PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 30, 2022

Published on July 30, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers seek their seventh win during the current nine-game homestand when they continue their series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tonight is Marvel Defenders of the Diamond Night and the Dodgers will wear special edition Marvel-branded jerseys on the field, which will be auctioned off via silent auction to benefit the OKC Dodgers Baseball Foundation. Special guests Thor and Star-Lord will also be in attendance.

Last Game: Miguel Vargas led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a two-run home run to send the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 3-2 walk-off win against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The teams played to a 1-1 tie through nine innings. Jason Martin gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead with a RBI single in the first inning and the Space Cowboys answered with a solo home run by Lewis Brinson in the second inning. Between the third and ninth innings, neither team scored or even had a runner reach third base. Dodgers pitchers retired 11 straight Sugar Land batters and 13 of 14 batters between the third and seventh innings. In the top of the 10th inning, Marty Costes hit a RBI single to put Sugar Land in front, 2-1. In the bottom of the inning, Vargas led off for the Dodgers, and with an automatic runner on second base, he hit a towering fly ball that landed in the OKC bullpen in left-center field for a game-winning home run.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Beau Burrows (6-4) makes his 15th start of the season coming off back-to-back quality outings...July 24 against Sacramento in OKC, Burrows allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits over 6.0 innings to pick up his sixth win of the season. He issued four walks and recorded two strikeouts while matching his season high with 6.0 innings...Between his last start and his outing July 13 at Tacoma, Burrows has allowed three runs (two earned) and seven hits over 11.0 innings, holding opponents 7-for-39 (.179). He earned the win in each game...Burrows signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Nov. 28, 2021 after playing for Triple-A Toledo and St. Paul last season. He also made five MLB appearances for Detroit and Minnesota...He was originally selected by Detroit with the 22nd pick of the first round in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Weatherford High School (Texas)...Burrows has pitched against the Space Cowboys twice previously this season, including one start. He has a 1-0 record and 5.63 ERA over 8.0 innings with seven hits, four walks and 11 K's.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2022: 12-4 2021: 12-12 All-time: 24-16 At OKC: 16-9 The Dodgers and Space Cowboys meet for their fourth of five series this season, including the third and final series in OKC...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, including two walk-off wins...So far in 2022, OKC is 10-3 against Sugar Land at home with wins in nine of the last 10 games, including four walk-off wins in the last seven games. In each of the walk-off wins, the Dodgers trailed in the eighth inning or later...The Dodgers also won a three-game road series against the Space Cowboys May 20-22 in Sugar Land, 2-1...Including the current series, Miguel Vargas leads OKC with 22 hits, including five homers, and 16 RBI in 16 games. Pitcher Ryan Pepiot is 3-0 against the Space Cowboys with 25 K's over 22.2 IP and a 1.59 ERA...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 11 of their last 13 games against Sugar Land after they had lost 11 of the previous 15 games going back to 2021.

Life At The Top: The Dodgers have won six of their last seven games, seven of their last nine games and nine of their last 13 games. Since starting the month 0-5, they are 11-6...The Dodgers lead the PCL with a 58-39 record and have a 4.0-game lead ahead of second-place El Paso in the East Division standings. With last night's victory, the team tied their high-water mark for the season at 19 games above .500 (also 46-27; 47-28; 57-38)...OKC also owns the league's best home record, going 33-19 so far at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this season. The Dodgers have already exceeded their home win totals from both the 2021 and 2019 seasons when the team went 30-34 in OKC in 2021 and 30-39 in OKC in 2019, marking the only time in the ballpark's history the team has had consecutive losing records at home...The Dodgers are now 11-11 in the month of July and look to finish each of the first four months of the season with a winning record.

Walk It Like I Talk It: Friday was the Dodgers' sixth walk-off victory of the season and third via home run. Four of OKC's last seven games against Sugar Land have resulted in walk-off wins for the Dodgers and OKC's last four walk-off victories have all come against the Space Cowboys - including two this series. Prior to Miguel Vargas' walk-off homer last night, the Dodgers scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the 10th inning Tuesday for a 5-4 victory. The Dodgers had back-to-back walk-off wins against Sugar Land June 7-8 as well, with a rehabbing Max Muncy hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning June 7 and Michael Busch hitting a two-run double off the left field fence in the 10th inning June 8. In two of the last three walk-off wins, the Dodgers were trailing at the time of the game-winning hit.

Getting Miggy With It: Miguel Vargas went 2-for-5 with his 15th home run of the season Friday night and finished the game with two RBI. He has homered twice in the last three games, with both homers putting the Dodgers in the lead it the seventh inning or later...Vargas has hit safely in six straight games, going 8-for-24 with five extra-base hits and eight RBI, picking up at least one RBI each game. He's also hit safely 14 of his last 15 games (.311; 19x61) and in 28 of his last 31 games, batting .336 (42x125) with 13 doubles, five homers, 28 RBI and 26 runs scored....Friday was his team-leading 33rd multi-hit game of the season and 21st multi-RBI game...Vargas leads the PCL with 108 hits and 80 runs scored. He ranks second in the league with 24 doubles, third with 185 total bases, fourth with 72 RBI, as well as tied for fourth with 53 walks and 43 XBH...In 16 games against Sugar Land, Vargas is slashing .349/.438/.667 with 22 hits, five homers and 16 RBI.

Drew Point: Drew Avans went 2-for-5 Friday night, including a double in his first at-bat, to extend his on-base streak to 36 games - the longest streak by a PCL player this season and the longest on-base streak in the league since El Paso's Brian O'Grady reached base in 38 straight games June 3-Aug. 28, 2021. Avans also scored two of OKC's three runs Friday and owns the longest on-base streak by an OKC player since the 2019 season with Gavin Lux reached base in 37 consecutive games. Avans has also reached base in 50 of his last 51 games and has hit safely in 20 of the last 23 games. He has hit safely in 14 of the last 16 games, batting .343 (24x70)...He ranks second in the PCL with seven triples, while his 22 stolen bases rank tied for eighth and his .295 AVG is 10th...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 (45 games), Avans is batting .324 (57x176) with 12 doubles, four triples, three homers, 20 RBI, 21 walks and 39 runs scored. During that span he ranks third in the PCL with 57 hits, tied for fourth with 39 runs and 15 stolen bases, fifth with a .406 OBP and fifth in AVG.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch recorded a hit last night and over his last seven games is 12-for-25 (.480) with five multi-hit games, four extra-base hits and six walks, reaching base in 18 of 32 plate appearances. He also has hit safely in 13 of his last 17 games, batting .353 (24x68)...He leads the Dodgers with 28 hits in 22 games this month, including seven doubles and four home runs, 13 RBI, 11 walks and 16 runs scored...Busch ranks third among Dodgers minor leaguers with 23 total home runs this season including his time with Double-A Tulsa.

J-Mart Special: Jason Martin finished Friday night's game 2-for-4 with a RBI and leads the Dodgers with 74 RBI this season, including a team-best 23 RBI during the month of July. Friday was his fourth multi-hit outing in the last six games (8x23)...Martin ranks second in the PCL with 74 RBI and tied for second with 21 home runs. His 71 runs scored rank fourth in the league, while his 43 extra-base hits and 179 total bases are tied for fourth and his .577 SLG and .950 OPS rank sixth...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.

The Rundown: Five Dodgers pitchers allowed a combined two runs (one earned) last night for the fewest runs allowed by OKC since an 8-1 victory July 13 in Tacoma. It immediately followed the 12 runs allowed by OKC Thursday night, which tied for the most allowed by the team in a home game this season. Even including Thursday, the Dodgers have posted a 3.88 ERA (28 ER/65.0 IP) during the current homestand after they had a 7.72 ERA though the first 15 games of July...The Dodgers have now won 14 of their last 15 games when allowing four or fewer runs...On the other hand, the three runs scored by the Dodgers last night marked the team's lowest run total in a victory since a 2-1 win June 26 against Round Rock in OKC. Following that game, the Dodgers scored at least five runs in each of their next 12 wins entering Friday's game. Friday was OKC's seventh victory of the season when scoring three runs or less.

Beast Node: Ryan Noda has hit safely in each of the first four games of the current series against the Space Cowboys, knocking a double last night in the eighth inning. During the current series, Noda is 5-for-16 with two homers, two doubles and six RBI. Prior to this series, Noda was 4-for-34 with one double and no RBI in 10 games against Sugar Land...He has hit three homers over the first seven games of the current homestand and his 15 homers this season are tied for second among Dodgers players, while his 53 RBI, 82 total hits and 55 runs scored are all third on the team. Noda paces the Dodgers with 54 walks this season and his walk total ranks tied for second overall in the PCL.

Around the Horn: Yesterday marked OKC's seventh win at home this season when trailing in the seventh inning or later, including five wins when trailing in the eighth inning or later...Jason Martin and Miguel Vargas are the only teammates across the Majors or Minors with at least 70 RBI this season...The Dodgers have 19 stolen bases over the last 12 games, going 19-for-20 in their attempts...The Dodgers lead Triple-A with 466 walks this season, while their .368 OBP and 31 triples rank second and their 617 runs, .272 AVG, .461 SLG and .829 OPS all rank third...OKC has homered in each of the first seven games of the homestand (12 HR).

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from July 30, 2022


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.

OurSports Central