Sports stats



PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 23, 2023

July 23, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (7-13/39-56) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (12-8/62-31)

Game #94 of 148/Second Half #21 of 75/Home #49 of 73

Pitching Probables: ELP-RHP Matt Waldron (1-6, 7.02) vs. OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (3-4, 6.03)

Sunday, July 23, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers wrap up their six-game series seeking a series split against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. El Paso has a 3-2 lead in the current series and a 9-8 lead in the season series, which also concludes today. Following tonight's game, kids can take the field to run the bases.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers snapped a three-game losing skid with a 2-1 win against the El Paso Chihuahuas Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers scored both of their runs in the fourth inning. Kole Calhoun tripled and later scored on a wild pitch before David Dahl connected on a two-out RBI single to give OKC a 2-0 advantage. The lone run of the night for the Chihuahuas scored in the sixth inning when Brandon Dixon hit a homer down the left field line. Dodgers starting pitcher Matt Andriese earned his team-leading eight win, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and three walks with six strikeouts. Justin Hagenman allowed one run over 2.0 innings and Tyson Miller recorded his first save with OKC, closing out the game with 2.0 scoreless innings.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone (3-4) makes his 15th start of the season and second of the series against the Chihuahuas...Stone pitched in Tuesday's series opener, matching his season-long outing with 6.0 innings, allowing four runs and seven hits, with one walk and five strikeouts. He did not factor into OKC's 7-6 walk-off win...On July 9 against Albuquerque in OKC, Stone 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...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...In two meetings with the Chihuahuas this year, Stone has allowed 10 runs and 17 hits (3 HR) over 10.1 innings in a pair of no decisions.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2023: 8-9 2022: 13-14 All-time: 49-42 At OKC: 21-16

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 today...The Dodgers won last night after El Paso won three straight games immediately following a run of four straight wins by the Dodgers.

Trend Setters: The Dodgers posted their 62nd win of the season last night and own the most wins in the Minors with a 62-31 record. They have the second-best overall winning percentage (.667) among the 120 full-season teams, trailing only Single-A Clearwater (.690)...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 93 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 60-33...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: The Dodgers will try to win back-to-back games after dropping three straight. Following a loss 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 then lost three straight games during the current series, marking their second three-game skid over the previous 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).

Speaking of Streaks...: Kole Calhoun went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and run scored Saturday night. He has hit safely in five straight games, going 7-for-21 (.333) with four extra-base hits...Drew Avans' eight-game hitting streak came to an end last night. He went 13-for-37 (.351) with five multi-hit games eight RBI during the stretch, which tied his season-long hitting streak from May 12-21...Ryan Ward's six-game hitting streak also ended Saturday during which he went 9-for-24 with two homers, two doubles and seven RBI and matched his longest hitting streak of the season...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.

Homesick: The Dodgers won last night for the second time this series and for just the third time in their last 10 home games. The Dodgers have not won consecutive home games in the same series since June 20-21 vs. Las Vegas...Despite last night's win, the Dodgers have lost eight of their last 12 home games and nine of their last 14 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. After starting the season 20-7 at home, the Dodgers are 9-12 since. Prior to the 9-12 slide, the Dodgers had gone 15-4 in their previous 19 home games. OKC is 29-19 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. The Dodgers allowed just one run last night, but over the last 26 home games, the team has a 5.29 ERA (138 ER/235.0 IP) and has allowed a total of 160 runs (6.2 rpg), with at least six runs in 14 of the 26 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 period, they are 9-3. Opponents have batted .274 (256x934) over those 26 home games, including .291 (83x285) with runners in scoring position...Overall, the pitching staff owns a 4.59 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.

Course Correction: Entering last night, the Dodgers had allowed at least six runs in four straight games for the second time this season and first time since April 16-20. It was also the first time the Dodgers have allowed six-plus runs in four straight home games since a six-game streak Sept. 7-20, 2021. Yesterday, the trio of Matt Andriese, Justin Hageman and Tyson Miller combined to limit El Paso to one run and three hits, with three walks and 10 strikeouts. It's the 13th time this season the Dodgers have allowed one or no runs, and the team improved to 29-1 when allowing three or fewer runs in a game this season. It was also the seventh game with three or fewer hits allowed...Including last night, the pitching staff has finished with at least 10 strikeouts in 14 of the last 18 games and has now recorded 24 consecutive games with at least seven punchouts. Overall, the OKC pitching staff's 890 strikeouts (9.7 per game) lead the PCL.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch was held without a hit last night, but drew a walk, and has now reached base in 18 consecutive games for the longest active on-base streak by an OKC player and tied for the longest active streak in the PCL. During the streak, Busch is 20-for-74 (.270) with nine extra-base hits, six homers, 17 RBI, 15 walks and has a .405 OBP. This is his second on-base streak of the season of at least 18 games, as he reached base in a season-best 25 consecutive games March 31-May 16...He has five homers in the last 14 games and six homers in the last 17 games.

Better Call Dahl: David Dahl finished with a game-high three hits Saturday, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI. The three hits also set a season high and was his first three-hit game since July 7, 2022 with Triple-A Nashville at Columbus. Yesterday also marked this second game this season with two extra-base hits, joining his OKC team debut June 20 against Las Vegas...Following a 3-for-40 start over his first 10 games with OKC, Dahl has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 10-for-29 with five doubles and a homer.

Hair of the Dog: After allowing 35 runs over the first four games of the series, three Dodgers pitchers combined to hold the Chihuahuas to one run Saturday. Overall this season, the Dodgers lead the PCL with a 4.36 ERA and have allowed the fewest runs and hits in the league. However, it's been a different story against the Chihuahuas. Over their 17 games against El Paso, the Dodgers have a 5.81 ERA and have allowed 112 runs (6.7 rpg) and 163 hits (9.6 hpg), with the Chihuahuas batting .276. 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 scored at least six runs in four games this series against OKC, in nine of the 17 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 since April 19-20, 2019 against Iowa that OKC allowed 10-plus runs in consecutive home games.

Around the Horn: Five of the Dodgers' six hits in Saturday's game went for extra bases, with four doubles and a triple. However, the team's stretch of nine consecutive games with a home run (12 HR) came to an end after tying their longest streak of the season of consecutive games with a home run (June 3-14 - 20 HR)...The Dodgers went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position last night and are just 9-for-49 (.184) with RISP over the last four games...Not counting bullpen games, starting pitchers this month have combined for a 3.25 ERA over 83.0 innings. In June, starting pitchers logged an 8.07 ERA over 80.1 innings across 21 games...Last night the Dodgers threw out an opposing base stealer for the first time since the All-Star Break, as opponents are now 21-for-23 since the break and 36-for-39 over the last 14 games. On Friday, El Paso swiped nine bags, becoming the first PCL team with at least nine steals in a game since 2011.

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from July 23, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Oklahoma City Comets Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central