PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 2, 2022

Published on June 2, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (29-21) at Round Rock Express (30-20)

Game #51 of 150/Road #24 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Ryan Pepiot (3-0, 1.72) vs. RR-LHP Jake Latz (3-4, 4.99)

Thursday, June 2, 2022 | 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 look to take the lead in their road series against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond. The series is tied, 1-1, after the teams exchanged shutout wins in the first two games...Despite a loss last night, the Dodgers have won seven of their last 10 road games, including wins in five of their last seven games at Dell Diamond. However, OKC has lost five of their last seven games overall...The Express now have a one-game lead ahead of the Dodgers for the best record in the PCL.

Last Game: Former Oklahoma City Dodger Willie Calhoun hit two home runs, and one night after being kept off the scoreboard, the Round Rock Express returned the favor with a 4-0 shutout against the Oklahoma City Dodgers Wednesday at Dell Diamond. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when Calhoun connected on a solo home run to give the Express their first run of the series. The Dodgers missed out on an opportunity to tie the game in the eighth inning following a leadoff double by Jake Lamb, who advanced to third base with one out before the next two batters struck out. Calhoun went deep again in the eighth inning, parking a three-run homer into the OKC bullpen in right field. Dodgers starting pitcher Andre Jackson allowed one run over six strong innings but took a tough-luck loss.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryan Pepiot (3-0) returns to OKC after his most recent option from the Los Angeles Dodgers May 28...Pepiot started for Los Angeles May 27 at Arizona and allowed one run and three hits over 4.1 innings with three walks, a hit batter and five strikeouts in a no decision. Of his three starts with LAD, it was his longest outing thus far...He last started for OKC May 22 in Sugar Land, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and one hit batter to go along with six strikeouts as he improved 3-0 this season. He retired 14 of the 17 batters he faced in the team's 7-2 win...Pepiot made his ML debut in Pittsburgh May 11 with 3.0 scoreless innings. In his three starts with LAD this season, he's allowed four runs over 11.1 innings while holding opponents to a .154 average with 13 strikeouts. However, he has also allowed 11 walks...He was named PCL Pitcher of the Month for April as he went 2-0 in five starts with a league-best 1.66 ERA, allowing 14 hits with 29 K's over 21.2 IP and held opponents to a .182 average. He also received weekly PCL honors after making two starts during OKC's first series of the season versus Albuquerque. He threw a total of 7.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, three walks and seven K's. Pepiot held the Isotopes 1-for-25 over the two games...The OKC Dodgers have gone 7-0 in Pepiot's starts this season...Pepiot was selected in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University, becoming the program's highest-ever draft pick...Tonight is Pepiot's first appearance of the season against the Express, but he made three appearances (two starts) against Round Rock in 2021, going 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA over 11.1 innings with six walks and 17 strikeouts.

Against the Express: 2022: 5-3 2021: 16-13 All-time: 151-124 At RR: 82-63 The Dodgers return to Round Rock for their second series against the Express in just over two weeks and after a wild first series between the teams May 10-15, which OKC won, 4-2, winning four straight games in the middle of the series...OKC recorded its largest shutout win in the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) with a 19-0 victory May 12 and Yefry Ramírez became the first OKC Dodger and first pitcher throughout the entire PCL to throw a nine-inning shutout since 2018. Six different players homered in that same game for the first time in the team's Bricktown era...For the first time in the team's Bricktown era, the Dodgers allowed 10 walks in back-to-back games May 10-11. The OKC offense also drew 10-plus walks in back-to-back games May 12-13...On May 15, OKC lost a game when scoring at least 13 runs for just the fifth time during the team's Bricktown era and for the first time since 2007...The top two teams in the PCL East Division are scheduled to play a total 30 times in 2022...The Dodgers won the 2021 series, 16-13, as the Dodgers finished with a slight edge in runs (147-146) and homers (40-39) while the Express outhit OKC, 261-225. After losing five of the first six games, the Dodgers went 15-8 over the final 23 meetings, including a 9-3 record at Dell Diamond...The Dodgers have won five of the last six season series between the teams...Entering today, the Dodgers are 14-6 over their last 20 games at Dell Diamond.

Zeroing In: Last night, the Dodgers were shut out in a nine-inning game for the first time since May 6, 2021, also at Dell Diamond, when the Express beat the Dodgers, 6-0, during the 2021 season opener. The team had gone 168 consecutive nine-inning games scoring at least one run until Wednesday. The Dodgers' overall streak of 171 straight games without being shut out came to an end one week ago when they were defeated, 9-0, by Reno in a seven-inning game during the first game of a doubleheader May 26...Entering Wednesday, OKC had scored at least five runs in each of their first seven games at Dell Diamond for a total of 71 runs while batting .330 overall against the Express with 88 hits...The shutout loss followed an 8-0 shutout win by OKC in the series opener with the Express Tuesday. It's the first time since Aug. 11-12, 2018 the Dodgers and their opponent have traded shutouts on consecutive days. After falling, 14-0, against Memphis at home, OKC blanked the Redbirds, 9-0, the next day.

Hitting Pause: After racking up 23 runs and 31 hits over the previous three games, the Dodgers were held without a run and to six hits Wednesday night. Last night was also the fourth time in the last seven games the Dodgers' offense was held to two runs or less. It was OKC's fifth loss in the last seven games and in those five losses, the team has combined for 10 runs and has been shut out twice...The Dodgers went 1-for-15 with runners on base last night and 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, stranding nine runners on base. The team had gone a combined 13-for-38 (.342) with runners on base and 10-for-24 (.417) with runners in scoring position over the previous two games...Despite the slowdown, the Dodgers still lead the Minors with 325 runs scored this season, a .375 OBP and .834 OPS. They also rank tied for third in the Minors with a .274 average, fourth with 462 hits and 252 walks and fifth with a .459 SLG.

Dre Day: Starting pitcher Andre Jackson completed 6.0 innings Wednesday night for the first time since July 30, 2019 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga, matching his career high. Prior to last night, Jackson had not exceeded 4.0 innings in each of his first eight starts. Jackson allowed only one run on five hits, with three walks and two strikeouts, while inducing 12 groundouts. He threw an efficient 76 pitches, completing four of his six frames on 10 or fewer pitches and needing more than 13 pitches to complete an inning just once...OKC's starting pitcher has completed 6.0 innings twice in the last five games after it happened just twice in the team's first 45 games.

No Diggity, Noda: Ryan Noda went 1-for-3 with a walk Wednesday night and over his last three games is now 7-for-11 with two extra-base hits, four RBI and two walks. On Tuesday, he tied his career high with four hits as part of a 4-for-5 effort with a double and two RBI. It was his second career four-hit game and first since April 18, 2019 with High-A Dunedin against Lakeland. Noda also became the third OKC Dodger with four hits in one game this season, joining Zach McKinstry and Kevin Pillar...The recent success follows a four-game stretch in which he was held 1-for-10 and an eight-game stretch in which he went 3-for-23...Noda's 30 walks this season are tied with Miguel Vargas for the team lead. They are both tied for second in the PCL in walks, trailing Sugar Land's David Hensley by one for most in the circuit.

Mighty Miguel: Miguel Vargas collected a hit last night and has now hit safely in three straight games. Vargas leads the Dodgers with 54 hits and 45 runs in a team-leading 48 games. He also has 30 RBI so far this season and his 30 walks are tied for most on the team...His 45 runs scored lead the PCL, while his 54 hits and 30 walks are both tied for second-most in the league and his 89 total bases are sixth-most in the PCL...Vargas has started and played in 48 of the team's last 49 games.

Up and Down on the Mound: After allowing 10 runs Sunday - marking the seventh time this season an opponent has reached double digits - the Dodgers have allowed a total of four runs through their first two games in Round Rock this week while keeping the Express off the scoreboard in 15 of 17 innings. The Dodgers have now allowed four runs or less in five of their last six games as well as in seven of their last 10 games. Opponents have also been held to seven hits or less in five of the last six games.

Steady Eddy: Eddy Alvarez reached base with a walk last night, but was held without a hit for just the third time in his last 17 games. During the 17-game stretch, Alvarez is 23-for-66 (.348) with seven doubles, two triples, 15 RBI, 18 runs scored and 11 walks...His .426 OBP ranks third in the PCL, while his four triples are tied for second and his .926 OPS is eighth in the league...In seven games against Round Rock this season, Alvarez is 10-for-27 (.370) with six extra-base hits, 10 runs and 10 RBI.

Balls and Strikes: The Dodgers' offense drew four more walks Wednesday and now has 104 walks over the past 19 games (5.5 per game). OKC leads all Triple-A teams and is fourth overall in the Minors with 252 walks this season...On the other hand, the Dodgers struck out 12 more times Wednesday and have now struck out at least 10 times in six straight games (78 K) and in seven of the last eight games (93 K). Last season the Dodgers had two six-game streaks with 10-plus strikeouts, but it did not reach seven.

Around the Horn: At 29-21, the Dodgers' have their best record through 50 games since 2018 (31-19)...This is the Dodgers' fifth straight series to be tied 1-1 through two games as well as the sixth time in the last seven series it's been even through two games. The Dodgers are 4-2 in Game 3 of a series when tied through two games...Last night, for the first time all season Oklahoma City played in a game that was scoreless through the first five innings. It was just the second time they were involved in a game scoreless after four innings and the first time since Opening Night April 5 against Albuquerque...Michael Busch reached base three times last night with a single and two walks. Over his last three games, Busch is 4-for-12 with two walks, two RBI and three runs scored...Omar Estévez last played Saturday when he compiled a career-high six RBI and posted his second career game with two home runs. Following a 2-for-30 start to the season, Estévez is batting .326 (14x43) with seven extra-base over his last 12 games...Stefen Romero also has not played since Saturday, but in his last five starts he is 10-for-20 with two homers, four doubles, six RBI and four multi-hit games...Zach McKinstry ranks fourth in the PCL with a .424 OBP, .338 batting average and 51 hits.

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