but for the first time since he began his U.S. career in 2020 (111 total games).

DJ's Spinning the Hits: Last night DJ Peters extended his hitting streak to nine straight games with a double, notched two RBI and a recorded his first stolen base of the season. He is 12-for-38 (.316) with three doubles, two homers, six RBI and four runs scored during his current streak, which is his longest since hitting safely in 10 straight games Aug. 12-22, 2017 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga.

Getting Neuse: Sheldon Neuse picked up a hit, walked twice, stole a base and scored two runs last night. He's now hit safely in a season-best seven consecutive games, going 11-for-30 (.367) with a double, homer, four RBI and eight runs scored...Neuse's 40 hits in 36 games rank fourth-most among OKC players overall this season and his 36 hits and 21 scored since June 12 lead the Dodgers, while his 23 RBI during the stretch are second-most on the team.

Two-Out Clout: The Dodgers scored in three separate innings that began with the bases empty and two outs last night, accounting for four of their eight runs. Overall, the team scored five runs with two outs Saturday and went 6-for-15, including three extra-base hits. Over the first three games of the current series, the Dodgers are now 15-for-42 (.357) while scoring 12 of their 17 runs with two outs.

Ruiz Continues Rolling: Keibert Ruiz recorded another hit last night, as he has now reached base in 15 of his last 16 starts, going 21-for-65 (.323) with three doubles, four homers, 10 runs scored and 14 RBI...Ruiz is tied for the Dodgers' team lead with 12 homers this season. He ranks second on the team with 48 hits, 13 doubles, 25 extra-base hits and 34 RBI...Between OKC and his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, Ruiz has hit 13 homers and 13 doubles in 200 total plate appearances (50 games). In his last full season in 2019, Ruiz hit six homers and nine doubles over 350 plate appearances (85 games) with OKC and Double-A Tulsa.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks had Saturday night off, but on Friday hit his ninth homer of the season - an estimated 453-foot blast over the right field roof that tied the game in the seventh inning. Reks was playing in his first game since being optioned to OKC following his second stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He appeared in two games with LAD July 10-11 against Arizona, going 0-for-2 with two runs scored...In his last six games with OKC, Reks is 9-for-21 (.429) with three homers, three doubles, seven runs scored and 11 RBI - with at least one RBI all six games...Reks leads OKC with 53 hits in 43 games this season, including a team-best 17 doubles and 26 extra-base hits. His 31 RBI and nine homers are both tied for third-most among OKC players, and he has reached base in 38 of his 41 starts...Reks' 1.016 OPS ranks fourth in Triple-A West, while his .421 OBP and .325 AVG both rank sixth, his 17 doubles are tied for seventh and his .595 SLG is eighth.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers have homered in four straight games and in eight of the last nine games (16 HR), and they have 21 homers over their 15 games so far in July. They last homered in five consecutive games as part of a season-best 10 game stretch with a homer June 13-24...On the other hand, the Dodgers have allowed homers in three straight games for the first time since July 3-5 and for just the third time since June 2. The Dodgers have allowed 32 homers over the last 39 games - fewest in Triple-A West by 17 since June 3.

One Love: Each of the last two games have been decided by one run, marking just the third time this year the Dodgers have played consecutive one-run games, and it's the first time it's happened home. (Previously May 22-23 at Albuquerque and June 25-26 at Sugar Land.) The Dodgers have not played three straight one-run games since a four-game streak June 26-28, 2018 at home against Nashville (includes a doubleheader on June 27)...With yesterday's win, the Dodgers are now 5-12 in one-run games this season. Nine of the team's last 13 defeats have been by one run.

Around the Horn: Last night James Pazos became the fifth different pitcher for OKC this season to record a save and the third different pitcher to do so in the team's last four games...Matt Davidson has hit eight homers in his last 13 games as well as 10 homers in his last 19 games. Over the last 13 games he's collected 12 extra-base hits and 20 RBI...Drew Avans is 7-for-19 with a triple, two doubles, five walks, and four runs scored over his last six starts. The outfielder is batting .346 (18x52) over his last 19 games with a .460 OBP (OB 29/63 PA)...The Dodgers have committed 21 errors in the past 21 games, with eight of the errors committed by pitchers. The team has allowed nine unearned runs through 15 games in July after surrendering just one unearned run throughout all of June...Although the Dodgers scored eight runs last night, they went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-the-last-12...OKC pitchers issued seven walks for a second straight night and have issued 14 total walks in the last two games after allowing five walks in the previous five games combined. Twelve of the 14 walks have been by the bullpen. Even with the recent uptick, since June 19 (25 games), the Dodgers have allowed 80 walks, which are second fewest among Triple-A West teams.

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