PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 26, 2022

Published on July 26, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Sugar Land Space Cowboys (40-53) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (55-38)

Game #94 of 150/Home #49 of 75

Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Brandon Bielak (2-3, 3.42) vs. OKC-RHP Ryan Pepiot (7-0, 2.35)

Tuesday, July 26, 2022 | 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 three straight games and open a six-game home series tonight against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 7:05 p.m. on a $2 Tuesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers are in the midst of a nine-game homestand that opened with a three-game weekend sweep of Sacramento.

Last Game: James Outman racked up a career-high six RBI and the Oklahoma City Dodgers scored in each of their final five at-bats in a 12-3 win against the Sacramento River Cats Sunday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The River Cats took the game's first lead in the second inning on a RBI single by Austin Dean. In the fourth inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases and Jason Martin hit a bases-clearing double to the wall in left field with two outs for the lead. Outman led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run out to right-center field. Dean hit a RBI double in the sixth inning for Sacramento before the Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame and Outman connected on a bases-clearing double with two outs for a 7-2 OKC advantage. Sacramento brought in a run on a double play in the seventh inning and OKC answered with a sacrifice fly. The Dodgers then added four more runs in the eighth inning, including a two-run triple by Outman, a sacrifice fly and a RBI groundout.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryan Pepiot (7-0) makes his first appearance following the All-Star Break...Pepiot last pitched for OKC July 12 in Tacoma, allowing a season-high four runs and four hits over 5.2 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts. He earned his team-leading seventh win of the season in OKC's 15-4 victory. All four runs scored on two home runs as he allowed more than one homer in a game for the first time this season, as well as his first home run with runners on base...Pepiot owns a 2.35 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) this season with OKC. His seven wins are tied for second-most in the PCL and his 83 strikeouts are ninth-most in the league. Among PCL pitchers with at least 60.0 innings this season, Pepiot ranks first with a 2.35 ERA, .181 BAA, 1.08 WHIP and 12.18 strikeouts per 9.0 IP. The Dodgers are 12-0 in his starts this season...In four starts with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he's allowed five runs over 16.1 innings while holding opponents to a .175 average with 19 strikeouts. However, he has also allowed 12 walks. Pepiot made his ML debut in Pittsburgh May 11 with 3.0 scoreless innings...He was named PCL Pitcher of the Month for April as he went 2-0 in five starts with a league-best 1.66 ERA, allowing 14 hits with 29 K's over 21.2 IP and held opponents to a .182 average. He also received weekly PCL honors after making two starts during OKC's first series of the season versus Albuquerque...Pepiot was selected in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University, becoming the program's highest-ever draft pick...In three games against Sugar Land this season Pepiot is 3-0, allowing three runs and 12 hits over 15.2 innings with three walks and 19 K's.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2022: 9-3 2021: 12-12 All-time: 21-15 At OKC: 13-8 The Dodgers and Space Cowboys meet for their fourth of five series this season, including the third series of 2022 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams last met in a three-game series June 7-9 in OKC, with the Dodgers sweeping the set. The Dodgers scored at least six runs in each of the three victories...So far in 2022, OKC is 7-2 against Sugar Land at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark having also won the initial series between the teams in OKC, 4-2, April 26-May 1, closing out the series with three straight wins...The Dodgers also won a three-game road series against the Space Cowboys May 20-22 in Sugar Land, 2-1...Entering the current series, Miguel Vargas leads OKC with 16 hits, including three homers, in 12 games and Stefen Romero has a team-best 14 RBI in seven games. Pitcher Ryan Pepiot is 3-0 against the Space Cowboys with 19 K's over 15.2 IP...The teams split their 2021 season series, 12-12. Both teams went 6-6 on their home fields as Sugar Land played its first season as a Triple-A franchise...The Dodgers have won eight of their last nine games against Sugar Land after they had lost 11 of the previous 15 meetings going back to last season. They have also won six straight at home.

Life At The Top: The Dodgers have now won three straight games for the first time since June 18, and they have won four of their last five games and six of their last nine games. With a win Sunday, the Dodgers completed a three-game series sweep of Sacramento, marking their second series sweep of the year (both three-game series). The Dodgers have won all five of their three-game series this season and are 11-3-4 in series overall this season...The Dodgers lead the PCL with a 55-38 record and have a 3.0-game lead ahead of second-place El Paso in the East Division standings. OKC also owns the league's best home record, going 30-18 so far at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers last won four straight games June 15-18 in Reno and last won four straight home games April 7-10 against Albuquerque during the first series of the season. They have won three straight home games on four different occasions since but have not been able to win the next game in each instance.

Big Game James: James Outman finished with a career-high six RBI Sunday, going 3-for-4 with a double, triple and home run, along with a walk and two runs scored. Just 11 days earlier, Outman had set a career-high mark with five RBI July 13 in Tacoma. Outman now has 22 RBI through his first 18 Triple-A games, including 15 RBI in the last nine games...He hit his fourth home run with OKC Sunday and his 20th home run of the season overall including his time with Double-A Tulsa, setting a new career high. He's also set a career high with 67 total RBI this season...Outman is the fourth OKC player this season to compile at least six RBI in a game, joining Omar Estévez (6, May 28), Ryan Noda (7, July 6) and Stefen Romero (6, May 1). El Paso is the only other PCL team to also have four players reach the six-RBI mark this season...Sunday was his second career game with three extra-base hits (Aug. 4, 2021 with Double-A Tulsa) and he became the third OKC player with three-extra base hits in one game this season - all of which have occurred this month - joining Jason Martin (July 1) and Ryan Noda (July 6).

Drew Point: Drew Avans reached base four times Sunday (H, 2 BB, HBP) to extend his on-base streak to 32 games - the longest by an OKC player this season and the longest active streak in the PCL. He is one of two players in the PCL this season to have an on-base streak of 31 games or longer, trailing only El Paso's Nomar Mazara, who reached base in 35 consecutive games April 12-May 29...Avans has hit safely in 17 of the last 19 games, as well as 27 of the 32 games during the on-base streak, and over his last 12 games, he is batting .353 (18x51). He has reached base safely in 46 of his last 47 games and owns the longest on-base streak by a Dodgers player since the 2019 season when Gavin Lux reached base in 37 consecutive games...From the start of the season through May 31 (31 games), Avans batted .235 (20x85) with seven extra-base hits, eight RBI and 15 runs scored. Since June 1 (41 games), Avans is batting .325 (51x157) with 11 doubles, four triples, three homers, 19 RBI and 35 runs scored. He also has 20 walks during the stretch...He is tied for the league lead with seven triples this season, while his .388 OBP is ninth and his .293 batting average ranks 10th...Avans also had two stolen bases Sunday and paces the Dodgers with 21 stolen bases - exceeding his 2021 season total (19). His stolen base total ranks ninth in the league, and he has eight steals in the last eight games.

The Rundown: The Dodgers scored 12 runs Sunday. Throughout the game they totaled 12 hits and 11 walks and had a total of 47 plate appearances, with eight of nine players reaching base at least twice via hit or walk...The Dodgers scored a total of 30 runs during the three-game series with the River Cats, piling up 31 hits and 27 walks over 24 innings at the plate, and they recorded an inning of least four runs in each game. Only once all series were the first two batters of an inning both retired...Over the last 13 games, the Dodgers are 8-5. In the eight wins, they've scored 82 total runs and tallied at least eight runs in each victory, including five games with least 10 runs. In the five losses, they've scored 17 runs total. In seven of their last eight losses, the Dodgers have been held to three runs or less and they have been held to five runs or less in each of their last nine losses...The Dodgers' 596 runs and .369 OBP this season are second-most in Triple-A. OKC's .462 SLG and .831 OPS are both third.

Bogo at J-Mart: Jason Martin went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, three RBI and a run scored Sunday night. During the Sacramento series, Martin went 5-for-12 with seven RBI. Martin now has 73 RBI this season - second-most in all of Triple-A - and Sunday was his 18th multi-RBI game of the season as well as his team-leading eighth game with three or more RBI this season...Martin's 21 home runs are second-most in the PCL and tied for second in Triple-A, trailing only Reno's Stone Garrett, who has 25 homers. Martin also ranks among the PCL's top five players in runs scored (2nd, 68), extra-base hits (T-2nd, 43), total bases (3rd, 175), triples (T-3rd, 5), OPS (4th, .967) and SLG (5th, .593)...Martin has hit safely in 14 of his 17 games in the month of July, batting .324 (22x68) with three doubles, eight homers, 22 RBI and 20 runs scored. He has 14 RBI over the last seven games...The 26-year-old is nearing his single-season career highs of 23 homers and 75 RBI, set in 2016 with High-A Lancaster in the Houston Astros organization...Martin has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 12-for-34 (.353) with four homers and 16 RBI. He's picked up at least one RBI in seven of the last nine games and has six multi-RBI games during the stretch.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch put together his third straight multi-hit game Sunday, going 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored. During the series with Sacramento, Busch was 6-for-10 with four walks, reaching base in nine of 14 plate appearances...Busch has hit safely in 10 of his last 13 games, batting .358 (18x53). He has 27 extra-base hits in his 54 games with OKC (16 doubles, 11 homers).

Around the Horn: Entering tonight, the Dodgers have won four of their last five series openers...Miguel Vargas added to his PCL-leading run and hit totals Sunday with a hit and two runs scored, along with a walk and RBI. Vargas paces the PCL with 102 hits and 77 runs scored this season. He has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, going 13-for-43 (.302) during the stretch...OKC has 15 stolen bases over the last six games and has 17 steals over the last eight games, going 17-for-18 in their attempts. Prior to July 13, the Dodgers' previous 17 stolen bases occurred over a span of 31 games between June 6-July 12...The Dodgers drew 10 more walks Sunday, marking the eighth time this season OKC had at least 10 walks in a game. They lead all Triple-A teams with 451 walks this season. However, Dodgers pitchers issued six walks, allowing at least six walks for the third time in the last four games. The Dodgers have also allowed the most walks in Triple-A this season (460)...Jake Amaya was 0-for-3 Sunday but walked twice and scored once. Over his last nine games, Amaya is 11-for-31 (.355) with four multi-hit games, four RBI, six walks and has a .450 OBP (OB 18/40 PA).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 26, 2022


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