PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 18, 2023

Published on July 18, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (4-11/36-54) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (10-5/60-28)

Game #89 of 148/Second Half #16 of 75/Home #44 of 73

Pitching Probables: ELP-RHP Nolan Watson (0-2, 10.54) vs. OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (3-4, 6.03)

Tuesday, July 18, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: Bally Live, MiLB.tv

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers return home for their first games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark following the PCL All-Star Break and open a six-game series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on a $2 Tuesday. The Dodgers own a four-game winning streak following a weekend road series sweep against the Sacramento River Cats and are 10-4 in their last 14 games.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers completed a series sweep with a 6-4 win against the Sacramento River Cats Sunday afternoon at Sutter Health Park. The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on the way to an eighth consecutive road victory. The first four batters of the game reached base, including back-to-back RBI singles by Miguel Vargas and Ryan Ward for a 2-0 OKC lead. The Dodgers added a run in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead on a unique home run. Devin Mann hit a fly ball to right-center field that was initially caught by Sacramento center fielder Bryce Johnson, but Johnson lost control of the ball and it went over the right-center field fence. Sacramento trimmed OKC's lead to one run in the bottom of the fourth inning via a two-run home run by Jakson Reetz. The Dodgers would go on to score three more runs on a RBI double by David Dahl in the sixth inning and a two-run single by Ryan Ward in the seventh inning. Sacramento scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and with the tying run at the plate and one out in the ninth inning, Gus Varland induced a ground ball double play to end the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone (3-4) makes his 14th start of the season and second against the Chihuahuas tonight...Stone last pitched July 9 against Albuquerque in OKC and combined with Justin Hagenman to complete the Dodgers' fifth shutout of the season during a 3-0 win. Stone earned the win with six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks with eight strikeouts and was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for July 3-9 for his performance. Stone faced two over the minimum during his time on the mound and did not have a runner reach scoring position...Prior to his most recent game with OKC, Stone had been in the midst of a rough patch, allowing 24 runs and 32 hits over 18.0 innings during his previous four starts...He made his ML debut May 3 at Dodger Stadium against Philadelphia and has made a total of four appearances, including three starts, for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season...Last season, Stone was named the Los Angeles Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He compiled a 1.48 ERA and 9-6 record across 26 games (25 starts) at three levels. Stone led all pitchers in the Minors in ERA and tied for ninth overall in strikeouts...Entering this season, Stone was tabbed as the Dodgers' No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 6 prospect by Baseball America...The Dodgers selected Stone in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of Central Arkansas...Tonight is his second start of the season against El Paso. He started June 9 in El Paso, allowing six runs and 10 hits, including two homers, over 4.1 innings with one walk and three strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC's 14-10 road win.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2023: 6-6 2022: 13-14 All-time: 47-39 At OKC: 19-13

The Chihuahuas and Dodgers meet for their third of three series of the season, but first of 2023 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams last played June 6-11 in El Paso, with the Dodgers winning the series, 4-2, with victories in the final three games of the set and outscoring El Paso, 42-16, during the trio of games, including, 24-5, in the series finale. Games 2-4 of the series were each decided in the ninth inning or later, with two games that extended to 10 innings....Through the first 12 meetings this season, Devin Mann paces OKC with 15 hits and 12 RBI in the series, including five homers...The Dodgers have outscored the Chihuahuas, 82-76, while El Paso has hit 21 homers in 12 games at hitter-friendly Southwest University Park against the Dodgers compared to OKC's 18 homers...The Chihuahuas won the 2022 season series against the Dodgers, 14-13, clinching just their second season series win against OKC since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season and their first against OKC since 2018. The Dodgers went 6-3 at home, but 7-11 at Southwest University Park, including losses in seven of their last nine games....After the teams played five series in 2022, the teams meet for just three series in 2023, and their season series wraps up Sunday.

Trend Setters: The Dodgers own the most wins in the Minors with a 60-28 record while claiming the second-best overall percentage (.682) among the 120 full-season teams, trailing only Single-A Clearwater (.687)...The Dodgers reached 60 wins in 88 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 60 wins since 2005 was in 93 games, achieved most recently by Memphis in 2017 (60-33), as well as OKC in 2015 (60-33) and Tucson in 2006 (60-33)...During the Bricktown era (since 1998), the team's best previous record through 88 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 56-32...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).

At Home on the Road: The Dodgers have won eight consecutive road games for the team's longest road winning streak of the season and second-longest road winning streak in the team's Bricktown era (since 1998). This is the second time this season OKC has won at least seven straight road games and fifth time during the Bricktown era. The Dodgers own the best road record in all of Triple-A at 33-12, as well as the most road wins in all the Minors...On the other hand, the Dodgers have struggled a bit at home of late and lost their last home series July 4-9 against Albuquerque, including losses in four straight games at one point during the series. The Dodgers have lost five of their last seven home games, as well as six of the last nine at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and are 6-9 at home since June 13. OKC is 27-16 at home overall this season but started the season 21-7, including a 15-4 run in their 19 home games through June 13 before the current 6-9 slide.

Mound Matters: Over the last five games, the OKC pitching staff has allowed four runs or less in each game for a total of 14 runs (13 ER) and 32 hits, with opponents batting .198 (32x162) with 52 strikeouts. Going back further, the Dodgers have held opponents to four runs or less in 12 of their last 15 games. OKC's 2.73 ERA since June 28 (15 G) is lowest in Triple-A, as are the team's 56 runs allowed. The pitching staff's 158 strikeouts are most among the 30 Triple-A teams during the span...Sunday was just the third time in the last 13 games Dodgers pitchers did not reach double-digit strikeouts, however it was the 19th consecutive game with at least seven punchouts. Overall, the OKC pitching staff's 837 strikeouts (9.5 per game) lead the PCL...On Sunday, Sacramento hit a home run and hit three during the series, however the Dodgers have allowed just four homers over the last eight games - tied for fewest in the league during the span with Sacramento - and six homers since July 3 (10 games). The stretch included a season-best four-game streak without allowing a homer July 7-14...Over the last four games (37.0 IP), the Dodgers have 46 strikeouts against six walks.

How He Drew It Up: Drew Avans recorded a fourth straight multi-hit game Sunday, going 2-for-5. Over the last four games he is 8-for-19 with three doubles and three RBI. He also has six multi-hit outings in his last seven games, going 12-for-33 (.364), and his 23 multi-hit games this season are second-most on the team...Avans leads the Dodgers with 64 runs scored and 56 walks in a team-high 83 games, while his 84 hits are second on the team and his 10 homers are tied for third. His walk total and run total both rank tied for third in the PCL this season.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann was credited with his team-leading 14th home run of the season Sunday on a one-of-a-kind play. In the top of the fourth inning, Mann hit a fly ball to right-center field that was initially caught by Sacramento center fielder Bryce Johnson. As Johnson reached the shorter, padded wall in front of the River Cats bullpen, his glove hit the top of the padded wall and the ball fell out of his glove, over the wall and into the bullpen. The umpiring crew ruled Johnson never had a "voluntary release" of the ball and thus did not complete the catch, as the play resulted in a home run for Mann...Mann has hit safely in four straight games (5x18) and in 13 of his last 15 games (19x61). He paces the Dodgers with 89 hits and 64 RBI in 78 games overall...Mann's 32 doubles this season lead all of the Minors, while his 46 extra-base hits are most in the PCL, his 64 RBI are tied for fourth and his .977 OPS 163 total bases are each fifth in the league...All of his homers have occurred since May 7 (50 games) and he has hit 10 homers in his last 30 games.

Within Reach: Miguel Vargas reached base five times Sunday with a career-high four walks and a RBI single. In his three games with OKC since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Vargas has reached base in nine of 15 plate appearances, going 2-for-8 with six walks and a hit by pitch...Vargas, who has played in 81 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, was named the PCL's Top MLB Prospect and Baseball America's Triple-A Player of the Year in 2022 after slashing .304/.404/.511 with 32 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs, 82 RBI, 71 walks and 16 stolen bases in 113 games. He tied for the PCL lead with 100 runs scored last season despite not playing in the league for the final month of the season and ranked second in the league in AVG and OBP.

Drama Series: Sunday's win completed a three-game series sweep for OKC in Sacramento - the team's second series sweep of the season as they defeated Round Rock on the road in six games May 9-14...The Dodgers are now 13-3-0 in series this season. However, the team has lost two of its last three home series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, including its most recent home series against Albuquerque, July 4-9 (4-2), and against Salt Lake, June 13-18 (3-2). OKC's lone road series loss of the season was against current opponent El Paso at Southwest University Park, 4-2, May 2-7.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers enter tonight having won seven straight home series openers and 10 of their last 12 series openers overall...The Dodgers have hit at least one home run in 11 of the last 13 games (16 HR). Since June 3, the Dodgers have hit 48 homers over 33 games after the team hit 47 homers over the first 55 games of the season...Gus Varland pitched a scoreless ninth inning Sunday to record his first save of the season. Over his last 14 games, Varland has surrendered just one earned run (two runs total) and 10 hits over 15.1 innings, holding opponents 10-for-54 (.185) with 21 strikeouts against three walks...Alec Gamboa struck out all three batters Saturday night. Over his first five games with OKC, the lefty reliever has yet to allow an earned run over 12.0 innings while holding opponents 7-for-43...Michael Busch was held without a hit Sunday but drew a walk and scored a run to extend his on-base streak to 13 games. He has hit four home runs in the last nine games and hit five home runs in 13 games since rejoining OKC June 30.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 18, 2023


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