PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 2, 2021

Published on July 2, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Salt Lake Bees (22-26) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (27-22)

Game #50 of 120/Home #20 of 60

Pitching Probables: SL-RHP Jaime Barria (1-1, 4.50) vs. OKC-LHP Mike Kickham (0-1, 3.46)

Friday, July 2, 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 have won four straight games and look to tie their season-high with a fifth straight victory tonight when they continue their home series against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:05 p.m. on a Fireworks Friday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers are 12-2 over the last 14 games, including a league-leading 8-2 in the last 10 games...Since June 15, the Dodgers have gone from 8.0 games out of first place to 0.5 games out of first place in the Triple-A West East Division standings and are currently in sole possession of second place for the first time all season.

Last Game: The OKC Dodgers scored 10 runs in the sixth inning, including a grand slam by Keibert Ruiz and three-run homer by Matt Davidson, in an 11-8 win Thursday night against the Salt Lake Bees at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers entered the sixth inning trailing, 6-1, before scoring 10 runs, including seven with the bases loaded. Omar Estévez drew a bases-loaded walk before Elliot Soto followed with a RBI single. Andy Burns then drew another bases-loaded walk to trim the Bees' lead to 6-4. Ruiz stepped up next and drilled a grand slam into the upper deck in right field to put the Dodgers on top, 8-6, with his second homer of the night. Later in the inning, Davidson lined a three-run homer out to left field for an 11-6 OKC advantage. Earlier in the game, Ruiz connected on a solo homer out to left field on the first pitch he saw for a 1-0 OKC lead in the first inning. Salt Lake scored four runs in the fourth inning and added two more runs in the sixth inning before the Dodgers took the lead for good. The Bees added single tallies in the eighth and ninth innings to pull within three runs, but they never brought the tying run to the plate.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Mike Kickham (0-1) makes his seventh start of 2021 tonight with OKC...He made his last start June 26 in Sugar Land, allowing one run and four hits over 2.1 innings with three walks and three strikeouts in the Dodgers' 4-3 loss. He left trailing, 1-0, but did not factor into the decision...Over his last five outings going back to May 27, Kickham has given up two runs in 15.1 innings and allowed 15 hits during that span. He's also notched 13 strikeouts against six walks...Kickham missed about two weeks of action between late May and early June while dealing with a blister on his left index finger...This season opponents are batting just .146 (7x48) with runners on base against him, including 1-for-24 with RISP...Kickham signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent Jan. 8 and made four appearances for the team 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 on 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...Tonight is Kickham's first appearance against the Bees since an Aug. 3, 2019 start for New Orleans in Salt Lake. In that outing, he allowed five runs (four earned) and eight hits over 4.1 innings with three walks and three K's (ND). In his career against Salt Lake, Kickham is 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA.

Against the Bees: 2021: 1-0 2019: 2-1 All-time: 53-50 At OKC: 30-22 The Dodgers and Bees are meeting for their first of two series in 2021 and their lone series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams played a three-game series in 2019 as the teams met at Smith's Ballpark. OKC won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 14-8 before the Bees won the series finale, 14-4. Kyle Garlick led the Dodgers with five hits, including two doubles, while Edwin Ríos homered twice and had six RBI...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 14-5 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series. The Dodgers enter tonight having won eight of the last 10 meetings overall...OKC has won five straight season series and have not lost a season series against the Bees since going 1-3 in 2013 in OKC...The Dodgers won the 2018 series, 2-1, losing the series opener at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark before winning the final two games by a combined score of 10-2...Salt Lake's Jo Adell is tied for the Triple-A West lead with 16 homers this season, while his 29 extra-base hits and 117 total bases are tied for second, his 40 RBI rank tied for third and his 37 runs are tied for fourth.

Moving On Up: With four straight wins, as well as wins in seven of the last eight games, OKC is a season-best five games above .500. The initially surpassed the .500 barrier last Thursday (June 24) for the first time since the end of the 2018 season...After starting 2021 with a 4-13 record, OKC has gone 23-9. Since the turnaround began May 25, OKC owns the best record among all Triple-A teams and is tied with Omaha (23-10) for the most wins in all of Triple-A...During the team's current 12-2 run, they've gone from 8.0 games out of first place to 0.5 games out of first place and are now in second place in the division standings.

Keibert Goes Kaboom: Keibert Ruiz hit two home runs Thursday night, including a sixth-inning grand slam to give OKC the lead. It was his third multi-homer game of the season and sixth multi-homer game of his career, but just the second time the switch-hitter has homered from each side of the plate in the same game. He previously achieved that feat July 12, 2018 with Double-A Tulsa at Northwest Arkansas. Ruiz finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk and five RBI to tie his season and career high RBI mark. He now paces the OKC Dodgers with 11 homers this season as well as three multi-homer games. He also moved into a tie with his team-leading 12th multi-hit game this season...Ruiz's grand slam was the second of his career and first since July 28, 2017 with Low-A Great Lakes at Lake County. It was also Oklahoma City's third grand slam of the season...Ruiz's .645 SLG leads all Triple-A players, while his 1.018 OPS is fifth in Triple-A West. Ruiz entered this season with a career .420 SLG...His 22 extra-base hits pace OKC, while his 36 total hits are second-most among OKC players as are his 28 RBI...Between OKC and his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, Ruiz has hit 12 homers and 11 doubles in 149 total plate appearances (38 games). During his last full season in 2019, Ruiz hit six homers and nine doubles between OKC and Double-A Tulsa over 350 plate appearances (85 games). He has matched his career high with 12 homers, set in 2018 over 415 plate appearances...Ruiz has homered in three straight home games, going 6-for-10 with four homers and nine RBI. He's also gone deep seven times in his last seven games at The Brick (9x24, 13 RBI).

Tenfold: The Dodgers had their highest-scoring inning of the season with a 10-spot in the sixth inning Thursday night, marking the most runs the team has scored in one inning since scoring 11 in the seventh inning of a May 14, 2019 road game at Round Rock...Last night, seven of the Dodgers' 10 runs scored with the bases loaded and one out as 14 Dodgers batted in the half inning that included six walks and five hits, including two homers. Three Salt Lake pitchers combined to throw 68 pitches in the inning...Due to incomplete team records, it cannot currently be determined the last time OKC scored 10 runs in an inning at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, but the last occurrence could be no more recent than the 2010 season.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson hit a three-run homer for the second straight game, capping off the 10-run sixth inning. Davidson has homered six times this season, including three times in his last five games and four times in his last eight games...Over his last five starts, Davidson is 7-for-22 with three multi-hit games, a double, three homers, eight RBI and three runs scored. In the past two games, Davidson is 3-for-8 with three extra-base hits and seven RBI.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers hit three homers last night and have five homers over the last two games after being held without a home run in three of their previous four games. OKC has 21 multi-homer games this season and has hit 58 homers in their last 37 games, including 32 in the last 20 games. In contrast, the Dodgers hit just 11 homers over the first 12 games of 2021. The Dodgers homered in a season-high 10 straight games June 13-24, hitting 18 homers during the stretch...Salt Lake was held without a homer last night and the Dodgers have now held an opponent without a homer 12 times in the last 19 games and in 15 of the last 25 games after opponents had gone deep at least once in 22 of the first 24 games (42 HR)...Since June 3, the Dodgers have allowed 16 HR in 25 games. The next lowest total in Triple-A West is 28 (Round Rock).

Rehab Recap: Scott Alexander pitched in the fourth game of his Major League Rehab Assignment last night, posting a scoreless seventh inning with one hit and one strikeout. All 10 of his pitches were strikes. Alexander has allowed one run and four hits over 3.2 innings in his four appearances with OKC. He has not issued a walk and recorded three K's...In the 12th game of Yoshi Tsutsugo's rehab assignment, he went 0-for-4 with a walk and overall is 5-for-46 with three homers and five RBI.

Going for the Gold: Dodgers catcher Tim Federowicz was named to the Team USA baseball roster today and will participate in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Team USA will open the Olympic Games against Israel Friday, July 30 with a roster comprised of 12 pitchers and 12 position players and will train at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., starting workouts July 17.

Fall Ball: Yesterday Major League Baseball announced all 30 Triple-A teams will play 10 additional games during 2021 season. Although there will still be no playoffs, the Triple-A season finale will now coincide with the end of the MLB season on Oct. 3. Dates and opponents for the additional games will be announced later.

Around the Horn: Last night was the team's largest comeback victory since erasing a five-run deficit May 14, 2019 at Round Rock. The Dodgers trailed, 5-0, before winning 15-6...The Dodgers won a fifth straight series opener, improving to 5-4 in series openers overall this season, including 3-1 at home. When the Dodgers win the first game of a series, they are 3-0-1 in those series...Including last night, the Dodgers are 11-1 over the last 12 games they've scored first, with wins in six straight...OKC drew nine walks from Salt Lake pitchers Thursday - the team's highest walk total since June 11 against El Paso. The Dodgers lead Triple-A West with 228 walks this season...Elliot Soto extended his hit streak to a season-high seven games Thursday night, going 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored. He is 10-for-29 with three doubles during the streak...Sheldon Neuse has now hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games, going 22-for-64 (.344) with 15 RBI. He led the Dodgers with 24 hits in June.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 2, 2021


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