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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 4, 2021

July 4, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Salt Lake Bees (24-26) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (27-24)

Game #52 of 120/Home #22 of 60

Pitching Probables: SL-LHP Thomas Pannone (2-4, 7.21) vs. OKC-RHP Josiah Gray (0-1, 3.60)

Sunday, July 4, 2021 | 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 look to bounce back after consecutive losses for the first time in three weeks as celebrate the Fourth of July at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:05 p.m. Fireworks will follow tonight's game as part of the OKC Dodgers' Independence Day festivities...After going 12-2 over 14 the games prior to Friday, the Dodgers have dropped each of the last two games.

Last Game: The Salt Lake Bees scored 11 runs between the fifth and seventh innings to send the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 12-2 loss Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers scored first in the bottom of the first inning. Sheldon Neuse singled for OKC's first hit of the night and later scored on a Salt Lake throwing error for a 1-0 Dodgers lead. Salt Lake tied the game, 1-1, on Preston Palmeiro's solo homer in the third inning. The Bees then scored four runs in the fifth inning, three runs in the sixth inning and four more runs in the seventh inning to take a commanding lead. Neuse's RBI single drove in OKC's second run of the night in the fifth inning, but that would be the Dodgers' final run as they lost a second straight game to the Bees.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Top Dodgers pitching prospect Josiah Gray (0-1) returns to the mound for the first time in nearly two months after an extended stint on the Injured List...Gray has been sidelined since early May with a right shoulder impingement. He initially sustained the injury while warming up for his start May 11 in Round Rock...In his season and Triple-A debut on Opening Night at Round Rock on May 6, Gray cranked out 10 strikeouts to set a new career high. In his five innings, Gray allowed two runs, three hits and two walks. His only hiccup came with two outs in the second inning when Jason Martin worked a 10-pitch walk and Charles Leblanc followed with a homer on the eighth pitch of his at-bat. Gray went on to retire 10 of the final 11 batters he faced...Gray spent the entire 2020 season at the Dodgers' Alternate Training site and also started the 2021 season there...Gray was named the Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year and MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2019, leading all Dodgers farmhands in starts (tie, 25), wins (tie, 11) and strikeouts (147) and ranking third in innings (130.0) across three different levels, starting in Low-A and finishing at Double-A...He was acquired by the Dodgers, along with Jeter Downs, in 2018 from Cincinnati in exchange for Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood, Kyle Farmer and cash considerations...Gray played college baseball at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., before being selected in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft by Cincinnati.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx (5-1) is scheduled to piggyback Gray and seeks his team-leading sixth win...Bibens-Dirkx last pitched June 28 at Sugar Land when he started and allowed three runs and a season-high nine hits over 5.0 innings. He did not issue a walk and recorded five K's in a no decision, as OKC went on to win, 5-4, in 11 innings...He is just one of four pitchers in Triple-A West with at least five wins and tonight can become the second to reach six wins. His .833 winning percentage is tied for second in the league, while his 4.43 ERA and 1.30 WHIP are sixth, his .261 AVG is eighth and his 44.2 innings pitched are ninth...The Dodgers are 6-1 in his starts, including wins in four straight...He was named Triple-A West Pitcher of the Week following an outing of 5.0 scoreless innings June 6 vs. Sugar Land, marking his first weekly award since May 2013 with High-A Dunedin...Bibens-Dirkx signed with the Dodgers May 4 after he did not see any formal game action in 2020. He was with the Texas Rangers during Spring Training in 2020 and was released June 1...He last pitched against the Bees Aug. 13, 2016 while with Round Rock. He picked up the road win, holding the Bees to two runs on six hits over 5.0 IP.

Against the Bees: 2021: 2-1 2019: 2-1 All-time: 54-51 At OKC: 31-23 The Dodgers and Bees are meeting for their first of two series in 2021 and their lone series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...With last night's victory, the Bees have won consecutive games against OKC for the first time since 2013...The teams played a three-game series in 2019 as the teams met at Smith's Ballpark. OKC won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 14-8 before the Bees won the series finale, 14-4. Edwin Ríos homered twice and had six RBI...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 14-7 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series. The Dodgers enter tonight having won eight of the last 12 meetings overall...OKC has won five straight season series and has not lost a season series against the Bees since going 1-3 in 2013 in OKC...The Dodgers won the 2018 series, 2-1, losing the series opener at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark before winning the final two games by a combined score of 10-2...Salt Lake's Jo Adell leads Triple-A West and is tied for the lead in all of the Minors with 17 homers this season. His 46 RBI pace Triple-A West as do his 123 total bases. His 30 extra-base hits are second and his 39 runs scored are tied for second. Adell's five RBI last night were the most in one game by an opponent against OKC this season.

Favorable Fourth: OKC is playing at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the seventh consecutive season on the Fourth of July. Entering tonight, they have won nine of the last 12 games on July 4, including seven of the last nine. OKC is 9-11 all-time on July 4, including 7-6 at home...In 2019, the Dodgers defeated Round Rock, 13-7, in a game that featured 20 runs, 28 hits, seven homers and 14 extra-base hits. There was a also a total of 14 walks and 18 strikeouts in a game that took 4 hours, 3 minutes to play 8.5 innings. Round Rock's Jack Mayfield - currently playing with Salt Lake - went 3-for-5 with two homers.

Stalled Out: After scoring 11 runs in Thursday's series opener, including 10 runs in one inning, the Dodgers have been held to two or fewer runs in back-to-back games for the first time since they scored two runs or less in four consecutive games May 11-15. Friday's 2-1 loss ended a streak of 37 consecutive games with at least two runs scored...The Dodgers have been held to one extra-base hit (a double) in their last two games. Prior to Friday, they had collected at least two extra-base hits in 30 of the previous 32 games...Over the last 11 games, the Dodgers are 7-4. In the four losses, OKC has combined to go 21-for-128 (.164) overall and 3-for-30 with RISP while scoring nine runs over 38 innings. In the seven wins, they've batted .265 (67x253) overall and 20-for-62 with RISP (.323) while scoring 43 runs in 64 innings...Last night's six total hits for OKC was just the second time in the last 10 games the Dodgers tallied fewer than seven hits...Although the Dodgers have scored three runs the past two games, they only have one RBI.

Getting Neuse: Sheldon Neuse finished with the Dodgers' lone multi-hit game last night, going 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored. He has now hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, going 24-for-68 (.353) with 16 RBI, 12 runs scored and 10 walks...Since June 12, Neuse leads the Dodgers with 24 hits. He has also hit safely in five straight games and can match his season-high hitting streak at six games tonight. Although he only has six hits during the streak, he has produced seven RBI.

Keibert Goes Kaboom: Keibert Ruiz is 10-for-23 (.438) over his last seven games with one double, three homers, six runs scored, nine walks, eight RBI and a .576 OBP (19/33 PA). On Thursday, he hit two home runs, including a sixth-inning grand slam. It was his third multi-homer game of the season and sixth multi-homer game of his career, but just the second time the switch-hitter has homered from each side of the plate in the same game. Ruiz finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk and five RBI to tie his season and career high RBI mark. He now paces OKC with 11 homers as well as three multi-homer games. He also moved into a tie with his team-leading 12th multi-hit game this season...Ruiz's .638 SLG ranks second in Triple-A West while his 1.015 OPS is third and his 13 doubles are tied for eighth. Ruiz entered this season with a career .420 SLG...His 22 extra-base hits pace OKC, while his 37 total hits are second-most among OKC players, as are his 28 RBI...Ruiz has homered in three of his last four home games as well as seven times in his last eight games at The Brick (10x27, 13 RBI).

Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley singled last night to extend his season-high hitting streak to six games, going 8-for-21 with a home run, two doubles, five runs scored and three RBI...Over his last 22 starts with OKC, Raley is 31-for-81 (.383) with seven doubles, two triples, seven homers, 34 RBI and 25 runs scored. He paces the Dodgers with 37 RBI in 28 games this season - tied for sixth-most in Triple-A West despite playing in just over half of OKC's total games...Since May 23, Raley's 36 RBI are tied for the most in Triple-A while his 1.151 OPS leads the league and his .708 SLG is second during the span.

Two-Out Trouble: Last night the Bees went 6-for-15 with two out and had a total of 11 batters reach base while scoring nine of their 12 runs. In Thursday's series opener, the Bees scored eight runs with two outs, and over the first three games of the series, Salt Lake is batting .381 (16x42) with two outs...On the other hand, the Dodgers are 2-for-18 with one run scored with two outs over the last two games.

Breaking the Trends: Yesterday's loss included several instances that went against recent trends for the Dodgers: OKC lost even though they scored first. The team was 11-1 over the previous 12 games when scoring first, with wins in six straight...The team allowed multiple four-run innings in the same game for the first time since May 11 at Round Rock. They've surrendered three innings of four runs over the first three games of this series after allowing a total of three such innings over the entire month of June...The Bees hit three homers last night after the Dodgers had gone eight straight home games without allowing home run. They had allowed three home runs in their previous 10 home games combined...The Dodgers lost by 10 runs last night after each of their previous four losses and six of their previous seven losses had each been by one run. Those seven losses were by nine runs total.

Around the Horn: Elliot Soto tallied the team's only extra-base hit last night with a double and scored one of the team's two runs. During a season-best nine-game hitting streak, Soto is 12-for-36 (.333). He now has four doubles in his last six games...The Dodgers have not hit a home run in back-to-back games for the third time this season. They have yet to be kept inside the park in three straight games...Matt Davidson is 8-for-26 with three multi-hit games, three homers eight RBI over his last six starts...Despite the overall recent run of success, the Dodgers have lost five of their last seven home games.

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