PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 13, 2021

June 13, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (14-18) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (15-18)

Game #34 of 120/Home #16 of 60

Pitching Probables: ELP-LHP Jerry Keel (1-0, 3.14) vs. OKC-RHP Edwin Uceta (0-1, 5.68)

Sunday, June 13, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 2:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers and El Paso Chihuahuas continue their series at 2:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Last night's loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Dodgers who lead the current series, 2-1, and are 11-5 over the last 16 games. They are tied for the best record in Triple-A West since May 25...OKC is also 8-4 in the last 12 home games and is 6-3 during the current homestand...Today marks the OKC Dodgers' first-ever Bark at the Park, presented by Camp Bow Wow, with many good boys and good girls joining the Chihuahuas inside Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this afternoon.

Last Game: The El Paso Chihuahuas scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning to break a tie and held the Oklahoma City Dodgers to one run in the bottom of the frame, sending the Dodgers to a 4-3 loss Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. El Paso jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with back-to-back two-out RBI singles. Both teams' offenses were then held without a run until the bottom of the eighth inning when Oklahoma City scored twice. A RBI groundout by DJ Peters put the Dodgers on the board, and Matt Davidson followed with a RBI single to tie the game at 2-2. The Chihuahuas broke the stalemate in the 10th inning with a pair of runs, and although the Dodgers answered with one, they left the tying run at first base to end the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Edwin Uceta (0-1) looks to bounce back from his first loss of the season with OKC, as he makes his third appearance and second start...Uceta last pitched in Game 2 of a June 7 doubleheader against Sugar Land in OKC, allowing three runs (two earned) and two hits over 2.1 innings with three walks against five strikeouts and was charged with the loss. Although five of his seven outs were recorded via strikeout, just 33 of his 63 pitches were strikes...He was most recently optioned to OKC June 3 and has made seven appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers over two stints, going 0-2 with a 3.55 ERA with 13 strikeouts against four walks over 12.2 IP, holding opponents to a .234 average with a 1.18 WHIP. He last pitched for LAD June 2 against St. Louis with two scoreless and hitless innings, no walks and one strikeout...He made his MLB debut April 30 at Milwaukee with 2.0 innings in a spot start and was charged with the loss, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts...Uceta spent a portion of the 2020 season at the Dodgers' Alternate Training Site and was added to the Los Angeles Dodgers' 40-man roster Nov. 20...He split the 2019 season between High-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa and combined for an 11-2 record and 2.77 ERA with 141 strikeouts over 26 appearances, including 24 starts...He originally signed with the Dodgers July 2, 2016 as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic at the age of 18.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2021: 6-3 2019: 2-2 All-time: 20-13 At OKC: 9-6 The Dodgers and Chihuahuas meet for their second series of the season and first time at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in 2021...OKC recently 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. OKC outscored the Chihuahuas, 52-33, in the series as the Dodgers tallied wins of 12-5 and 20-9. The Dodgers slashed .311/.389/.553 over the six-game series and piled up 30 extra-base hits, including 12 homers. Luke Raley led the offense, going 10-for-21 with three homers, six-extra base hits and 14 RBI. Steven Souza Jr. smacked four homers and notched 11 RBI in five games...This is the Chihuahuas' first visit to Bricktown since 2018, when they won three of four games and held OKC to just seven runs over the entire series...Outside of the 2018 series, OKC has won or split each 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 played for El Paso during their careers.

Making it Look Ruiz-y: Dodgers top prospect Keibert Ruiz grounded out in his lone at-bat as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning last night, but on Friday hit two home runs as he also homered for a second straight game - belting a solo homer in the second inning into the El Paso bullpen in right-center field and launching a two-run homer onto the elevated Skyline Deck in right field in the sixth inning. Friday marked the catcher's second multi-homer game of the season (May 21 at Albuquerque) and the fifth multi-homer game of his career...Between OKC and his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, Ruiz has hit seven homers and nine doubles in 85 total plate appearances (24 games). During his last full season in 2019, Ruiz hit nine doubles and six homers between OKC and Double-A Tulsa over 350 plate appearances (85 games)...In 18 games with OKC this season, 15 of his 21 hits have gone for extra bases and he is currently slugging .676...During the current homestand, Ruiz is 9-for-28 with four homers, three doubles, five walks, nine runs scored and nine RBI while hitting safely in six of seven starts.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks collected two hits, including a double, and scored a run along with a RBI Saturday as he has now reached base in 26 of his 27 games this season. Reks currently ranks tied for second in Triple-A West with 28 runs scored, fourth with a .450 OBP, seventh with a .333 AVG and tied for seventh with 10 doubles...Over his last 12 games, Reks is 17-for-47 (.362) with seven doubles...Reks leads the Dodgers with 28 runs scored and is second with 22 hits and 10 doubles...His 19 runs scored and eight doubles since May 29 are the most among all Triple-A players...In the nine games Reks has batted in the leadoff spot, the Dodgers are 7-2 and Reks is slashing .333/.488/.564 with seven RBI and 11 runs scored...Five of his six hits over the last five games have gone for extra bases.

Mound Turnaround: Last night marked just the fourth time in the last 11 games the Dodgers have allowed their opponent to score more than three runs, although they did allow only two runs through nine innings. The team has still allowed two or fewer runs in six of the last 11 games, including five games with one run allowed...During the team's current 11-5 stretch, the pitching staff has posted a 3.69 ERA and 1.34 WHIP while holding opponents to a .228 batting average. Prior to May 25, the team had a 7.44 ERA, 1.72 WHIP and .293 BAA over the first 17 games...Throughout the current homestand, OKC has allowed 27 runs over nine games and opponents are batting .221 (63x285) overall and .216 (16x74) with runners in scoring position...During the current series, the Dodgers have held El Paso to four runs over the first 27 standard innings (six runs including one extra inning with a runner starting at second base) and have allowed just one extra base hit (double) over the first 28 innings. Entering today, the Dodgers have not allowed an extra-base hit in 23 consecutive innings...OKC leads Triple-A West with a 3.56 ERA in June after placing eighth in the 10-team league with a 6.53 ERA in May.

Staying Offensive: The Dodgers' offense was held to fewer than four runs for just the second time in the last 16 games Saturday. The previous time OKC was held to fewer than four runs in a game came in a seven-inning Game 2 of a doubleheader June 7 against Sugar Land in OKC, but they had not been held to as few as two runs in a nine-inning game since a 9-2 loss in Albuquerque May 24. OKC was also held to fewer than eight hits in a nine-inning game for the first time in the last 13 contests....Over their 20 games since May 21, the Dodgers have scored 149 runs (7.5 rpg) and slashed .277/.379/.504. Their 149 runs during the stretch pace all 120 teams in the Minors and their 189 hits rank tied for sixth in the Minors. OKC's .379 OBP paces all Triple-A teams during the same period...Through the first 13 games of the season, the Dodgers scored 48 runs (3.7 rpg) with a .216/.306/.345 slashline...Over the last 20 games, the Dodgers are batting .339 (74x218) with runners in scoring position after starting the season .227 (25x110) with RISP over the first 13 games...The Dodgers have drawn 103 walks in the last 20 games (5.2 pg), which are the most in Triple-A West and second-most in all of Triple-A.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers were held without a home run last night, snapping a season-high stretch of five consecutive games with a homer. Entering Saturday, OKC had seven homers over the last three games and had hit 32 homers over the previous 19 games. In contrast, the Dodgers hit just 12 homers over the first 13 games of 2021...On the other hand, the Dodgers have allowed just four homers through the first nine games of the current homestand after surrendering 42 over the first 24 games. Opponents have been kept inside the park in six of the last nine games after they had gone deep at least once in 22 of the first 24 games. The Dodgers have not allowed a home run in three consecutive games for the first time this season.

Big Blows to the Bats: Yesterday OKC lost both Andy Burns and Luke Raley to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The two have combined to slash .329/.423/.641 with 11 home runs, 49 RBI, 42 runs and 10 stolen bases in 49 total games with OKC this season...Burns left OKC on a 10-game hitting streak, going 17-for-33 (.515) with three homers, six doubles and 13 RBI. At the time of his departure, he was leading all Triple-A hitters since May 25 with a .463 AVG and .549 OBP while ranking second with a 1.378 OPS. Last night Burns started at second base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 1-for-3 with a walk and collected his first career hit during his first game in the Majors since 2016 with Toronto. He also ended up pitching part of the ninth inning in LAD's 12-1 loss...Over his last 12 starts with OKC, Raley was 18-for-45 (.400) with four doubles, two triples, four homers, 26 RBI and 16 runs scored. Between May 23-June 11, he led all players in the Minors or Majors with 28 RBI (16 games).

Working Overtime: Saturday was OKC's first extra-inning game since Aug. 2, 2019 at Las Vegas - a 10-8 loss in 10 innings. It was also the team's first extra-inning game at home since June 7, 2019 in a 9-8 defeat against Fresno. Overall in 2019, the Dodgers went 3-3 in extra-inning contests.

Around the Horn: Today the Dodgers look to avoid their first consecutive losses since a three-game skid May 22-24. They have followed up each of their previous four losses with a win...After posting a -49 run differential over the first 13 games (3-10), the Dodgers have a +59 run differential over their last 20 games (12-8)...Steven Souza Jr. is 12-for-33 (.364) with seven extra-base hits (five homers) and 14 RBI over his last nine games...The Dodgers have committed only four errors over the past 13 games...Although last night's game took 3 hours, 19 minutes, it was still shorter than 18 of the team's 30 nine-inning games this season...Today is OKC's final scheduled day game until Sept. 5. The team is 2-2 in day games, including 1-0 at home.

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