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OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 19, 2021

June 19, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (18-20) at Round Rock Express (23-15)

Game #39 of 120/Road #21 of 60

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Edwin Uceta (0-2, 5.79) vs. RR-RHP Drew Anderson (3-2, 2.86)

Saturday, June 19, 2021 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers lead their current Red Dirt Rumble series against the Round Rock Express, 2-0, and look to tie their longest winning streak of the season with a fourth consecutive win overall at 7:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond...The Dodgers are 7-2 over their last nine road games after starting the season 2-9 on the road.

Last Game: The OKC Dodgers defeated the Round Rock Express in dramatic fashion Friday night, with Zach Reks making a diving catch in right field with the tying run at second base to end the game and secure an 8-7 victory. The Dodgers led by as many as four runs as late as the seventh inning and still carried a two-run lead with the bases empty and two outs in the ninth inning before a walk and two singles cut OKC's lead to 8-7. With runners at first and second base, Charles Leblanc hit a fly ball to shallow right field and Reks sprinted in and sprawled out angling to his left to make the game-saving grab. Leading up to the ninth inning, the Dodgers scored once each in the first and second innings, but Round Rock tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Dodgers went ahead, 4-2, on a two-run homer by Cristian Santana in the third inning, and Keibert Ruiz added a RBI single in the fifth inning. The Express pulled within 5-4 after five innings, but a three-run sixth extended OKC's lead to 8-4. Drew Avans connected on a solo homer, and Yoshi Tsutsugo and Sheldon Neuse each drove in runs. Round Rock scored one run each in the seventh and eighth innings, setting the stage for the ninth-inning drama.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Edwin Uceta (0-2) looks to bounce back from back-to-back losses when he takes the mound for his fourth appearance with OKC and third start...In his previous outing June 13 against El Paso in OKC, Uceta allowed two runs on two hits over 3.0 innings. He issued two walks and recorded three strikeouts and was charged with the loss in OKC's 9-6 defeat. He faced the minimum in the first and third innings, but labored in the second inning, throwing 32 pitches while the Chihuahuas scored two runs on two hits and two walks...Uceta 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....Uceta previously pitched against the Express May 11 at Dell Diamond with 4.0 innings of relief, allowing two runs and three hits, two walks and recording six strikeouts in OKC's 10-2 loss.

Against the Express: 2021: 3-5 2019: 6-10 All-time: 133-113 At RR: 65-56

The Red Dirt Rumble is back in action as the Dodgers and Express are meeting for their second of five series this season, including their second series in Round Rock...The Express won the first series between the teams May 6-11 as the teams opened the 2021 season against one another. Round Rock outscored OKC, 49-24, in the series and outhit the Dodgers, 70-48. The Dodgers had trouble slowing down the E-Train, who slashed .335/.404/.617 over the six-game set with 14 homers. Round Rock scored at least six runs each game and reached double digits twice. For OKC, Zach Reks collected a team-leading five RBI and tied for the team lead with seven hits, including a double and home run. Omar Estévez scored a team-high five runs...Only 371 miles separate Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark from Dell Diamond, making it the shortest distance between the Dodgers and any of their Triple-A opponents, as well as a perfect set-up for a rivalry as the teams meet 30 times this season...In 2019, the Express won the season series for the first time since 2014. The Dodgers went 2-6 at Dell Diamond, posting a losing record there for the first time since 2009 and taking their most losses ever in one season at the stadium...OKC is 5-11 at Dell Diamond over the last two seasons after going 22-10 at the venue between 2015-18.

Reks in Effect: In addition to his game-saving catch, Zach Reks went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, walk and two runs scored. It was his fourth straight multi-hit game (8x19, HR, 3 2B, 4 R, 3 RBI) and fifth multi-hit game in his last five starts (10x24, HR, 4 2B, 5 R, 3 RBI). He now leads the Dodgers with 12 multi-hit outings this season...Through 14 games (13 starts) in June, Reks has collected 11 extra-base hits and has tallied eight multi-hit games, slashing .358/.452/.642...Overall this season, he leads the Dodgers with 41 hits, 13 doubles and 32 runs scored and 19 walks. He has reached base in 30 of his 31 starts...Reks is tied for the Triple-A West lead with 32 runs scored, ranks third with a .447 OBP, fourth with 13 doubles, fifth with a .345 AVG, seventh with a 1.027 OPS and tied for eighth with 41 hits...His 23 runs scored and 11 doubles since May 29 are both tied for most among Triple-A players...In the 12 games Reks has batted in the leadoff spot, the Dodgers are 9-3 and he is slashing .362/.483/.596 with eight RBI, eight doubles and 14 runs scored...He has scored at least once in seven of his last eight starts, crossing the plate 10 times.

Getting Neuse: Sheldon Neuse picked up two more hits last night, including a double and RBI, as he has now hit safely in a season-high six games, going 13-for-26 with a homer, double, five RBI and five runs scored...Over the first two games of the current series, Neuse is 6-for-9 after going 4-for-4 with a walk Thursday night, tying his career high in hits. It marked the sixth four-hit game of Neuse's career and first since Sept. 13, 2019 with the Oakland A's against the Texas Rangers...Going back to Tuesday's game against El Paso, Neuse is 9-for-13 over the last three games. He has now reached base 10 of his last 13 plate appearances as well as in 11 of his last 15 plate appearances. Prior to the recent hot streak, Neuse was 4-for-29 with 12 strikeouts to begin his time with OKC.

Dinger Details: Cristian Santana and Drew Avans each hit their first home runs of the season in the third and sixth innings, respectively, as the Dodgers have now homered at least once in 10 of their last 11 games (16 HR total). OKC has hit 40 homers in the last 26 games, including 14 homers in the last nine games. In contrast, the Dodgers hit just 11 homers over the first 12 games of 2021...With homers by Avans and Santana last night, the Dodgers have now had 16 different players go deep this season...Meanwhile, the Dodgers pitching staff allowed two home runs last night, giving up multiple homers in one game for just the second time since May 30 and have now allowed homers in consecutive games for the first time since May 31-June 1. Prior to Thursday, the team had gone a season-high stretch of six straight games without allowing a homer. They had allowed just four homers over their recent 12-game homestand, and none in their recently completed six-game series against El Paso, after surrendering 42 over the first 24 games of the season. Opponents have been kept inside the park in nine of the last 14 games after they had gone deep at least once in 22 of the first 24 games.

On Strike: Dodgers pitchers tied a season high with 15 strikeouts last night, marking the fourth time this season they've reached the milestone. Last night was OKC's 21st game of the season with at least 10 strikeouts as well as the team's seventh 10-plus strikeout game in June. The OKC pitching staff's 145 strikeouts so far in June are tied for most in Triple-A West with Round Rock, while their 378 total strikeouts this season are third-most in Triple-A West...On the other hand, the 368 strikeouts by the Dodgers' offense so far this season are third-most in Triple-A West behind Sacramento (370) and Round Rock (369).

Luke Using the Force: Luke Raley returned to the lineup yesterday after his most recent stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers and went 2-for-5 with a RBI and run scored. Over his last 13 starts with OKC, Raley is 20-for-50 (.400) with four doubles, two triples, four homers, 27 RBI and 17 runs scored...Raley leads the Dodgers with 30 RBI - fourth in Triple-A West - despite playing in just 20 of the team's 38 games.

Rehab Report: Yoshi Tsutsugo played in the second game of his Major League Rehab Assignment and went 0-for-2 in five plate appearances with two walks and a sacrifice fly. He also played all nine innings at first base...Tsutsugo was acquired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade with Tampa Bay May 15 and has appeared in 12 games with LAD, going 3-for-25. He was placed on the Injured List June 9 with a right calf strain...Tsutsugo is the sixth player to join OKC on rehab assignment this season.

Two-Out Terrors: Last night the Dodgers scored six of their eight runs with two outs and went 8-for-17. Over the last three games, the team has batted .421 (16x38) with two outs while scoring 13 runs, and they have scored 21 runs with two outs over the last five games (31 runs total). Over the first 33 games of the season, the Dodgers scored a total of 63 two-out runs.

Around the Horn: Round Rock's Curtis Terry hit for the cycle last night. It's the second straight season an opponent has collected a cycle against OKC, with Memphis' Randy Arozarena also accomplishing the feat July 26, 2019 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...OKC has notched 10 or more hits in a season-high four straight games, batting .320 (47x147) during that time (25 runs)...Keibert Ruiz collected a team-high three hits last night with a double, RBI and run scored. So far in June, he is batting .306 (15x49) with four doubles, six homers, 14 RBI and 12 runs scored...Yesterday was just the team's second one-run win of the season and the first on the road. The only other one-run victory was a 7-6 walk-off win against Sacramento on May 17...After posting a -49 run differential over the first 13 games (3-10), the Dodgers have a +65 run differential over their last 25 games (15-10)...Yesterday marked the first time an opponent had three triples in one game since Aug. 5, 2018 at Reno. Carl Chester became the first individual to hit two triples in one game against OKC since Efren Navarro of Salt Lake on June 12, 2014. The Dodgers allowed six extra-base hits last night after giving up seven XBH in the previous six games combined...Yesterday's game clocked in at 3 hours, 46 minutes - the team's second-longest game of 2021 and longest on the road this season. Of the team's 35 nine-inning games this season, it was the 13th to last at least 3:30, including four of the last six nine-inning games and five of the last eight nine-inning games.

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