PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 26, 2023

Published on July 26, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (14-8/64-31) at Reno Aces (10-12/54-43)

Game #96 of 148/Second Half #23 of 75/Road #47 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Ryan Pepiot (0-1, 9.64)/LHP Mike Montgomery (1-1, 3.34) vs. RNO-LHP Blake Walston (7-5, 4.63)

Wednesday, July 26, 2023 | Greater Nevada Field | Reno, Nev. | 8:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers look to set a new Bricktown era record with a 10th straight road win when they continue their series against the Reno Aces at 8:35 p.m. CT at Greater Nevada Field. The Dodgers own the most overall wins in the Minors as well as the best road record in Triple-A.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers struck early and often as they claimed the first game of the series over the Reno Aces, 13-6, Tuesday night at Greater Nevada Field. The Dodgers got the early lead with a RBI single from Miguel Vargas and a sacrifice fly from Kole Calhoun in the first inning. Trayce Thompson padded the lead with a two-run homer to center field in the third inning. Hunter Feduccia then made it 5-0 with a solo blast in the fourth inning. The Aces cut the deficit to 5-3 with a three-run homer by Kyle Lewis in the bottom of the frame. Devin Mann made it 6-3 with a RBI single in the fifth inning before David Dahl added two more on a single with the bases loaded. Drew Avans plated another with a RBI double. Reno scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Dodgers responded with two runs in the sixth inning. Miguel Vargas hit a RBI double before a Ryan Ward sacrifice fly stretched the lead to 11-6. Mann and Feduccia each picked up a RBI in the eighth inning to round out the scoring.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Ryan Pepiot (0-1) continues a Major League Rehab Assignment with his third start...He most recently pitched July 20 against El Paso in OKC. He allowed four runs and four hits over 2.2 innings, including two home runs, with one walk and four strikeouts. He was charged with the loss in OKC's 12-6 defeat, throwing 48 pitches (29 strikes)...He opened his rehab assignment July 14 in Sacramento for his first game action of the 2023 season. He allowed one run, two hits and a walk over 2.0 innings with two strikeouts, facing nine batters and throwing 29 pitches (17 strikes)...Pepiot earned a spot in the Los Angeles Dodgers' starting rotation out of Spring Training before being placed on the 15-day IL with a left oblique strain March 30. He was later transferred to the 60-day IL April 21...Pepiot split the 2022 season between OKC and Los Angeles, making nine appearances (seven starts) for LAD across six different stints, going 3-0 with a 3.47 ERA. He was selected by Los Angeles May 11, 2022 and made his ML debut that day in Pittsburgh, starting against the Pirates...Pepiot made 19 appearances (17 starts) with OKC and went 9-1 with a 2.56 ERA. He was named PCL Pitcher of the Month for April, named the league's first Pitcher of the Week and was the team's Opening Night starter...Pepiot was selected in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University...He made one start against the Aces last season on the road, earning the win as he allowed one run and three hits over 5.0 innings. He issued three walks and recorded five strikeouts.

Mike Montgomery (1-1) is scheduled to piggyback Pepiot for a third straight outing...Montgomery followed Pepiot July 20 in OKC against El Paso and was tagged for a season-high six runs (none earned) on one hit in 1.2 innings of work with one hit batter, four walks and one strikeout. All six runs scored with two outs in the fifth inning...Prior to his last outing, Montgomery had allowed just three runs and seven hits across 15.2 innings in his previous three games...The left-handed pitcher signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers June 7. He started the season with the Acereros Del Norte in the Mexican League after signing with the team in February, but did not appear in a game and elected free agency in April...The 33-year-old spent the 2022 season with Triple-A Syracuse where he made 22 appearances (17 starts)...Montgomery made 183 appearances (70 starts) in MLB from 2015-20 with the Seattle Mariners (2015-16), Chicago Cubs (2016-19) and Kansas City Royals (2019-20)..In 2016, he made 49 appearances with the Mariners and Cubs, posting a 2.52 ERA over 100.0 innings. He earned the save in the Cubs' World Series-clinching Game 7, entering in the bottom of the 10th inning and securing the game's final out in Cleveland...Montgomery was originally selected by the Royals with the 36th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft from William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita, Calif.

Against the Aces: 2023: 5-2 2022: 6-6 All-time: 39-30 At RNO: 13-14

The Dodgers and Aces meet for their second of two series this season and lone series at Greater Nevada Field. The teams met for a six-game series in OKC May 30-June 4 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with the Dodgers winning the series, 4-2. OKC outscored the Aces, 47-30, in the series, batting .324 (67x207) with five homers. Devin Mann led OKC with nine hits and nine RBI in the series. During the third game of the series June 1, OKC turned its first triple play since 2005 and the first triple play in the PCL since 2018...The teams split their 2022 season series, 6-6, as they played 12 games against one another in a span of 24 games and each team won a six-game set on the road. OKC scored eight or more runs in five games against Reno last season and 10 or more runs three times. Both teams posted a shutout in the season series...The Dodgers and Aces have split each of their last three season series and OKC has not won a season series against Reno since the 2015 season when OKC went 3-1. The Dodgers are 0-2-4 in season series against the Aces since...Going back to last season, the Dodgers are 9-3 over the last 12 games against the Aces.

Trend Setters: The Dodgers are now 64-31 this season, tying their season-high and Bricktown era record (since 1998) at 33 games above .500. They own the most wins in the Minors, while they have the second-best overall winning percentage (.674) among the 120 full-season teams, trailing only Single-A Clearwater (.678)...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)...The fastest a PCL team reached 65 wins since 2005 was in 2017 when the Memphis Redbirds did it in 100 games (65-35)...During the Bricktown era, OKC's best previous record through 95 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 60-35...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).

At Home on the Road: The Dodgers have won nine consecutive road games, tying the Bricktown era record (since 1998), only previously accomplished May 29-June 15, 2019. With last night's win, the Dodgers improved to a Minor League-best 34-12 on the road this season and are now 12-1 over the last 13 road games and 23-5 over the last 28 road games...This is the second time this season OKC has won at least seven straight road games and fifth time during the Bricktown era. The previous seven-game road win streak included a six-game sweep at Round Rock May 9-14 and then a win in Sacramento May 23. The current win streak began with wins in five straight at Sugar Land June 29-July 3 plus three victories at Sacramento July 14-16 prior to last night...During OKC's nine-game road win streak, the pitching staff has allowed three runs or less in seven of nine games for a total of 26 runs. During that time, they have posted a 2.41 ERA (22 ER/82.0 IP) and a .207 (62x300) BAA.

Getting Offensive: The Dodgers tallied 18 hits Tuesday night, with all nine players in the starting lineup collecting at least one hit and five players finishing with multi-hit games. Eight of the 18 hits went for extra bases, as the Dodgers now have 19 extra-base hits over the last three games. Tuesday marked the fourth time this season OKC finished with 18 or more hits and first time since June 30 in Sugar Land. All four of the Dodgers' games with 18 or more hits this season have come on the road...Trayce Thompson and Hunter Feduccia both homered and the Dodgers have now homered at least once in 11 of the last 12 games (16 HR). Last night marked OKC's second straight multi-homer game and fifth in the last nine games (13 HR). Since June 3, the Dodgers have hit 58 homers over 40 games after the team hit 47 homers over the first 55 games of the season.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch went 1-for-4 with two walks Tuesday and has now reached base in 20 consecutive games for the longest active streak by an OKC player and tied for the longest active streak in the PCL. During the streak, Busch is 24-for-81 (.296) with eight homers, 11 extra-base hits, 21 RBI, 15 runs scored and 18 walks (.436 OBP). This is Busch's second on-base streak of the season of at least 20 games as he reached base in 25 consecutive games to start the season March 31-May 16...His eight home runs in July pace the PCL and are tied for the most homers during the month in Triple-A. He now leads the Dodgers with 15 homers overall this season although he has played in 20 fewer games than Devin Mann, who ranks second on the team with 14 homers.

Traycer Missile: Last night, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson began his time with OKC on Major League Rehab Assignment by going 3-for-5 with two doubles, one home run and two RBI, becoming the sixth OKC player with three extra-base hits in one game this season. It was Thompson's fourth career game with three extra-base hits, but first since Sept. 1, 2013 with Double-A Birmingham against Montgomery...Thompson has been on the Los Angeles Dodgers' Injured List since June 4 with a strained left oblique.

Kole-Fired: Kole Calhoun went 1-for-4 with a RBI Tuesday and has now hit safely in seven straight games, going 10-for-29 (.345) with five extra-base hits. This is his second hitting streak of at least seven games with OKC, as he hit safely in nine consecutive games June 24-July 6...He has hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games, going 26-for-80 (.325) with nine extra-base hits, 15 RBI and 11 runs scored.

Streaky Second Half: Following a defeat in the first game of the second half June 28, 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. The team then lost three straight games during the previous series against El Paso, marking their second three-game skid over 12 games. In the first 80 games of the season, the Dodgers only had one three-game losing streak. Now the team has won three straight games, giving them eight wins in the last 11 games overall.

Around the Horn: Hunter Feduccia went 4-for-5 with a home run, double and two RBI last night, marking his third game of the season with four-plus hits - tied for most on the team...Drew Avans has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .314 (16x51) with five doubles, a triple, homer, nine RBI, nine runs scored and six multi-hit games. Going back to July 6, Avans has 20 hits and 11 RBI in his last 14 games with eight multi-hit outings during the stretch, batting .313 (20x64)...Last night the Dodgers went 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position after going 3-for-25 over previous two games, 4-for-34 over the previous three games and 11-for-61 over the previous five games...Following a 3-for-40 start over his first 10 games with OKC, David Dahl has now hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 13-for-37 (.351) with five doubles and a homer...Yesterday the pitching staff did not allow a walk for the seventh time this season, and the team's 361 walks are fewest in the PCL by 48.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 26, 2023


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