PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 8, 2021

Published on July 8, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (28-26) at El Paso Chihuahuas (23-29)

Game #55 of 130/Road #31 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Mike Kickham (0-2, 3.19) vs. ELP-RHP Jesse Scholtens (2-6, 5.44)

Thursday, July 8, 2021 | Southwest University Park | El Paso, Texas | 8:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open a six-game road series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 8:05 p.m. CT at Southwest University Park. The Dodgers enter tonight having lost four for the last five games, immediately following a stretch where they went 12-2 over the previous 14 games...The team is 14-3 in the last 17 road games with wins in six of the last seven games away from OKC.

Last Game: Salt Lake grabbed an early lead, then went on to hold the OKC Dodgers to one run for the second time in the series, sending OKC to a 4-1 loss in the series finale Tuesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Bees scored two runs in the first inning on a throwing error and a passed ball. Zach Reks brought in a run for OKC when he hit into a fielder's choice in the third inning to cut the Bees' lead to 2-1. In the fourth inning, Salt Lake got the run right back after scoring on a double play. Brennon Lund singled in the ninth inning, and an OKC fielding error during the play allowed a run to score and extend the Bees' lead.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Mike Kickham (0-2) takes the mound seeking his first win of the season...Kickham last pitched July 2 against Salt Lake in OKC. He pitched into the sixth inning for the first time this season and allowed only one run, but he was charged with the loss in the team's 2-1 defeat. Kickham allowed a season-high eight hits, but he did not surrender a walk and notched three strikeouts...Over his last six outings going back to May 27, Kickham has given up just three runs in 20.1 innings and allowed 23 hits. He's also notched 16 K's against six walks...Kickham missed about two weeks between late May and early June with a blister on his left index finger...Opponents are batting just .175 (10x57) with runners on base against him, including 2-for-26 with RISP...Kickham signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent Jan. 8 and made four appearances during Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Shortly before OKC's season started, he had his contract selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers and threw the final two innings of the team's 16-4 win Milwaukee May 2...Kickham spent the 2020 season in the Boston Red Sox organization and made six appearances (two starts) for the Red Sox after having his contract selected from the Alternate Training Site Aug. 31, marking his first ML action since 2014...He is in his 12th pro season after he was selected by San Francisco in the sixth round of the 2010 MLB Draft from Missouri State University...This season against El Paso, Kickham has made three appearances with one start against the Chihuahuas. He has not allowed a run over 9.0 IP, with seven hits, two walks and eight strikeouts. In his previous outing at Southwest University Park on May 27, Kickham turned in 4.2 scoreless innings with three hits allowed before having to leave the game due to a blister flare-up.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2021: 7-5 2019: 2-2 All-time: 21-15 At ELP: 11-7 The Dodgers and Chihuahuas meet for their third series of the season and second time at Southwest University Park in 2021...The teams split their most recent series in OKC June 10-15, with the Dodgers winning the first two games and the series finale but El Paso winning three straight meetings in between...OKC won the first series between the teams May 27-June 1, with the Chihuahuas winning the series opener and finale and OKC winning four straight games in the middle at Southwest University Park...So far this season, the Dodgers have outscored the Chihuahuas, 85-55, and hit 20 homers through the first 12 games...Zach Reks has a team-leading 14 hits against El Paso, while Keibert Ruiz has five homers and Luke Raley has 14 RBI in the season series...Outside of the 2018 series, OKC has won or split each season series against the Chihuahuas since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season, including all four previous series at Southwest University Park (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)...Current OKC Dodgers Carlos Asuaje (2016-18), Tim Federowicz (2015) and Kevin Quackenbush (2014-17) have all played for El Paso during their careers.

Stalling Out: After averaging 5.5 runs per game in the month June, the OKC Dodgers' offense has been held to two runs or less in three of their first six games of July. The Dodgers were held to one run Tuesday night for the second time in the last five games, but prior to last Friday, the Dodgers had scored at least two runs in every game since May 18 (37 games) and had averaged 6.1 runs per game since then...In the team's last five games, the Dodgers are batting .230 (38x165) with 14 runs total and only two home runs. During the stretch they are batting just .190 (8x42) with runners in scoring position. In the four losses, the Dodgers have totaled eight runs while batting .226 (30x133) with no home runs and going 6-for-33 with RISP (.182)...In the team's last six losses, the Dodgers have scored 14 runs (57 innings) and are 8-for-51 with RISP (.157).

Strike Up the Band: Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia entered Tuesday's game in the eighth inning and struck out the first two batters he faced to extend his strikeout streak to 15 consecutive batters dating back to June 17 at Round Rock. Salt Lake's Jo Adell broke the streak with a single up the middle, but Vesia then answered with a strikeout of Kean Wong to end the inning for his 16th strikeout against the last 17 batters he faced. For context, the Major League record for most consecutive strikeouts by a relief pitcher is 10 by Eric Gagné in 2003 with the Los Angeles Dodgers...Over his nine appearances with OKC, Vesia has allowed just one run and three hits over 9.0 total innings with three walks and 19 strikeouts.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson had Tuesday off, but on Monday went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI, extending his current hitting streak to five games to tie his season high. In his last five games, Davidson is 7-for-21 with three homers, two doubles and 10 RBI. Prior to the current hit streak, Davidson had a total of 11 RBI over his first 23 games...Over his last eight starts, Davidson is 11-for-34 (.324) with four multi-hit games, four homers and 11 RBI.

Luke's Using the Force: Luke Raley has missed the last two games while nursing a heel injury sustained after being hit by a pitch, but he's currently on a season-high seven-game hitting streak, going 9-for-23 with a home run, three doubles, six runs scored and three RBI. It is his longest streak since hitting safely in nine consecutive games April 28-May 10, 2019 with Triple-A Rochester...Over his last 23 starts with OKC, Raley is 32-for-83 (.386) with eight doubles, two triples, seven homers, 34 RBI and 26 runs scored. He paces the Dodgers with 37 RBI in 30 games this season despite playing in just over half of OKC's total games...Since May 23, Raley's 36 RBI are third-most in Triple-A...Raley ranks third among Triple-A West players and fourth in Triple-A with 10 HBP.

Dinger Details: OKC has not homered in four of its last five games - all losses - and has been held without a homer in seven of the last 11 games (since June 24). Prior to the recent stretch, the Dodgers had homered in a season-best 10 consecutive games and in 15 of 16 games from June 7-24...The Dodgers have not homered in two consecutive games entering tonight for the fourth time this season, but they have yet to be kept inside the park in three consecutive games in 2021...Tuesday marked the seventh game for OKC this season in which neither team hit a home run. That only happened eight times total over 139 games in 2019.

Field Notes: The three double plays turned by Oklahoma City Tuesday night tied a season high. It was the third time OKC turned three double plays in a game this season, with the last time being June 13 vs. El Paso...On the other hand, OKC committed two errors in Tuesday's game after being charged with one or no errors in the previous six games (four total). The two errors plus a passed ball led to three unearned runs in what was ultimately a three-run loss. Not counting extra innings when an automatic runner scores, the Dodgers have allowed four unearned runs through six games in July after surrendering just one unearned run throughout all of June.

How He Drew it Up: Drew Avans has started the last two games and responded by going 3-for-7 with a triple, walk, stolen base and two runs scored. He has now hit safely in four of his last five games (6-for-18) and in eight of his last 10 games (11-for-32)...The outfielder is batting .359 (14x39) over his last 14 games with a .457 OBP (OB 21/46 PA), 10 runs scored and six stolen bases.

Keibert Goes Kaboom: Keibert Ruiz drew a walk Tuesday but was held without a hit, snapping a four-game hitting streak. He is 12-for-34 (.353) over his last 10 games with one double, three homers, seven runs scored, eight RBI, 11 walks and a .500 OBP (23/46 PA) while reaching base safely in each game...Ruiz paces OKC with 11 homers as well as three multi-homer games. His 39 total hits, including 22 extra-base hits, are second-most among OKC players, as are his 28 RBI. Ruiz's .601 SLG ranks 10th in Triple-A West. He entered this season with a career .420 SLG...Between OKC and his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, Ruiz has hit 12 homers and 11 doubles in 166 total plate appearances (42 games). During his last full season in 2019, Ruiz hit six homers and nine doubles between OKC and Double-A Tulsa over 350 plate appearances (85 games). He has matched his career high with 12 homers, set in 2018 over 415 plate appearances...During his 10-game on-base streak, Ruiz has walked 11 times and only struck out twice. For the season with OKC, he has 20 walks against 18 strikeouts.

The Revolving Door: Including today, the OKC Dodgers have had four pitchers called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers since Tuesday: Garrett Cleavinger, Darien Núñez, Jake Reed and Mitch White. Reed made his ML debut Tuesday in Miami and then opened yesterday's bullpen game, becoming the first player since Sam Dailey of the Philadelphia Phillies on July 4-5, 1929 to make his ML debut and then his first career ML start the next day (per Evan Boyd of STATS Perform). White tossed a season-high 4.0 innings for LAD last night and has since been optioned to OKC, making room for Núñez, who received his first career call-up to the Majors today.

Around the Horn: Entering tonight, the Dodgers have won five straight series openers, including each of the last two on the road...Salt Lake scored four runs in their win Tuesday in OKC, but did not record an RBI in the game as the Bees' runs scored on two errors, a passed ball and a double play...After 18 straight games against American League affiliates and a designated hitter in place, tonight begins a stretch of 12 straight games against National League affiliates played under NL rules.

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