PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 6, 2023

Published on July 6, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Albuquerque Isotopes (6-2/33-50) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (6-2/56-25)

Game #82 of 148/Second Half #9 of 75/Home #40 of 73

Pitching Probables: ABQ-RHP Jeff Criswell (3-7, 8.43) vs. OKC-RHP Landon Knack (2-0, 3.29)

Thursday, July 6, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers try to take the lead in their series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The series is tied, 1-1, after the Dodgers' six-game winning streak came to an end Wednesday night...The Dodgers will look to avoid back-to-back losses for just the third time since May 6.

Last Game: A three-run eighth inning pushed the Albuquerque Isotopes ahead of the Oklahoma City Dodgers and sent the Dodgers to a 5-4 loss Wednesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, snapping Oklahoma City's six-game winning streak. Cole Tucker gave the Isotopes the first lead of the night with a RBI double in the third inning and a RBI single by Jimmy Herron in the fourth inning made it a 2-0 Albuquerque advantage. The Dodgers tied the score, 2-2, in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Hunter Feduccia and Steven Duggar. OKC built a 4-2 lead with a RBI single by David Freitas in the fifth inning and a RBI single by Bryson Brigman in the sixth inning. The Isotopes took full advantage of a critical error by the Dodgers in the eighth inning and ended up scoring three runs on a RBI single by Aaron Schunk and two-out, two-run double by Trevor Boone to regain the lead.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Landon Knack (2-0) seeks a third straight win when he makes his fourth Triple-A start tonight...Knack most recently started July 1 in Sugar Land, pitching 6.0 scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and two walks and recorded seven strikeouts in a second consecutive win. His innings and strikeout totals were his highest since joining OKC in mid-June. He held Sugar Land 1-for-10 with runners on base and 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position...Knack joined the Dodgers from Double-A Tulsa where he ranked among Texas League leaders in ERA (2nd, 2.20), AVG (2nd, .202), WHIP (2nd, 0.94) and innings (5th, 57.1) at the time of his promotion. Knack made 12 starts with the Drillers, going 2-0 with 61 strikeouts against 12 walks. He allowed one or no runs in eight of 12 starts with Tulsa and two or fewer earned runs in 11 of 12 starts. He posted a 1.32 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and .177 BAA through his first nine starts of the season...After allowing a total of three home runs in 57.1 IP with Tulsa, Knack has allowed four home runs in his first 7.2 innings the OKC Dodgers, accounting for all five of the runs he's allowed so far...Knack began the 2023 season as the No. 22 prospect and No. 12 pitcher in the Dodgers system by Baseball America and the No. 18 prospect and No. 9 pitcher by MLB Pipeline...The Johnson City, Tenn., native is in his third professional season after being selected in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of East Tennessee State as a fifth-year senior...He spent the entire 2022 season with Tulsa after starting his pro career in 2021...He was named an AFL Rising Star with the Glendale Desert Dogs in 2021.

Against the Isotopes: 2023: 5-3 2022: 12-6 All-time: 133-108 At OKC: 75-43

The Dodgers and Isotopes are meeting for their second series of the season and first at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark of 2023...The teams played one series during the first half of the season, but will play three series (18 G) during the second half...The Dodgers won the first series between the teams April 18-23 in Albuquerque, 4-2, and won four of the final five games of the set...Ryan Ward led OKC with 11 hits in the road series, while Hunter Feduccia went 10-for-18 and had 13 RBI, including two home runs...OKC batted .323 in the series, outscoring the Isotopes, 50-39, and outhitting them, 74-54...The Dodgers won the 2022 series between the teams, 12-6, and went 8-4 at home...Last season, the Dodgers outscored the Isotopes, 128-87, and hit 28 homers compared to Albuquerque's 19...Six of the 18 games played between the teams in 2022 were decided by one run, and so far three of the first eight games this season have been one-run games...The Dodgers have not lost a season series to Albuquerque since 2017, going a combined 6-0 against the Isotopes in 2018 and 2019, 9-9 in 2021 and 12-6 last season.

Trend Setters: Despite a loss last night, the Dodgers are 6-2 to start the second half of the season and own the best overall record in the Minors at 56-25, as well as the best winning percentage and most road wins (30-12) in the Minors this season...The Dodgers' six-game winning streak came to an end Wednesday, which was the team's longest winning streak since a season-best 10-game winning streak May 9-19 and the team's third win streak of six or more games in 2023. Between the 2021-22 seasons, the team never recorded a win streak as long as six games...The Dodgers reached 55 wins in 79 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 55 wins in a season since 2005 was in 86 games when the 2015 OKC Dodgers went 55-31...During the Bricktown era (since 1998), the team's best previous record through 81 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 53-28...OKC is 34-14 since May 9 and has lost consecutive games just twice during the 48-game stretch...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).

Mound Matters: The five runs scored by Albuquerque last night were the most allowed by the Dodgers in a game so far during the season's second half - a stretch of eight games - although only two of the five runs were earned. The Dodgers had held opponents to four runs or less in each of their previous seven games, in nine of their previous 11 games and in 10 of the previous 13 games. It was the team's second-longest stretch of the season allowing four runs or less as the team allowed four runs or less in eight straight games April 21-30, however that string included three seven-inning games as part of doubleheaders. They had also help opponents to two runs in five of their six previous games entering Wednesday, including two runs in five consecutive games June 29-July 3, marking the first time since June 23-27, 2017 that the Dodgers have held an opponent to two runs or less in five straight...OKC has posted a Triple-A-low 2.94 ERA over the last 12 games (35 ER/107.0 IP) after owning a 6.28 ERA over the previous 17 games...OKC's starters have already exceeded their win total through five games in July (four) as the group had in all of June (three) when the starters collectively posted an 8.07 ERA and averaged about 4.0 innings per start...Last night the Isotopes scored four runs with two outs, going 5-for-14. Albuquerque also went 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position after the Dodgers had held opponents 5-for-49 (.102) with runners in scoring position over the previous seven games...The Dodgers recorded seven strikeouts last night, snapping a string of five straight games with at least 10 K, matching their season-high streak.

Carrying the Freit: David Freitas went 2-for-5 with a RBI and run scored Wednesday night to extend his hitting streak to 12 games - the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player and tied for the longest active hitting streak in the league, along with Albuquerque's Aaron Schunk and Michael Toglia. The streak is also the third-longest by an OKC player this season. During the streak, Freitas is 15-for-49 (.306) with eight RBI and nine runs scored. This is his longest hitting streak since the 2019 season when he hit safely in 12 straight games with Triple-A San Antonio Aug. 3-16, 2019. His last hitting streak to extend beyond 12 games was also during the 2019 season with San Antonio when he hit safely in 15 straight games May 31-June 21...He has hit safely in 14 of his 15 total games with OKC this season, batting .316 (18x57) with four doubles, two homers, 14 RBI and 11 runs scored.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch went 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored last night for his third multi-hit outing in his last four games. In his first six games since his most recent option to Triple-A, Busch is 9-for-23 with five extra-base hits, including two homers in his last five games, six RBI and six runs scored...In his last 15 games with OKC, Busch is 26-for-59 (.441) with 16 extra-base hits and 21 RBI and has hit safely in 13 of the 15 games, including nine multi-hit games...His 1.016 OPS at Triple-A this season ranks second in the PCL.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann extended his hitting streak to eight games yesterday and is 13-for-34 (.382) during the streak. It is his fourth hitting streak of the season of eight games or longer and he has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games (16x47) and in 13 of his last 15 games (22x58)...He has hit two doubles during the current series and his career-high 30 doubles lead the PCL and are tied for the most in the Minors this season. His previous career-high mark of 27 doubles was set over 110 games with Double-A Tulsa in 2021. Last year, Michael Busch and Miguel Vargas led the Dodgers with 32 doubles apiece over 111 and 113 games, respectively...Mann's 43 extra-base hits this season lead the PCL and are tied for third overall in the Minors. His 13 home runs, 83 hits and 62 RBI all pace the Dodgers. All of his home runs have been hit since May 7 (43 games) and he sits fourth in the PCL in homers during that time. He's gone deep nine times in his last 23 games...Mann's .589 SLG and 1.007 OPS are third in the PCL and his RBI total ranks fifth...He leads all Dodgers minor leaguers in RBI, doubles, extra-base hits and total bases (152).

In the Hunt: Hunter Feduccia picked up two more hits and reached base three times last night, going 2-for-4 with a walk and RBI. Over his last seven games, Feduccia is 13-for-27 (.481) with six extra-base hits., hitting safely in six of the seven games...Feduccia has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, going 24-for-51 (.471) with 10 extra-base hits, 10 RBI, 14 runs scored and 11 walks. Thanks to the recent heater, he has raised his season batting average from .246 to .309...Feduccia has turned in nine multi-hit outings in his last 13 games, going 23-for-47 (.489).

The Warden: Ryan Ward extended his on-base streak to 13 games last night - the longest current on-base streak by an OKC player and his longest on-base streak of the season. He went 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored Wednesday. Over his last 20 games (since June 9), Ward is slashing .284/.424/.622 with 12 extra-base hits (6 HR) and 16 RBI.

Around the Horn: Kole Calhoun extended his hitting streak to eight games Wednesday. He is 12-for-32 during the streak with seven RBI...The Dodgers recorded 14 hits last night, but they had just one extra-base hit - a double by Steven Duggar. Six Dodgers finished with multi-hit games...Outfielder Drew Avans pitched the top of the ninth inning last night, becoming the first position player to pitch for OKC since Ty Kelly on April 23, 2022 at Sacramento. Avans allowed one hit and one walk, facing five batters over a scoreless inning of work. Avans previously pitched 1.0 inning for Double-A Tulsa during the 2019 season...Last night snapped a stretch of seven straight games in which the Dodgers scored first...The Dodgers have committed at least one error in four straight games (6 E) and in eight of the last nine games (13 E). Over the last three games, five of the 11 total runs allowed have been unearned...Yesterday OKC allowed five stolen in bases in a game for the third time this season. Opponents have swiped 96 bases this season, which is second-most in the PCL, and doing so at an 81.4 percent success rate (96/118)...OKC has led in the eighth inning in five of the team's last 13 losses.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 6, 2023


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