PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 13, 2023

Published on June 13, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Salt Lake Bees (30-33) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (45-18)

Game #64 of 150/First Half #64 of 75/Home #28 of 75

Pitching Probables: SL-RHP Mason Erla (0-2, 8.20) vs. OKC-RHP Justin Hagenman (3-0, 2.32)

Tuesday, June 13, 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 have won three consecutive games as they return home to open a 12-game homestand and start a six-game series against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on a $2 Tuesday...The Pacific Coast League-leading Dodgers are bearing down on a first-half league title as they own a 10-game lead ahead of second place Reno and Round Rock with 12 games remaining in the first half.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored 17 runs over three innings on the way to a tying a Bricktown-era record for runs scored during a 24-5 win Sunday night against the El Paso Chihuahuas at Southwest University Park. Drew Avans led off the series finale with a home run and the Dodgers built a 2-0 lead in the first inning. El Paso answered with two runs to enter the third inning in a 2-2 tie. The Dodgers then scored 17 straight runs over the third through fifth innings to take a 19-2 lead. Michael Busch hit a two-run homer in the third inning out to center field and over the batter's eye for a 4-2 lead. With the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Avans lined a bases-clearing double to left-center field for a 14-2 advantage. In the fifth inning, Justin Yurchak belted a grand slam out to right field for a 19-2 lead. The 12 runs scored by the Dodgers over the fourth and fifth innings came on just four hits. The Dodgers' 20th run of the night came in the seventh inning and OKC led, 20-5, before adding four more runs in the eighth inning. David Freitas drew a bases-loaded walk and Yurchak hit a two-run double before Avans' RBI single brought in OKC's 24th run of the night, tying the club record.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Justin Hagenman (3-0) is scheduled to make his third start of the season and 18th appearance overall...Hagenman made his second start in four appearances June 7 in El Paso, although his outing last Wednesday was his first start as a non-opener. He allowed one run and four hits over four innings in his longest outing since 2019 and he set career highs with eight strikeouts and 74 pitches. He allowed his first run since April 30...Over his last nine games, Hagenman has yielded just one run and 11 hits across 19.2 innings, with three walks and 22 strikeouts. He did not allow a run during the entire month of May (14.0 IP)....His first start of the season was May 28 at Sacramento, serving as an opener ahead of Andre Jackson. He completed 2.0 scoreless innings, with one hit and one strikeout...Hagenman made 41 appearances with OKC last season, going 4-2 with a 6.08 ERA in his first Triple-A season with 55 strikeouts and 21 walks...He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 23rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Penn State.

Against the Bees: 2023: 0-0 2022: 8-4 All-time: 67-59 At OKC: 36-27

The Dodgers and Bees meet for their first of two series during the 2023 season and lone series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams closed out the 2022 season against one another with a three-game series in OKC, which the Dodgers swept, 3-0, and outscored the Bees, 11-4. The Dodgers finished 5-1 against the Bees in OKC last season and won the overall season series, 8-4. The Dodgers have now won seven straight season series against Salt Lake and have not lost a season series to the Bees since 2013 as they split their 2014 series, 2-2...Drew Avans and Michael Busch led the Dodgers with 12 hits apiece against the Bees last season, while Ryan Noda had nine RBI and Avans scored 12 runs. OKC outscored Salt Lake, 64-47....Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 28-14 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series and are 12-7 at home compared to 16-7 in Salt Lake...The Dodgers and Bees are meeting 12 times this season for a third straight season after meeting four times or less each season from 2003-19.

In the Hunt: The Dodgers seek a first-half PCL title with 12 games remaining in the first half, which wraps up June 25. The league-leading Dodgers own a 10-game lead ahead of Reno and Round Rock, which are tied for second place. The Dodgers can clinch the title as soon as tonight with a win along with losses tonight by both Round Rock (vs. ELP, 7:05 p.m.) and Reno (@ LV, 9:05 p.m. CT), as the Dodgers own the head-to-head tiebreaker against both teams...The winner of the first half will host a League Championship Series starting Sept. 26, meeting the second-half winner for a best-of-three series. The International League will do the same, and each Triple-A league champion will advance to Las Vegas for the 2023 Triple-A National Championship Game Sept. 30...This is the first time the PCL season has been split into halves during OKC's Bricktown era. OKC last won a PCL division title in 2018 and the team owns 10 PCL division titles and three PCL conference titles since 1998.

Trend Setters: The 45-18 Dodgers own the most wins and best record in the Minors, and only the 48-20 Tampa Bay Rays have more wins in affiliated professional baseball but have played five more games than OKC. The Dodgers are a season-best 27 games above .500...OKC is 23-7 since May 9 and has not lost consecutive games during the stretch...The Dodgers reached 45 wins in 63 games - faster than any PCL team since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available...The previous fastest PCL team to 45 wins since 2005 was the 2015 OKC Dodgers who reached win No. 45 in game No. 67 (45-22). No other OKC team has had fewer than 21 losses through 63 games or fewer than 22 losses through 64 games...OKC is 20-7 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this season and have just four home losses in their last 18 games in OKC.

One For the Record Books: The 24 runs scored by the Dodgers Sunday tied the team record for runs scored in a game during the Bricktown era and was the third time an OKC team scored 24 runs since 1998, joining a 24-5 win over Colorado Springs Aug. 3, 2013 and a 24-4 win at Albuquerque June 22, 2004. The 24 runs tied Reno (April 27) and Sugar Land (May 7) for the most scored by a PCL team this season...OKC's 19-run margin of victory tied for the second-largest winning margin in the team's Bricktown history and was the largest winning margin for the team since a 19-0 win May 12, 2022 in Round Rock...The seven runs scored by the Dodgers in the fourth inning were the most scored by the team in an inning since the team's seven-run fifth inning as part of a 16-1 win in El Paso Sept. 20, 2022...All nine batters in OKC's lineup collected at least one hit and one walk and scored at least two runs. According to MiLB, only 17 times in MLB history (since 1901) have all nine players in a lineup scored at least twice in a game...OKC's 21 hits were the team's most in a game since May 23, 2014 when OKC had 22 hits in a 12-10 win at Memphis. OKC's 10 extra-base hits Sunday were a season high and the most by the team since recording 11 XBH Sept. 20, 2022 in Albuquerque...OKC's 13 walks were the second-most in a game this season, but most in a nine-inning contest.

Sunday Funday: Justin Yurchak finished with a career-high seven RBI Sunday, going 3-for-5 with a double and a grand slam, a walk and two runs scored. His seven RBI are the most by an OKC player since Ryan Noda had seven RBI July 6, 2022 against Las Vegas, and Yurchak became the 10th player in the PCL this season with seven or more RBI in a game. The grand slam was the first of his pro career. He set a season-high with three hits Sunday and has hit safely in six of seven games so far in June (8x28)...Drew Avans tied his career highs with four hits and five RBI Sunday. He went 4-for-6 with a double, home run, two runs scored and a walk. His four hits were his most in a game since May 3, 2019 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga and he last had five RBI in a game July 11, 2018 with Rookie-Level Ogden...Kole Calhoun finished with three hits, including two doubles, and scored a career-high five runs - the most runs by an OKC player in a game this season.

Buschwhacked: Michael Busch was named PCL Player of the Week by MiLB for June 5-11 and finished Sunday's game with three hits, including a double and home run, three RBI and scored two runs. He extended his hitting streak to seven games Sunday and is 14-for-28 (.500) with nine extra-base hits and 11 RBI during the stretch. He has three home runs in his last four games and has finished with three hits in three of his last four games...This is his third hitting streak of the season of at least six games and he is one game shy of tying his season-long streak of eight games (April 5-13)...Busch is the fifth OKC player to receive weekly league honors this season and this is his first weekly honor since September 2021 with Double-A Tulsa.

Keeping Up with the Joneses: On Sunday, Jahmai Jones extended his hitting streak to 17 games - the longest hitting streak by an OKC player since Alex Verdugo hit safely in 20 consecutive games June 8-30, 2017. It's also the longest active streak in the league and the third-longest streak in the PCL this season...Jones finished Sunday's game with two hits, including a double, walk, RBI and scored two runs. During his hitting streak, Jones is 25-for-54 (.463) with 14 extra-base hits, 13 RBI, 17 walks and 12 runs scored. Since his hitting streak began May 19, he leads all qualified players in the Minors in all three slashline categories at .463/.603/.889. His last hitting streak to reach 17 games was part of a career-high 25-game streak with High-A Inland Empire from July 27-Aug. 24, 2017...He has also reached base in 25 consecutive games - tied for second-longest on-base streak by an OKC player in 2023. He has reached base at least twice in 15 of the last 17 games, including seven of his last eight games. Since April 29, Jones' .508 OBP leads all qualified players in the full-season Minors...Overall this season, Jones' 1.023 OPS is fourth in the league, his .446 OBP is fifth and his .577 SLG is 10th.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann went 3-for-6 with a walk, RBI and three runs scored Sunday as he extended his on-base streak to 29 games - the longest active streak in the league and tied for second-longest in the PCL overall this season. Mann has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, and during his on-base streak, Mann is 37-for-102 (.363) with 16 extra-base hits, 32 RBI and 29 runs scored...He has at least one RBI in eight of his last nine games (15 RBI) and he leads OKC with 45 RBI (T-6th, PCL), 58 hits and is tied with Jahmai Jones for the team lead with eight homers. All eight of his homers have come since May 7 (25 G), with four in the last five games. His 23 doubles pace the PCL and are tied for the most in the Minors this season, while his 31 extra-base hits are tied for third in the league.

Dinger Details: Drew Avans' leadoff home run Sunday was the second of the season for the Dodgers, but first since April 2 against Tacoma at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, also hit by Avans. Justin Yurchak's grand slam was the third for the Dodgers this season...The Dodgers have now homered in a season-best eight straight games (17 HR) and hit 14 home runs during the six-game series in El Paso. OKC's home run total since June 3 is second-most in the league. Prior to that, the Dodgers had 13 homers over their previous 19 games and just 22 homers over the previous 37 games.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers have scored 14 or more runs three times in the last nine games and their 93 runs since June 1 (10 G) are the most in the Minors...On Sunday, OKC won its first series at Southwest University Park since July 2021 and the Dodgers are now 10-1-0 through their first 11 series of 2023...The Dodgers have won four consecutive series openers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Today is Drew Avans' 27th birthday. He has hit seven home runs through 58 games this season, matching his total over 119 games last season.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 13, 2023


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