PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - July 9, 2021

Published on July 9, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (28-27) at El Paso Chihuahuas (24-29)

Game #56 of 130/Road #32 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Yefry Ramírez (3-3, 5.01) vs. ELP-LHP Luke Westphal (1-0, 0.00)

Friday, July 9, 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 will try to even their series against the El Paso Chihuahuas and snap a three-game losing skid at 8:05 p.m. CT at Southwest University Park. After losing last night's series opener, the Dodgers enter tonight having lost five of the last six games...However, the team is 14-4 in the last 18 road games with wins in six of the last eight games away from OKC.

Last Game: The El Paso Chihuahuas jumped out to a 7-0 lead through two innings and kept adding on, sending the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 15-8 loss Thursday night to open their series Southwest University Park. El Paso scored in seven of their eight trips to the plate, including four runs in the first inning and three more runs in the second inning. The Dodgers closed within three runs at 8-5 in the fourth inning and 9-6 in the sixth inning, but each time El Paso scored in the bottom of the frame to extend the lead. The teams combined for seven homers, with Cristian Santana, Zach Reks and Keibert Ruiz each going deep for OKC.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Reigning Triple-A West Pitcher of the Month Yefry Ramírez (3-3) makes his team-leading 11th start of the season tonight and his fourth start of 2021 against the Chihuahuas...Ramírez most recently pitched July 3 against Salt Lake at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. He allowed five runs on seven hits (t-season high) over 4.2 innings with two walks and six strikeouts and was charged with the loss in OKC's 12-2 defeat. Ramírez allowed just one run through the first four innings, but he stumbled in the fifth inning and was charged with four runs in the frame, three of which scored with two outs...He was named league Pitcher of the Month for June after going 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in five starts. He allowed 20 hits and struck out 27 over 26.0 innings while holding opponents to a .213 batting average. Ramírez led the league in ERA and opponent average while he tied for the best WHIP (1.12). He also ranked third in strikeouts and innings...Ramírez's 61 strikeouts are tied for second in Triple-A West, while his 10 starts are tied for third, his 50.1 innings pitched are fifth, his .254 AVG is tied for sixth, his 1.37 WHIP is eighth and his 5.01 ERA is 10th...Ramírez signed with the Dodgers as a free agent March 25...In 2019, Ramírez made appearances in the Majors with both Baltimore and Pittsburgh, pitching in 13 total games between the Orioles (four games) and Pirates (nine games). He went 0-2 with a 7.40 ERA and notched 27 strikeouts in 24.1 IP...Ramírez is in his 10th pro season after originally signing with Arizona as an international free agent in 2011...Tonight is Ramírez's fourth start of the season against the Chihuahuas, and he has won each of his first three matchups, going 3-0 with a 2.21 ERA. He has allowed four runs and 15 hits over 17.0 innings with 21 strikeouts against five walks.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2021: 7-6 2019: 2-2 All-time: 21-16 At ELP: 11-8 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 with 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...Entering the current series, the Dodgers outscored the Chihuahuas, 85-55, and hit 20 homers through the first 12 games...After the Dodgers won six of the first eight meetings, El Paso has now won four of the last five games between the teams...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.

Reversal of Fortune: The Dodgers have now lost three straight games and will look to avoid matching their longest losing streak of the season at four games (May 11-15 and May 6-9). OKC has also lost five of its last six games, immediately following a stretch in which they won 12 of 14 games...Thursday's loss also snapped a streak of five straight wins in series openers and was just the team's fourth loss in the last 18 road games.

Keibert Goes Kaboom: Keibert Ruiz homered and doubled Thursday as he tied his career high with four hits, going 4-for-5 with two RBI. It was the sixth four-hit game of Ruiz's career and his first since May 16, 2019 with Double-A Tulsa against Arkansas. In seven games against El Paso this season, Ruiz is now 10-for-25 with six home runs and 10 RBI...He is 16-for-39 (.410) over his last 11 games with two doubles, four homers, eight runs scored, 10 RBI, 11 walks and a .529 OBP (27/51 PA) while reaching base safely in each game...Ruiz paces OKC with 12 homers as well as three multi-homer games. His 24 extra-base hits are tied for most among OKC players, while his 43 total hits are second-most on the team, as are his 30 RBI. Ruiz's .636 SLG and 1.021 OPS both rank fifth 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 13 homers and 12 doubles in 171 total plate appearances (43 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 surpassed his previous career high of 12 homers, set in 2018 over 415 plate appearances...During his 11-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.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks recorded his team-leading 14th multi-hit game of the season last night as he went 3-for-5 with a home run and three runs scored. Thursday was the fifth time this season Reks had three or more hits in a game and he also tied his season high with three RBI. It was the second time in the last four games he had a three-hit, three-RBI performance (July 4 vs. Salt Lake)...Reks leads the Dodgers with 51 hits, 16 doubles and 38 runs scored this season. His 24 extra-base hits are tied for the team lead and his 28 RBI are third-most among OKC players...His 16 doubles rank sixth in Triple-A West, while his .416 OBP is seventh and his .988 OPS is ninth.

Running Away: The 15 runs allowed by OKC in Thursday's game tied a season high, previously set May 7 in Round Rock, and was the second time in the last five games the Dodgers gave up double-digit runs to an opponent. Prior to Saturday's 12-2 loss to Salt Lake in OKC, the Dodgers last allowed 10 or more runs in a game May 23 in Albuquerque as part of an 11-10 defeat...The Dodgers allowed multiple runs in the first inning for a third straight game Thursday, as El Paso sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs despite collecting just two hits. The Chihuahuas drew four walks and also had one batter hit by a pitch. OKC starting pitcher Mike Kickham threw 38 pitches in the inning, but only 16 strikes. It was the fourth time in seven games in July the Dodgers allowed their opponent to score four-plus runs in one inning after allowing three such innings throughout all of June. It was the largest first inning by an opponent since Round Rock also scored four runs on May 11.

Dinger Details: After being held without a home run in back-to-back games, in four of the last five games and in seven of the last 11 games (since June 24), the Dodgers hit three homers Thursday night. It was the team's ninth game of the season with three or more home runs...On the other hand, last night was the first time the Dodgers allowed four homers in a game since May 8 in Round Rock. The Dodgers have allowed 10 homers over the last five games after allowing just four homers in the previous six games.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson hasn't played since Monday, when he went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Davidson is currently on a season-best five-game hitting streak, going 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's season-high seven-game hitting streak came to an end last night as he went 0-for-3 and was hit by two pitches after missing the last two games due to a heel injury sustained after being hit by a pitch July 4. During the streak, Raley went 9-for-23 with a home run, three doubles, six runs scored and three RBI. It was his longest streak since hitting safely in nine consecutive games April 28-May 10, 2019 with Triple-A Rochester...Including last night, over his last 24 starts with OKC, Raley is 32-for-86 (.372) with eight doubles, two triples, seven homers, 34 RBI and 26 runs scored. He paces the Dodgers with 37 RBI in 31 games this season despite playing in just over half of OKC's total games...Since May 23, Raley's 36 RBI are fourth-most in Triple-A...Raley ranks second among Triple-A West players and third in Triple-A with 12 HBP.

Strike Up the Band: Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia entered Tuesday's game against Salt Lake 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.

Around the Horn: Thursday marked just the second time this season the Dodgers scored at least seven runs but lost...Cristian Santana went 2-for-5 with his second home run of the season last night. He has hit safely in a season-best five straight games, going 7-for-20 with a double, home run, two RBI and four runs scored. He has also hit safely in eight of his last nine games and in 11 of his last 13 games...Drew Avans did not play last night, but is 3-for-7 with a triple, walk, stolen base and two runs scored over his last two starts. 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...Including last night, OKC pitchers are now a combined 2-for-56 (.036) with 37 strikeouts at the plate this season.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 9, 2021


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