NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Oklahoma City Baseball Club

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 31, 2021

July 31, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (38-36) at Round Rock Express (36-38)

Game #75 of 130/Road #39 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Markus Solbach (0-5, 7.60) vs. RR-RHP Glenn Otto (NR, -.--)

Saturday, July 31, 2021 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers and Round Rock Express meet for the third time in their current Red Dirt Rumble rivalry series at 6:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond as the teams close out the month of July. The series is tied, 1-1, after the teams split their first two meetings, and their overall season series is also tied, 7-7...OKC is in second place in the East Division of Triple-A West and Round Rock is in third place, 2.0 games behind the Dodgers.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers went ahead in the first inning and led the rest of the way during an 8-3 victory Friday night over the Round Rock Express at Dell Diamond. The Express committed two errors in the first inning, opening the door for the Dodgers to take a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, four straight Dodgers reached base with two outs to push the lead to 4-0, following a RBI double by Yoshi Tsutsugo and two-run single by Cristian Santana. The Express cut the lead to one, following a solo homer by Carl Chester in the third inning and a two-run shot by Charles Leblanc in the fifth. Zach Reks gave the Dodgers some breathing room with a two-run homer in the seventh inning. Santana and Drew Avans each homered within the span of three batters in the eighth inning, running the lead to 8-3. After the Express made it a one-run game in the fifth inning, they collected just one hit and put only one runner in scoring position for the remainder of the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Markus Solbach (0-5) makes his eighth start and 12th appearance for the OKC Dodgers tonight, aiming for his first win of the 2021 campaign...Solbach most recently pitched July 25 against Sugar Land in OKC, allowing a career-high 10 runs (nine earned) and eight hits over 3.1 innings, with three walks and two strikeouts. Seven of the Skeeters' runs came in the second inning, tying the most runs allowed by the Dodgers in an inning this season...Solbach pitched a season-high 5.0 innings July 19 against Reno in OKC. He allowed three runs on six hits, with one walk and two strikeouts and was charged with the loss in a 7-5 defeat...In six starts this season, Solbach has allowed 27 runs (24 earned) and 37 hits over 23.2 innings. But in four relief outings, he's allowed five runs and eight hits over 10.2 innings...Solbach joined OKC May 24 from Extended Spring Training. He did not play in the U.S. in 2020 due to the canceled Minor League season and played for San Marino of the Italian Baseball League, dominating over nine appearances (eight starts) and allowed two runs total (one earned) over 30.1 IP for a 0.30 ERA. He scattered 15 hits while racking up 53 K's against eight walks...2021 is the 11th season of his pro career. He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Jan. 3, 2019 and has also spent time in the Twins (2011-13) and Diamondbacks (2014-16) organizations, two different independent leagues, as well as the Australian Baseball League...Tonight is his second appearance of the season against the Express. He pitched 3.0 innings of relief June 19 at Dell Diamond, allowing two runs and three hits with no walks and two strikeouts.

Against the Express: 2021: 7-7 2019: 6-10 All-time: 137-115 At RR: 69-58

The Red Dirt Rumble rivalry series continues as the Dodgers and Express meet for their third of five total series this season and final series in Round Rock...The teams last met June 17-22 at Dell Diamond, with the Dodgers winning the series, 5-1, and outscoring Round Rock, 36-23. It was a reversal of the first series May 6-11, as the Express went 5-1 while outscoring the Dodgers, 49-24...Through the first two series between the teams this season, Zach Reks paced the Dodgers with 12 hits and eight RBI, including two home runs. Sheldon Neuse had 10 hits in six games and Luke Raley hit four homers...Only 371 miles separate Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark from Dell Diamond, making it the shortest distance between the Dodgers and any of their Triple-A opponents, as well as a perfect set-up for a rivalry as the teams meet 30 times this season...In 2019, the Express won the season series for the first time since 2014. The Dodgers went 2-6 at Dell Diamond, posting a losing record there for the first time since 2009 and taking their most losses ever in one season at the stadium...The Dodgers are 7-3 in the last 10 games at Dell Diamond after going 3-11 over the previous 14 games in Round Rock.

Road Raging: With last night's win, the Dodgers have won three of their last four road games as well as five of the last seven. OKC is 20-7 in their last 27 road games and have not lost consecutive road games since a three-game skid May 22-24. They have followed up each of their last seven road defeats with a win in the next game, including last night...The Dodgers are 22-16 on the road overall this season and own the third-most road wins in the league behind Sugar Land (25) and Reno (24)...The Dodgers' batting average is 11 points higher away from OKC (.262; .251) and they average 6.3 runs per game on the road compared to 5.2 runs per game at home. They've also hit 15 more home runs on the road.

Dinger Details: Three OKC Dodgers players homered last night, all within the span of six batters between the seventh and eighth innings. The team has now homered in 14 of their last 15 games (26 HR) and in 18 of their last 20 games (38 HR). The stretch included a season-best streak of 11 straight games with a homer that was snapped Monday night. OKC's 38 homers since July 8 are tied for second-most in all of Triple-A and tied for fourth-most in all of the Minors or Majors...OKC allowed two more homers last night and have now allowed homers in six straight games (10 HR) for the first time since May 27-June 1. The Dodgers have not allowed homers in seven consecutive games since a nine-game span May 15-24. Opponents have also collected multi-homer games against the Dodgers three straight nights (7 HR) for the first time since a four-game span May 27-30 in El Paso...The 30 homers allowed by OKC so far in July are tied for fewest in Triple-A West. OKC has allowed 46 homers over the last 50 games - fewest in Triple-A West by 14 since June 3. The 88 homers allowed by the Dodgers overall this season are also fewest in Triple-A West...Five of the six runs allowed in the current series, as well as seven of the last nine runs and 10 of the last 13 runs allowed by OKC have been via home runs.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana went 2-for-4 with a home run last night and tied his season high with three RBI, set just one week prior. He extended his current hitting streak to five games and is 10-for-21 (.476) with seven RBI and four multi-hit games during the stretch, including in the last three straight games (6x12)...Santana has hit safely in 15 of his 17 starts this month. He is batting .338 in July after batting .236 through June and his 24 hits in 19 games this month rank third on the team...Last night he connected on his third homer of the season and second in July.

Sales Pitch: Dodgers pitchers recorded 13 more strikeouts Friday, reaching at least that many strikeouts for the third time in four games and fifth time in eight games. It also marked the eighth time in the last nine games (108 K) and 11th time in the last 13 games (153 K) they have struck out 10 or more batters in a game...Over the last eight games, the Dodgers have racked up 101 strikeouts against 23 walks (4.4 K/BB). However, when opponents have not struck out, they have batted .404 (67x166) with 29 extra-base hits...The Dodgers lead Triple-A West with 730 strikeouts this season and their 153 strikeouts since July 16 (13 games) lead all Triple-A teams...OKC led the Pacific Coast League with a team record 1,287 strikeouts in 2019 and with 1,272 strikeouts in 2017.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks connected on a two-run homer in the seventh inning last night for his 12th home run this season. He finished the game 2-for-4 with a walk after going 4-for-22 in his first six games following his most recent option to OKC...Overall this season, Reks leads the Dodgers with 47 runs scored, ranks second among OKC players with 59 hits and 17 doubles, third with 12 homers and fourth with 38 RBI...He ranks eighth in Triple-A West with a .999 OPS and ninth in OBP (.406) and SLG (.593).

Getting Neuse: Sheldon Neuse singled in the ninth inning to extend his season-high hitting streak to 11 games. He is batting .326 (15-for-46) during the stretch and is now 12-for-31 (.387) against the Express this season. Over his last 11 games overall he has a double, two homers, five RBI and eight runs scored...Since his first game with OKC May 31, Neuse ranks tied for first among Dodgers players with 21 walks, second with 44 hits, tied for third with 26 runs scored and fourth with 24 RBI.

Yoshi's Island: Yoshi Tsutsugo went 2-for-4 with a RBI double last night after going hitless in the previous two games. Over his last 15 games, Tsutsugo is 17-for-48 (.354) after going 8-for-67 (.119) in his first 17 games with OKC...Tsutsugo has reached base safely in 15 of his last 16 games, batting .327 (17x52) with five homers, two doubles, 13 RBI and 14 runs scored while posting a .438 OBP (OB 28/64 PA).

Mr. Ruiz Goes to Washington: Yesterday Dodgers catcher Keibert Ruiz was traded the Washington Nationals as one of four players in exchange for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. Ruiz leaves OKC as the reigning Triple-A West Player of the Week and on an 11-game hitting streak, batting .388 (19x49) with four homers, six doubles and 13 RBI. He was leading the Dodgers with 64 hits, 34 extra-base hits, 18 doubles and 45 RBI and ranked among Triple-A West leaders with a .631 SLG (5th) and 1.012 OPS (5th).

Bullpen Bolsters: Over the first two games of the current series, the OKC bullpen has pooled together for 7.0 innings and allowed one run (solo HR) and three hits, with three walks and 14 strikeouts. Last night Darien Núñez, Neftalí Felíz and Kevin Quackenbush combined to throw four scoreless innings and allow just one hit, with two walks and eight strikeouts...Núñez retired six of seven batters over two innings with five strikeouts Friday, and in the two games since his return to Oklahoma City, he's retired 11 of 12 batters faced with nine strikeouts...Not counting piggyback starters as part of a tandem, the bullpen has flourished over the last five games, allowing only one earned run (two runs total) and nine hits over 20.1 innings while notching 37 strikeouts.

Around the Horn: Matt Davidson's 12 homers in July are tied for second-most in Triple-A West and mark the highest monthly total of his career. It's also the most homers hit in one month by an OKC player since Mike Hessman socked 14 dingers in June 2012...Drew Avans homered last night as part of a 2-for-4 performance, and each of his two home runs this season have hit been at Dell Diamond.

Check out the Oklahoma City Baseball Club Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Pacific Coast League message board...

Pacific Coast League Stories from July 31, 2021


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 Baseball Club Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central