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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 22, 2023

July 22, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (7-12/39-55) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (11-8/61-31)

Game #93 of 148/Second Half #20 of 75/Home #48 of 73

Pitching Probables: ELP-RHP Anderson Espinoza (4-3, 6.19) vs. OKC-RHP Matt Andriese (7-5, 4.99)

Saturday, July 22, 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 try to snap a three-game losing skid against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. El Paso leads the current six-game series, 3-1. The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a Tony Gonsolin bobblehead presented by Lime. Fireworks presented by Niagara Cares are scheduled to follow the game.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored two runs in the ninth inning but were unable to come back against the El Paso Chihuahuas in a 6-3 loss Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers took the first lead of the game on a solo home run by Miguel Vargas in the fourth inning. El Paso then compiled six straight runs to take a 6-1 lead. The Chihuahuas tied the game in the fifth inning, then started the sixth inning with four straight hits, leading to three runs. They converted three walks in the eighth inning to two more runs. OKC loaded the bases in the ninth inning with one out. Drew Avans brought in a run when he hit into a fielder's choice and Michael Busch followed with a RBI single before El Paso pitcher Ray Kerr got Vargas to fly out to end the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Matt Andriese (7-5) makes his team-leading 17th start of the season tonight...He recorded his team-high seventh win in his last outing in Sacramento July 16. He allowed two runs and five hits, including a home run, over 5.0 innings with two strikeouts and did not issue a walk. It was his fifth start of at least 5.0 innings without allowing a walk...His 83.0 IP this season are the most by an OKC pitcher and his 67 strikeouts are second-most. Among qualified PCL pitchers, he ranks third in ERA (4.99) and fifth in WHIP (1.49)...Andriese was named May's PCL Pitcher of the Month by MiLB and in four starts, he went 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA, holding opponents to a .194 average and did not allow an earned run in two of his four starts and just one earned run in another outing. He allowed 14 hits over 20.1 IP with four walks and 13 K's, posting a 0.89 WHIP. It was his first career monthly award and second honor of 2023 as he was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for May 8-14....Andriese is in his 13th professional season and signed with the Dodgers Jan. 30 after spending the 2022 season with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball...Andriese was selected in the third round of the 2011 MLB Draft by San Diego from UC Riverside and made his ML debut with Tampa Bay April 10, 2015 at Miami. He's made a total of 217 appearances in the Majors with five different teams...Tonight is his third start against El Paso this season. He is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA against the Chihuahuas, allowing five runs (four earned), 10 hits, two homers and one walk with five strikeouts.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2023: 7-9 2022: 13-14 All-time: 48-42 At OKC: 20-16

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...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...El Paso has now won three straight games immediately following a run of four straight wins by the Dodgers.

Hair of the Dog: Overall this season, the Dodgers lead the PCL with a 4.40 ERA and have allowed the fewest hits and tied for the fewest runs in the league. However, it's been a different story against the Chihuahuas. Over their 16 games against El Paso, the Dodgers have a 6.11 ERA and have allowed 111 runs (7.0 rpg) and 160 hits (10.0 hpg), with the Chihuahuas batting .285. Against all other PCL teams, the Dodgers have a 4.04 ERA and have allowed averages of 4.6 runs per game and 7.97 hits per game, with opponents batting .237...El Paso has scored at least six runs in four straight games against OKC, in nine of the 16 meetings overall this year and has been the culprit in four of the 11 games this season the Dodgers have allowed at least 10 runs. Wednesday and Thursday marked just the second time this season that the Dodgers have allowed double-digit runs in back-to-back games and the first time since April 17-18 in Albuquerque. Before Thursday, the Dodgers had not allowed double-digit runs in consecutive home games since April 19-20, 2019 against Iowa in 10-4 and 11-1 losses...The Chihuahuas' 35 runs this series are the highest four-game total by an opponent in OKC this season. In fact, only one Dodgers opponent has scored more than 35 runs in a series against the Dodgers in Bricktown this season when Salt Lake scored 37 runs in five games June 13-18.

Trend Setters: Although the Dodgers have suffered three straight losses, the team owns the most wins in the Minors with a 61-31 record and has the third-best overall winning percentage (.663) among the 120 full-season teams, trailing only Single-A Clearwater (.690) and fellow Dodgers affiliate High-A Great Lakes (.667)...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 92 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 59-33...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).

Streaky Second Half: After losing the first game of the second half, the Dodgers then ripped off six straight wins. That was followed by a season-high four-game losing streak before the Dodgers rebounded with five straight wins entering Wednesday. The team has now lost at least three straight games again, marking their second three-game skid over the last 12 games. In the first 80 games of the season, the Dodgers only had one three-game losing streak...Two of the team's three-game losing streaks have come at the hands of El Paso (also May 3-5).

Homesick: The Dodgers have lost three straight home games, seven of their last nine home games, eight of their last 11 home games and nine of their last 13 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. After starting the season 20-7 at home, the Dodgers are 8-12 since. Prior to the 8-12 slide, the Dodgers had gone 15-4 in their previous 19 home games. OKC is 28-19 overall at home this season, but comparatively is a Triple-A-best 33-12 on the road...Following a 7-0 win over Reno May 30, the Dodgers have struggled to consistently pitch well at home. Over the 25-game stretch, the team has a 5.46 ERA (137 ER/226.0 IP) and has allowed a total of 159 runs (6.4 rpg), with at least six runs in 14 of the 25 games (3-11), including seven games with nine or more runs (0-7). Conversely, when the Dodgers have held their opponent to less than six runs over that same time period, they are 8-3. Opponents have batted .280 (253x905) over those 25 home games, including .293 (83x283) with runners in scoring position...The Dodgers have lost five of the last 18 home games by at least four runs after that had happened in just three of the first 29 home games...The pitching staff owns a 4.67 ERA in OKC, but a 4.11 ERA on the road, which includes 24 games at hitter-friendly locales Albuquerque, El Paso and Las Vegas.

Dinger Details: Miguel Vargas homered in the fourth inning last night as the Dodgers have now homered in nine consecutive games (12 HR), tying their longest streak of the season of consecutive games with a home run (June 3-14 -- 20 HR). The Dodgers last had a streak of more than nine games with a homer during the 2021 season, homering in 12 consecutive games Sept. 6-19, 2021. OKC has now homered in 15 of the last 17 games (22 HR) and since June 3, the Dodgers have hit 54 homers over 37 games after the team hit 47 homers over the first 55 games of the season.

Steal My Sunshine: El Paso racked up a team-record nine stolen bases against the Dodgers last night, including five stolen bases by shortstop Tim Lopes, which was also an individual El Paso team record. The total marked the most stolen bases by a Pacific Coast League team since the 2011 season when Fresno had 10 stolen bases against Las Vegas April 10, 2011. In that 2011 game, current OKC Dodgers hitting coach Manny Burriss recorded a stolen base for Fresno and current OKC pitching coach Doug Mathis started the game on the mound for Fresno, which won the game, 8-5...The Chihuahuas' nine steals Friday were the most stolen bases allowed by the Dodgers in a game since at least 2005 and OKC's previous high for stolen bases allowed since 2005 was seven on July 25, 2009 against Nashville...El Paso also swiped five bases Thursday night, marking the fourth time that has happened against the Dodgers this season. Opponents are 35-for-37 in stolen base attempts over the last 13 games and 20-for-20 since the All-Star Break. The 124 steals against the Dodgers this season are most among all Triple-A teams.

How He Drew it Up: Drew Avans extended his hitting streak to eight games, going 1-for-5 with a RBI last night and tying his season-long hitting streak from May 12-21. During the current streak, Avans is 13-for-37 (.351) with five multi-hit games eight RBI. Avans last hit safely in more than eight games last season when he had a nine-game hitting streak July 6-17, 2022.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch connected on a RBI single in the ninth inning Friday night and has now reached base in 17 consecutive games for the longest active on-base streak by an OKC player and third-longest active streak in the PCL. During the streak, Busch is 20-for-71 (.282) with nine extra-base hits, six homers and 17 RBI. This is his second on-base streak of the season of at least 16 games, as he reached base in a season-best 25 consecutive games March 31-May 16. He has five homers in the last 13 games and six homers in the last 16 games.

Around the Horn: Steven Duggar posted his fourth multi-hit outing in his last eight games last night and through nine games in July is batting .345 (10x29) with two doubles, two homers, six RBI and eight runs scored...Ryan Ward went 1-for-3 with a double last night and his matched his longest hitting streak of the season at six games, going 9-for-24 with two homer, two doubles and seven RBI...David Freitas did not play yesterday but is currently riding a 14-game hitting streak - tied with Yonny Hernández for the second-longest hitting streak of the season overall for an Oklahoma City player. During the streak, Freitas is 17-for-55 (.309) with nine RBI and nine runs scored...The Dodgers have allowed at least six runs in four straight games for the second time this season and first time since April 16-20. It's the first time the Dodgers have allowed six-plus runs in four straight home games since a six-game streak Sept. 7-20, 2021...This is the third time this season and second time in three series the Dodgers have lost three of the first four games of a series. It also happened May 2-5 in El Paso and July 4-7 against Albuquerque in OKC.

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