OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 10, 2022
June 10, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Salt Lake Bees (30-27) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (35-22)
Game #58 of 150/Home #31 of 75 Pitching Probables: SL-RHP Cesar Valdez (5-2, 3.02) vs. OKC-LHP Robbie Erlin (2-1, 5.23) Friday, June 10, 2022 | 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 open a three-game series against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers have won four straight games as well as six of their last seven games...Tonight's game features Loop Rawlins: One Man Wild West Show presented by H&H Shooting Sports as well as Friday Night Fireworks following the game.
Last Game: Miguel Vargas hit a three-run home run and pitchers Andrew Heaney and Ryan Pepiot combined to allow just one run in the Oklahoma City Dodgers' 6-1 win against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Rehabbing Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Heaney threw 4.1 scoreless innings before Ryan Pepiot held the Space Cowboys to one run over the final 4.2 innings for the win. Vargas hit his three-run homer in the third inning before Andy Burns added a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning for a 4-0 Dodgers lead. Alex De Goti connected on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning that brought home Sugar Land's lone run of the night. The Dodgers added two more runs in the eighth inning on a RBI single by Michael Busch and sacrifice fly by Jason Martin as they completed a three-game series sweep of the Space Cowboys.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Robbie Erlin (2-1) makes his seventh start and ninth appearance of the season for the OKC Dodgers tonight...Erlin last pitched June 3 in Round Rock, allowing two runs and four hits over 4.0 innings with two walks and three strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC's 10-4 road victory. It was his first game action in 15 days due to a stint on the Los Angeles Dodgers' Taxi Squad...Over his last four games with OKC (three starts), Erlin has allowed five runs and 14 hits over 16.0 innings. During that span he has posted a 2.81 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and .230 BAA with 14 strikeouts against five walks. The team has won each game...Erlin only appeared with OKC in two games in May after spending time with LAD on the active roster or the Taxi Squad. He had his contract selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers May 7 and made two appearances out of the bullpen, pitching on back-to-back days May 8-9. He was designated for assignment May 11 and outrighted to OKC May 13...Last season, Erlin pitched in 16 games for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan and signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent Feb. 21, 2022...Erlin has appeared in 117 games (43 starts) in the Majors, primarily with San Diego, and was selected by Texas in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft from Scotts Valley High School (Calif.)...Tonight is his first appearance against Salt Lake since the 2015 season when he was with El Paso.
Against the Bees: 2022: 0-0 2021: 7-5 All-time: 59-55 At OKC: 31-26
The Dodgers and Bees are meeting for the first time in 2022 and for their first of three series this season for a total of 12 games...The Dodgers won last season's series, 7-5, including wins in five of the last six meetings. The road team went 9-3 during the season series and the Bees won four of six in Oklahoma City for their first series win against OKC since 2013...Sheldon Neuse led the Dodgers with 15 hits, 12 runs scored and 13 RBI in the 2021 season series, while Luke Raley and Matt Davidson each racked up 11 RBI. Raley had a team-high four homers...In 2021, the Dodgers outscored Salt Lake, 77-62, and outhit the Bees, 119-110...The Dodgers have won or split the last seven season series with the Bees, posting a 6-0-1 series record during that time...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 20-10 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series, including a 13-4 record in Salt Lake.
Winning Ways: OKC has won four straight games, six of the last seven games, seven of the last nine games and eight of the last 11. The Dodgers pace the Pacific Coast League with a 35-22 record and are a season-best 13 games above .500 for the first time since holding a 60-47 record Aug. 2, 2018. The last time OKC was 14 games above .500 was June 26, 2018 (43-29)...Tonight the team will look to match its longest winning streak of the season at five games first achieved April 15-20. The Dodgers have had three previous winning streaks of at least four games this season, but are 1-2 when trying to extend the streak to five games.
Home Rehabilitation: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Andrew Heaney returned to his hometown as he continued his Major League Rehab Assignment with the OKC Dodgers last night, pitching 4.1 scoreless innings and allowing two hits while recording five strikeouts and no walks. He retired 12 of 14 batters faced overall, including the last nine in a row...The Oklahoma City native who attended Oklahoma State University and Putnam City High School has been on the Dodgers' Injured List since April 20 with left shoulder discomfort. Through two games with OKC, Heaney has allowed one run and four hits over 7.1 innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks, holding opponents 4-for-25.
Mound Presence: Andrew Heaney and Ryan Pepiot combined to allow one run, seven hits and no walks with 11 strikeouts Thursday night. Pepiot entered the game in the middle of the fifth inning and allowed one run and five hits over the game's final 4.2 innings with six strikeouts as he improved his record to 4-0. He now owns a 1.77 ERA over nine appearances (eight starts) with OKC and has 55 strikeouts against 16 walks in 40.2 IP...The pitching duo did not allow a walk, marking the first time the team did not issue a free pass since Sept. 17, 2021 against Round Rock at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Last night was the eighth time this season the Dodgers allowed one run or less in a game. It was the fewest runs allowed by OKC in a home game since April 30 when the team had a 7-1 win also against Sugar Land...The Dodgers did not allow an extra-base hit either last night, marking the seventh time that's happened this season...The Dodgers have allowed three or fewer runs in six of the last 12 games and four or fewer runs in 10 of the last 13 games. During the 13-game stretch, opponents are batting .221 (93x421) and the team has a 3.37 ERA (43 ER/115.0 IP)...OKC is now 18-1 when allowing two or fewer runs this season.
Drew Point: Drew Avans drew a season-high three walks and scored two runs Thursday as he reached base for a season-best 14th straight game with a plate appearance. He owns the current longest on-base streak by an OKC Dodgers player...Over his last 13 games, Avans has batted .368 (14x38) with two homers, three doubles and 11 walks (.519 OBP)...Since May 22, Avans has raised his season batting average by 51 points and his season on-base percentage by 86 points...Last night, he batted in the leadoff spot in the Dodgers' batting order for the first time this season.
Mighty Miguel: Miguel Vargas extended his hitting streak to a season-best 10 straight games Thursday, going 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. During the 10-game stretch, Vargas is 12-for-41 (.293) with two homers, four doubles and 12 RBI...Vargas' three-run homer in the third inning was his ninth homer of the season and pushed him into the team lead in RBI (40)...His current hitting streak is tied for second-longest by an OKC Dodgers player this season and one game shy of Zach McKinstry's team-best 11-game hitting streak during the first half of May...Vargas leads the PCL with 49 runs scored and 63 hits. His 40 RBI and 107 total bases are fourth-most in the league and his 32 walks are tied for fourth, while his 23 extra-base hits are tied for seventh...He paces the Dodgers in runs, hits, RBI and games played (55).
On the Lamb: Jake Lamb doubled last night and has now reached base in 18 of his last 19 games as well as in 33 of his last 35 games. Over the 35-game stretch (beginning April 24), Lamb is slashing .307/.429/.575 with nine homers, seven doubles, 27 walks, 30 RBI and 23 runs scored...His 33 walks and 12 homers pace the Dodgers, while his 39 RBI are second...His walk total is tied for most in the PCL, while his RBI total and homers are tied for fifth-most in the league.
Clearance at JMart: Jason Martin went 1-for-3 with a triple, run scored and sacrifice fly yesterday. He's hit safely in four straight games, going 6-for-14 with four extra-base hits and four RBI...Martin is tied with Miguel Vargas for the team lead in doubles (11) and extra-base hits (23). He's also second on the team with 37 runs scored (T-3rd PCL)...Martin currently ranks sixth in the league in SLG (.538) and eighth in OPS (.914).
Getting Offensive: Last night the Dodgers scored six runs, hitting the mark for a third straight game as well as for the fifth time in the last seven games and eighth time in the last 11 games following a stretch when they were held to two runs or less in three consecutive games and to three runs or less in five of seven games...On Thursday, four of the Dodgers' six hits went for extra bases. Miguel Vargas homered as the Dodgers have now hit homers in six straight games and have 10 home runs during the stretch...The Dodgers rank in the top five among full-season Minor League teams in runs (2nd, 368), OBP (2nd, .372), OPS (3rd, .839), hits, (4th, 524) and walks (4th, 286).
Western Woes: Entering tonight, the Dodgers are 10-20 at home against West Division opponents over the last two seasons. That includes dropping four of six against Reno May 24-29 for the team's only series loss of the 2022 season...Going back to 2019, the Dodgers are 0-4-2 in their last six home series against the West Division (12-22).
Around the Horn: The Dodgers are 6-5 in series openers this season, including 4-2 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC has won three straight series openers as well as four of the last five...On Wednesday, Tomás Telis recorded a game-high three hits - including two doubles - and has now hit safely in five straight games, going 8-for-19 with two RBI...Entering the eighth inning Wednesday, the Dodgers had been 6-for-the-last-48 with runners on base and 2-for-the-last-26 with runners in scoring position, but since then they are 9-for-22 with ROB and 8-for-19 with RISP...In the team's last six games, the Dodgers have scored 26 of their 37 runs from the sixth inning on...Last night marked just the second time in the last 13 games the Dodgers struck out fewer than 10 times. They have struck out 161 times in the last 13 games (12.4 per game) and 176 times in the last 15 games (11.7 per game)...Last night the Dodgers notched their 21st triple of the season. Last season they finished with a league-low 23 triples and didn't collect their 21st triple until the 121st game of the season...At 2 hours, 16 minutes, yesterday's game was the team's second-quickest nine-inning game of the season. It was the team's 10th game to be completed under 2 hours, 30 minutes. That only happened twice in 118 nine-inning games last year.
Pacific Coast League Stories from June 10, 2022
- El Paso Walks-Off Isotopes for 3-2 Victory - Albuquerque Isotopes
- OKC Dodgers Postgame Notes - June 10, 2022 - Oklahoma City Comets
- JJ Matijevic Hits Pair of Homers in Space Cowboys Victory - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Wong Gives Bees Win over Dodgers in Extra Innings - Salt Lake Bees
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes: vs. Round Rock (9:05 p.m. PT) - Tacoma Rainiers
- Space Cowboys Game Notes vs. LV - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 10, 2022 - Oklahoma City Comets
- 'Play Ball Weekend' Returns in a Big Way to Celebrate the Game All Around the World - Salt Lake Bees
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