PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 14, 2021

Published on June 14, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (15-18) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (15-19)

Game #35 of 120/Home #17 of 60

Pitching Probables: ELP-LHP Daniel Camarena (2-2, 3.18) vs. OKC-RHP Markus Solbach (0-1, 11.81)

Monday, June 14, 2021 | 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 and El Paso Chihuahuas continue their series at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Triple-A West Night in America. The series is tied, 2-2, after the Dodgers won the first two games and El Paso winning the last two...OKC is 8-5 over the last 13 home games and is 6-4 during the current homestand...This is the first time OKC has dropped back-to-back games since a three-game skid May 22-24, as they had gone 11-4 over their the 15 games prior to Saturday.

Last Game: The El Paso Chihuahuas put the Oklahoma City Dodgers in an early 8-0 hole before the Dodgers scored six straight runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning in an eventual 9-6 loss Sunday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Chihuahuas got on the scoreboard with two runs in the second inning and added six additional runs in the fourth inning. The Dodgers broke through with a three-run homer by Sheldon Neuse in the bottom of the fourth inning. Cristian Santana hit a RBI double in the fifth inning and scored on Elliot Soto's RBI single to cut El Paso's lead to 8-5. OKC added a run in the eighth inning when Carlos Asuaje singled and Drew Avans scored on an El Paso fielding error. The Chihuahuas got a bit more of a cushion in the ninth inning with one more run to make it 9-6. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dodgers drew back-to-back one-out walks to bring the tying run to the plate, but a popout and strikeout ended the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Markus Solbach (0-1) makes his third start and fourth overall appearance of the season for the OKC Dodgers...Solbach last started June 8 against Sugar Land in OKC. He allowed three runs on three hits over 2.0 innings and did not factor into the decision of OKC's 9-6 win...Over his last two starts, Solbach has only pitched 3.1 innings while throwing 100 pitches. During that time he's allowed seven runs and seven hits, with five walks and five strikeouts...He made his OKC debut May 25 in Albuquerque after joining the team May 24 from Extended Spring Training. He pitched 2.0 scoreless innings against the Isotopes, as he closed out OKC's 12-0 victory...Solbach did not see any formal game action in the U.S. in 2020 due to the canceled Minor League season, but played with San Marino of the Italian Baseball League and dominated over nine appearances, including eight starts. He allowed two runs total and just one earned run over 30.1 IP for a 0.30 ERA. He scattered 15 hits while racking up 53 strikeouts against eight walks...He began the 2019 season on the Injured List and did not see game action until mid-June on a rehab assignment in the Arizona League before joining Double-A Tulsa in late July. He appeared in eight games, including seven starts, to close out the season with the Drillers, posting a 5-1 record with a 2.57 ERA, 39 strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP...Solbach signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Jan. 3, 2019. He originally signed as a amateur free agent with the Minnesota Twins on Feb. 19, 2011 and in addition to spending time in the Twins (2011-13), Diamondbacks (2014-16) and Dodgers organizations, has also played in two different independent leagues as well as the Australian Baseball League and for Team Germany in the 2019 European Baseball Championship.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2021: 6-4 2019: 2-2 All-time: 20-14 At OKC: 9-7 The Dodgers and Chihuahuas meet for their second series of the season and first time at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in 2021...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. 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.

Mound Turnaround: The Dodgers allowed their highest run total in 10 games Sunday afternoon (nine runs) and have a combined allowed 13 runs over the last two games after holding opponents to a 13 runs over the previous five games combined...OKC last allowed nine runs in a 9-4 loss in El Paso June 1 and had held opponents to two runs or less in six of their previous 11 games entering Sunday, including five games with one run allowed...During the team's current 11-6 stretch, the pitching staff has posted a 4.01 ERA and 1.39 WHIP while holding opponents to a .236 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 36 runs over 10 games and opponents are batting .234 (75x320) overall and .244 (21x86) with runners in scoring position, including the Chihuahuas going 5-for-12 with RISP last night and 12-for-35 at the plate overall...During the current series, the Dodgers 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 allowed just one extra base hit (double) over the first 28 innings. Entering Sunday, the Dodgers had not allowed an extra-base hit in 23 consecutive innings before giving up two doubles and two triples yesterday...OKC leads Triple-A West with a 4.07 ERA in June after placing eighth in the 10-team league with a 6.53 ERA in May.

Staying Offensive: The Dodgers' offense scored six more runs yesterday marking the third time in the last six games they have scored at least six runs and the 14th time in the last 21 games they have scored at least five runs in a game...Over their 21 games since May 21, the Dodgers have scored 155 runs (7.4 rpg) and slashed .274/.379/.497. Their 155 runs during the stretch pace all 120 teams in the Minors and their 196 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 21 games, the Dodgers are batting .338 (76x225) with runners in scoring position after starting the season .227 (25x110) with RISP over the first 13 games...However, the offense has slowed a bit of late. Even though the Dodgers have scored 37 runs over the past seven games, they are batting only .212 (43x203) as a team. And over the last two games after Andy Burns and Luke Raley were called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Dodgers are 14-for-69 (.203) overall and 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position.

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks popped out in his lone at-bat as a pinch-hitter Sunday, but on Saturday, he collected two hits, including a double, and scored a run along with a RBI as he has now reached base in 26 of his 27 starts. Reks currently ranks third in Triple-A West with 28 runs scored and a .446 OBP. His .330 AVG ranks sixth and his .996 OPS is eighth, while his 10 doubles are tied for eighth...Over his last 13 games, Reks is 17-for-48 (.354) with seven doubles...Reks leads OKC 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 last six hits have gone for extra bases.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers have homered at least once in six of the last seven games (10 HR total) and have hit 34 homers in their last 22 games, including eight homers in the last five games. In contrast, the Dodgers hit just 11 homers over the first 12 games of 2021...Yesterday Sheldon Neuse became the 16th different player to homer for OKC this season...The Dodgers have not allowed a homer in four straight games and have allowed just four homers through the first 10 games of the current homestand after surrendering 42 over the first 24 games. Opponents have been kept inside the park in seven of the last 10 games after they had gone deep at least once in 22 of the first 24 games.

Walk this Way: The Dodgers drew six more walks yesterday and have drawn 109 walks in the last 21 games (5.2 pg), which are the most in Triple-A West and second-most in all of Triple-A since May 21. Overall this season, the Dodgers have drawn 160 walks in 34 games (4.7 pg), which ranks second in Triple-A West only behind Las Vegas (172)...On the other hand, the pitching staff issued seven walks yesterday and is fourth in the league with 150 walks this season...Between both sides, there have been an average of over nine walks total per game during the Dodgers' 34 games this season.

Rehab Report: Reliever Garrett Cleavinger made the third appearance of his rehab assignment on Sunday. He allowed three straight singles to load the bases in the seventh inning, then escaped the jam with a strikeout and a double play to keep the Chihuahuas off the board. The left has now thrown 3.0 scoreless innings with three hits, three walks and five strikeouts. He joined OKC on a Major League Rehab Assignment June 7 after being placed on the Injured List May 18 with left elbow inflammation.

Time Warp: Yesterday's game clocked in at 3 hours, 35 minutes. Of the team's 31 nine-inning games this season, it was the 11th to last at least 3:30, including four of the seven nine-inning games during the current homestand and three of the team's last four nine-inning games...The team's average nine-inning game time at home of 3:25 is the second highest across the 150 teams in the Major Leagues and Minor Leagues. Only the Low-A Tampa Tarpons have a higher average home nine-inning game time at 3:33.

Around the Horn: All of the Dodgers' seven hits and six runs yesterday occurred with two outs. The team is batting .326 (15x46) this series with two outs and has scored 13 of their 22 runs with two outs (59 percent). They entered this series batting .216 with two outs while scoring only 31 percent of their runs with two outs...After posting a -49 run differential over the first 13 games (3-10), the Dodgers have a +56 run differential over their last 21 games (12-9)...The Dodgers have committed only four errors over the past 14 games...The Dodgers tied their season high by turning three double plays yesterday...The bullpen has allowed only 3 of 16 inherited runners to score this month...Yesterday marked just the second time in Keibert Ruiz's entire pro career he's struck out three times in one game (414 games). The other instance occurred Aug. 8, 2017 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga at Modesto.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 14, 2021


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