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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 19, 2023

July 19, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (4-12/36-55) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (11-5/61-28)

Game #90 of 148/Second Half #17 of 75/Home #45 of 73

Pitching Probables: ELP-RHP Pedro Avila (1-6, 8.73) vs. OKC-RHP Landon Knack (2-0, 3.29)

Wednesday, July 19, 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 seek a sixth straight win when they continue their series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. This is the fifth winning streak of the season of five or more games for the Dodgers, who are now 11-4 in their last 15 games.

Last Game: Ryan Ward delivered a RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 7-6 walk-off win against the El Paso Chihuahuas Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers trailed, 5-4, entering the bottom of the eighth inning before coming back to tie the score for the third time in the game on a RBI single by Justin Yurchak and taking their first lead of the night on a sacrifice fly by Drew Avans. However, the Chihuahuas knotted the score with two outs in the ninth inning on a RBI single by Óscar Mercado. Miguel Vargas then led off the bottom of the inning with a double, and following a groundout to advance to third base, scored on Ward's RBI single. El Paso took the game's first lead on a leadoff home run by Preston Tucker. The Dodgers answered with a solo home run by Ward in the bottom of the second inning. El Paso went on to build a 4-1 lead before Michael Busch hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Landon Knack (2-0) seeks a third straight win when he makes his fourth Triple-A start tonight...Prior to the All-Star Break, Knack was with Los Angeles Dodgers as a member of the team's taxi squad but was not added to the active roster...His most recent outing was July 1 in Sugar Land, pitching 6.0 scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and two walks and recorded seven strikeouts during an 8-2 victory. His innings and strikeout totals were his highest since joining OKC in mid-June. He held Sugar Land 1-for-10 with runners on base and 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position...Knack joined the Dodgers from Double-A Tulsa where he ranked among Texas League leaders in ERA (2nd, 2.20), AVG (2nd, .202), WHIP (2nd, 0.94) and innings (5th, 57.1) at the time of his promotion. Knack made 12 starts with the Drillers, going 2-0 with 61 strikeouts against 12 walks. He allowed one or no runs in eight of 12 starts with Tulsa and two or fewer earned runs in 11 of 12 starts. He posted a 1.32 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and .177 BAA through his first nine starts of the season...After allowing a total of three home runs in 57.1 IP with Tulsa, Knack has allowed four home runs in his first 7.2 innings the OKC Dodgers, accounting for all five of the runs he's allowed so far...Knack began the 2023 season as the No. 22 prospect and No. 12 pitcher in the Dodgers system by Baseball America and the No. 18 prospect and No. 9 pitcher by MLB Pipeline...The Johnson City, Tenn., native is in his third professional season after being selected in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of East Tennessee State as a fifth-year senior...He spent the entire 2022 season with Tulsa after starting his pro career in 2021.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2023: 7-6 2022: 13-14 All-time: 48-39 At OKC: 20-13

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 paced 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...The Dodgers have won four consecutive games against the Chihuahuas after starting the season 3-6.

Trend Setters: The Dodgers own the most wins in the Minors with a 61-28 record as well as the best overall winning percentage (.685) among the 120 full-season teams. With last night's win, the team is a season-best 33 games above .500 - also the highest above .500 OKC has ever been at any point during the Bricktown era (since 1998)...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, the team's best previous record through 89 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 56-33...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).

The Late Show: Tuesday's walk-off win was OKC's seventh of the season, but first since May 21 against Sugar Land when Ryan Ward scored the winning run on a wild pitch with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning. The Dodgers had six walk-off victories through the first 21 home games this season...Last night's victory was also OKC's 18th last at-bat win of 2023 as well as the third in the last four games...The Dodgers won for the 13th time when trailing in the eighth inning or later, and Tuesday also marked the team's 10th win this season after trailing by at least three runs...Four of the last six games between the Dodgers and Chihuahuas have been decided in the ninth inning or later. In all four games, the Chihuahuas tied the game in the eighth or ninth inning, including three times tying the game in the ninth inning. No other team this season has erased a ninth-inning deficit against the Dodgers.

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.

Getting Miggy With It: Miguel Vargas compiled a game-high four hits Tuesday, going 4-for-5 with a double, stolen base and scoring the game-winning run. On Sunday in Sacramento, Vargas reached base five times with a career-high four walks and a RBI single. And going back to his final plate appearance Saturday, he has now reached base in 10 of his last 11 plate appearances with six hits and four walks...In his four games with OKC since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Vargas has reached base in 13 of 20 plate appearances, going 6-for-13 with six walks and a hit by pitch. Tuesday was his second four-hit game of the season and first since May 2 with Los Angeles against Philadelphia...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.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer last night. He has reached base in 14 consecutive games and has hit five home runs in the last 10 games and six homers in the last 13 games. During the streak, he is 16-for-57 (.281) with six homers, two doubles and a triple, 15 RBI and 11 runs scored. Going back further, Busch is batting .355 (33x93) with OKC in 23 games since May 30, hitting safely in 18 games. He has 20 extra-base hits during the span, including 10 homers, 30 RBI and 22 runs scored along with 16 walks and a .455 OBP...Overall this season, Busch's .998 OPS ranks fourth in the PCL, while his .571 SLG is eighth and his .427 OBP is ninth...He has torched El Paso pitching this season, going 15-for-30 with four homers, nine extra-base hits and 13 RBI.

The Warden: Ryan Ward collected a second straight multi-hit game Tuesday, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and his 10th homer of the season. He tied the score, 1-1, with a solo homer in the first inning and knocked the game-winning RBI single with one out in the ninth inning. Over his last three games, Ward is 5-for-13 with six RBI...He ranks second on the team with 60 RBI this season, while his 74 hits and 54 runs scored are third and his 10 homers are tied for third. He leads the team with 16 multi-RBI games.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann recorded his team-leading 26th multi-hit game Tuesday, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. He has hit safely in five consecutive games, going 7-for-22, and in 14 of his last 16 games (21x65). He paces the Dodgers with 91 hits and 64 RBI in 79 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 while his .978 OPS and 165 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 31 games.

How He Drew It Up: Drew Avans' streak of four straight multi-hit games ended Tuesday, but he did go 1-for-4 with a sacrifice fly. Over the last five games he is 9-for-23 with three doubles and four RBI. He also has six multi-hit outings in his last eight games, going 13-for-37 (.351), 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 84 games, while his 85 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.

Pen Pals: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.

Around the Horn: With last night's victory, the Dodgers have now won eight straight series openers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and 11 of their last 13 series openers overall. They are 6-6 when attempting to take a 2-0 series lead this season (3-4 at home)...The Dodgers have hit at least one home run in six straight games (8 HR) and in 11 of the last 13 games (16 HR). Since June 3, the Dodgers have hit 50 homers over 34 games after the team hit 47 homers over the first 55 games of the season...Last night marked just the third time all season the Dodgers' offense was limited to one or no walks and the first time since June 7 at El Paso...Last night was the first time since July 7 the Dodgers allowed more than four runs in a game. Over the previous five games, the OKC pitching staff allowed a total of 14 runs (13 ER) and 32 hits, with opponents batting .198 (32x162) with 52 strikeouts. OKC's 2.94 ERA since June 28 (16 G) is lowest in Triple-A, as are the team's 62 runs allowed. Over the last five games (46.0 IP), the pitching staff has 54 strikeouts against eight walks.

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