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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 29, 2023

July 29, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (17-8/67-31) at Reno Aces (10-15/54-46)

Game #99 of 148/Second Half #26 of 75/Road #50 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (4-4, 5.86) vs. RNO-LHP Joe Mantiply (1-0, 8.71)

Saturday, July 29, 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 have won six straight games for the fifth time this season and try to extend their winning streak to seven games for the third time in 2023 when they continue their series against the Reno Aces at 8:35 p.m. CT at Greater Nevada Field. The Dodgers have won a Bricktown era-record 12 consecutive road games and own the most overall wins in the Minors as well as the best road record among the 120 minor-league teams. Tonight the Dodgers look to take a 5-0 start in a series for the third time this season.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers hit four home runs and collected nine extra-base hits, needing all of them to get past the Reno Aces, 14-12, in another high-scoring contest at Greater Nevada Field. The Dodgers hit their first two home runs in the first inning when Miguel Vargas and Kole Calhoun went back-to-back. Leading, 3-1, in the third inning, Calhoun blasted his second home run of the game with a three-run shot, as the Dodgers scored four runs in the inning to make it 7-1. The Aces erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the inning, including three-run homers by Dominic Fletcher and Blaze Alexander to go ahead, 8-7. The Dodgers regained the lead quickly with a two-run homer in the fourth inning by Michael Busch. OKC added five runs sixth inning, including a RBI double by Busch and two-run single by Devin Mann, stretching the lead to 14-8. The Aces scored two runs in the sixth inning, one run in the seventh inning and one run in the eighth inning, but they ended each of those innings by leaving the bases loaded. Wander Suero retired the side in order in ninth inning to finish off the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone (4-4) makes his 16th start of 2023 with OKC and second against the Aces...He last pitched July 23 against El Paso in OKC, allowing three runs (two earned) and five hits over 5.0 innings with one walk and five strikeouts. He was credited with the win in OKC's 5-3 victory...Over his last three starts since his most recent option to OKC, Stone has posted a 3.18 ERA (6 ER/17.0 IP) and 1.00 WHIP with 18 strikeouts against two walks...Stone was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for July 3-9 for his performance July 9 against Albuquerque, when he completed 6.0 scoreless innings and struck out eight...He made his ML debut May 3 at Dodger Stadium against Philadelphia and has made a total of four appearances (three starts) for the LA 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...Tonight is his second appearance of the season against Reno. He did not factor into OKC's 9-6 loss June 3 in OKC , allowing three runs and five hits over 4.1 innings with a season-high six walks and six strikeouts.

Against the Aces: 2023: 8-2 2022: 6-6 All-time: 42-30 At RNO: 16-14

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, batting .324 (67x207) with five homers. Devin Mann led OKC with nine hits and nine RBI. 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...Regardless of tonight's and Sunday's game results, OKC will win its first season series against the Aces since the 2015 season when OKC went 3-1. OKC and Reno split each of their last three season series and OKC went 0-2-4 in season series against Reno from 2016-22...Going back to last season, OKC is now 12-3 over the last 15 games against the Aces, as well as 8-1 over its last nine games in Reno.

Trend Setters: The Dodgers improved to 67-31 last night, adding to a Bricktown-era record (since 1998) at 36 games above .500. They own the most wins in the Minors, as well as the best winning percentage among the 120 full-season teams at .684...The Dodgers reached 65 wins in 96 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 65 wins since 2005 was when the 2017 Memphis Redbirds did it in 100 games (65-35)...During the Bricktown era, OKC's best previous record through 98 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 61-37...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 12 consecutive road games, setting a new Bricktown-era record (since 1998). The previous team record of nine straight road wins was accomplished May 29-June 15, 2019. With last night's win, the Dodgers improved to a Minor League-best 37-12 on the road and are now 15-1 over the last 16 road games and 26-5 over the last 31 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 this season 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 the four wins in Reno...The pitching staff has allowed three runs or less in eight of the 12 games during the streak.

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 July 5-8 before the Dodgers rebounded with five straight wins July 9-18 around the All-Star Break. The team then lost three straight games July 19-21 during the previous series against El Paso, marking their second three-game skid over 12 games after sustaining just one three-game losing streak during the first 80 games of the season. Now the team has won at least six straight games for the fifth time this season...The Dodgers have won 11 of their last 14 games overall and now own the best record in the PCL - as well as in all of Triple-A - to start the second half at 17-8.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch had a game-high and season-high four hits Friday night, including a home run and two doubles. On each of his doubles, Busch was thrown out attempting to advance to third base, preventing him from completing the cycle...Busch has now reached base in 23 consecutive games for the longest active streak by an OKC player, the second-longest active streak in the PCL and the fourth-longest by an OKC player this season. During the streak, Busch is 30-for-96 (.313) with 14 extra-base hits, 24 RBI, 20 runs scored and 18 walks (.436 OBP)...This is Busch's second on-base streak of the season of at least 23 games as he reached base in 25 consecutive games to start the season March 31-May 16...His nine home runs in July are tied for most in the PCL...Busch ranks second in the PCL with a 1.012 OPS and .581 SLG this season, sixth with a .431 OBP and tied for sixth with 38 extra-base hits...Last night marked his third career game with at least three extra-base hits and first since Sept. 4, 2021 with Double-A Tulsa against Springfield when he hit three doubles and one home run.

Kole-Fired: Kole Calhoun hit home runs in each of his first two at-bats Friday and homered in the three straight at-bats going back to his final plate appearance in his previous game Wednesday when he hit a grand slam. He notched three hits for a second consecutive game and is 6-for-10 with three home runs and nine RBI during that time. He became the 11th Dodger with a multi-homer game this season and the second in five games, with Michael Busch going deep twice July 23 at home against El Paso. It was Calhoun's second overall multi-homer game this season, joining May 9 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Omaha...Calhoun is now on a nine-game hitting streak, going 16-for-39 (.410) with eight extra-base hits and 12 RBI.. He's matched his season high, and also hit safely in nine consecutive games June 24-July 6...He has hit safely in 20 of his last 22 games, going 32-for-91 (.352) with 13 extra-base hits, 21 RBI and 14 runs scored.

Better Call Dahl: David Dahl doubled twice Friday and went 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored. He has now hit safely in six straight games, going 10-for-23 (.435) with five doubles and five RBI. Following a 3-for-40 start over his first 10 games with OKC, he has now hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 16-for-45 (.356) with seven doubles and a homer.

Arena Baseball: For the third time in four games in Reno, the Dodgers scored at least 13 runs last night. They notched at least 14 hits for the third time in four games and tallied 18 hits for the second time (also Tuesday). For the third time this series, all nine players in the starting lineup collected at least one hit, and yesterday six players finished with multi-hit games...The Dodgers tied their season high with four home runs, all occurring within the first four innings. The back-to-back home runs by Miguel Vargas and Kole Calhoun in the first inning were the team's fourth of the season and first since July 9 at El Paso - also the last time OKC hit four home runs in one game...Nine of the team's 18 hits went for extra bases, marking the third game of the season with at least nine extra-base hits. The Dodgers have now collected 35 extra-base hits over the last six games...After holding the Aces to one run Thursday, the Dodgers allowed 12 runs Friday night for their most runs allowed in a win this season. In fact, last night was just the team's fifth all-time win when allowing 12 or more runs during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and first since a 13-12 victory over Omaha April 16, 2019...The Aces have scored at least 11 runs in two of the last three games and OKC has allowed 11 or more runs in 10 games overall this season, including four times in the last nine games...The 26 combined runs were the third-most in a Dodgers game this season, but the 34 combined hits stands as the most.

Around the Horn: OKC last won seven or more consecutive games during a season-high 10-game winning streak May 9-19 and OKC last won the first five games of a series during a six-game sweep in Round Rock May 9-14. This is the fifth time they have started a six-game series with a 4-0 lead. Prior to this season, the Dodgers had only won the first four games of a six-game series once between the 2021-22 seasons...Of the 13 games out of the All-Star Break, nine have been decided by one or two runs, including eight of the last 11 games and five of the last six games...Hunter Feduccia went 2-for-4 with a walk last night and is now 8-for-13 over his first three games in the current series...Drew Avans has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games with a plate appearance, going 19-for-61 (.311) with six doubles, a triple, homer, 10 RBI and 10 runs scored along with seven multi-hit games...The Dodgers bullpen has issued 22 walks across 16.0 innings over the last three games.

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