PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 2, 2023

Published on June 2, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Reno Aces (31-23) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (39-15)

Game #55 of 150/First Half #55 of 75/Home #25 of 75

Pitching Probables: RNO-LHP Blake Walston (5-2, 3.40) vs. OKC-LHP Bryan Hudson (2-0, 1.61)/RHP Andre Jackson (0-1, 4.00)

Friday, June 2, 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 try for back-to-back wins as they continue their series against the Reno Aces at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers have a 2-1 lead in the series between the top two teams in the Pacific Coast League and the first-place Dodgers have eight more wins than second-place Reno...Tonight is Salute to Armed Forces Night presented by Casey's. Dodgers players and coaches will take the field in special commemorative camouflage jerseys and hats. A pregame flyover is scheduled, along with recognition of military members throughout the evening and fireworks are scheduled to follow the game, presented by Casey's.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored five unanswered runs and also turned a triple play on the way to a 7-5 win against the Reno Aces Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Jonny DeLuca and Luke Williams. The Aces responded with five straight runs over the third through fifth innings to build a 5-2 lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning, DeLuca connected on a two-run home run out to left field to trim Reno's lead to one. After turning a 5-4-3 triple play with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning, the Dodgers tied the score in the bottom of the inning on a RBI double by Jahmai Jones. DeLuca's RBI single put the Dodgers in front, 6-5, later in the inning. Devin Mann added a RBI single in the eighth inning for a 7-5 OKC advantage. Reliever Gus Varland recorded the final nine outs to earn the win.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Bryan Hudson (2-0) is scheduled to open tonight's game and make his third start of the season...Hudson pitched Wednesday against Reno, tossing a scoreless inning and allowing two hits with one strikeout. It was the first time in five appearances he allowed a hit and he has pitched nine straight scoreless outings (10.2 IP)...He also opened OKC's May 23 game in Sacramento with a scoreless and hitless 1.1 innings with one strikeout...Through 19 appearances (two starts) Hudson has a 1.61 ERA (22.1 IP) with 11 walks against 38 strikeouts. He has not allowed a run in 16 of his 19 games...He signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent Dec. 13, 2022 and was originally selected by the Chicago Cubs in the third round of the 2015 draft.

Andre Jackson (0-1) is expected to be today's primary pitcher...He last pitched May 28 in Sacramento, following opener Justin Hageman with a season-high 4.0 innings. He entered the game in the third inning and allowed two runs and five hits, including a home run, issued one walk and tied his season-high with four strikeouts in OKC's 8-3 win...During two outings in Sacramento, Jackson allowed five runs and eight hits over 7.0 innings. Prior to May 23, Jackson had not allowed a run in his previous four outings with OKC (8.0 IP) with 10 strikeouts against four walks, while holding opponents 2-for-25...Jackson has made six relief appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, going 0-0 with a 7.98 ERA, 13 K's and three walks, along with a three-inning save in his season debut April 1 vs. Arizona. He was most recently optioned to OKC May 19...Jackson spent the majority of 2022 with OKC, posting a 2-7 record and 5.00 ERA with 76 K's in 21 appearances (19 starts). He led OKC in starts and finished fourth in strikeouts...He was recalled six times by LAD throughout the 2022 season and made four relief appearances, posting a 1.86 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and nine K's in 9.2 IP...Jackson was drafted by the Dodgers from the University of Utah in 2017 as a 12th round selection and made his ML debut in 2021.

Against the Aces: 2023: 2-1 2022: 6-6 All-time: 36-29 At OKC: 24-15 The Dodgers and Aces meet for their first of two series this season and lone series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The teams later play July 25-30 in Reno...The teams split their 2022 season series, 6-6, as they played 12 games against one another in a span of 24 games. The Dodgers won the most recent series between the teams, 4-2, June 14-19, 2022 in Reno, while the Aces won the May 24-29, 2022 series, 4-2, in OKC...OKC scored eight or more runs in five games against Reno last season and 10 or more runs three times. Both teams posted a shutout in the season series...Jason Martin led OKC with 13 hits and 14 RBI against the Aces last season, while Jake Lamb hit a team-leading four homers...The Dodgers and Aces have split each of their last three season series and OKC has not won a season series against Reno since the 2015 season when OKC went 3-1. The Dodgers are 0-2-4 in season series against the Aces since.

Race to the Top: The Pacific Coast League's top two teams playing one another in early June may have playoff implications although the teams just passed the one-third point of their 2023 schedules. The PCL season is split into halves in 2023, with the first half ending June 25 after 75 games. The winner of the first half - the team with the best record in the 10-team league - will serve as host of a League Championship Series starting Sept. 26, meeting the second-half winner for a best-of-three series.

Trend Setters: The Dodgers are 17-4 since May 9 - with all four defeats by one run - and have tied their season-high mark of 24 games above .500 with a 39-15 record overall. Their 39 wins are the most among all teams in the Minors and only the 40-18 Tampa Bay Rays have more wins in all of affiliated professional baseball, but have played five more games than OKC...OKC's 39 wins are the most by an OKC team through 54 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998) and no other OKC team since 1998 has had fewer than 19 losses through 54 or 55 games...OKC reached 35 wins quicker than any team in the PCL since 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. The previous fastest PCL team to 35 wins since 2005 was the 2012 Fresno Grizzlies, who picked up their 35th win in Game 51. The previous fastest OKC team to 35 wins was the 2015 Dodgers, who reached the win total in 55 games...The fastest PCL teams to 40 wins since 2005 were the 2019 El Paso Chihuahuas, 2015 OKC Dodgers and 2010 Fresno Grizzlies who all picked up their 40th win in Game No. 61...OKC is 18-6 so far at home - best among all Triple-A teams. The Dodgers have won 12 of the last 15 games and are 15-4 over the last 19 games in Bricktown. With yesterday's victory, the team still has not endured consecutive losses in OKC this season.

Triple Threat: The Dodgers turned a triple play in the top of the seventh inning last night. With the bases loaded and none out, Reno's Dominic Miroglio hit a grounder toward OKC third baseman Yonny Hernández. With Hernández running toward him, Reno's Alek Thomas was called out between second and third base for leaving the base line. Hernández then threw to Jahmai Jones at second base for a force out, and Jones' throw to first base beat Miroglio for the third out. It was the first triple play turned by OKC since June 9, 2005 in New Orleans and the first triple play in the PCL since the 2018 season (Nashville). The triple play was the third overall of 2023 in Triple-A (also Omaha and Jacksonville) and seventh overall in the Minors this season.

Yon The Reg: Yonny Hernández reached base in three of four plate appearances last night, collecting a double, two walks and scoring two runs He extended his hitting streak to 13 games - the longest hitting streak of the season by an OKC player and second-longest active streak in the PCL. During the streak, he is 16-for-44 (.364) with six extra-base hits, 11 walks and 11 runs scored. It's the second-longest hitting streak of Hernández's career, trailing only a 17-game streak in 2016 with the DSL Rangers...The last OKC player with a hitting streak of at least 13 games was Miguel Vargas, who had a 14-game streak Aug. 13-28, 2022...On Wednesday, he hit his first homer of the season and his .439 OBP this season ranks sixth in the league.

Jonny Be Good: Jonny DeLuca went 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored Thursday. He has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 15-for-37 (.405) with 12 RBI and six extra-base hits, including three homers. The seven-game stretch includes four multi-hit games and three games with three-plus hits, as well as four multi-RBI games...Since joining OKC from Double-A Tulsa May 16, DeLuca leads the Dodgers with 21 hits and 18 RBI in 15 games. His 14 overall homers and .588 SLG both rank second among Dodgers minor leaguers this season.

Keeping Up with the Joneses: Jahmai Jones doubled in a seventh consecutive game Thursday as he extended his hitting streak to nine games (12x24) and pushed his on-base streak to 17 games. His stretch of seven straight games with an extra-base hit is one shy of the longest streak in the league this season of eight games...Over his last 12 games, Jones is 12-for-27 (.444) with seven doubles, 11 walks and three HBP, reaching base in 26 of 42 plate appearances (.619 OBP)...Jones ranked second in the PCL in May with a .500 OBP and his eight doubles were tied for fourth...He has reached base in 19 of his last 27 plate appearances over seven games, getting on base at least three times in four of the seven contests. Last night snapped an eight-game streak of reaching base at least twice.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann went 1-for-4 with a RBI Thursday as he extended his on-base streak to 21 games - the second-longest on-base streak of the season by an OKC player. He is 21-for-69 (.304) during the streak with five doubles, four homers, 18 RBI, 17 walks and 18 runs scored, while posting a .455 OBP....Over his last five games, Mann is 8-for-21 with seven RBI and six runs scored...After slashing .233/.314/.400 through May 2 (25 games), he is slashing .304/.455/.551 since May 3 (21 games)...His 20 doubles pace the PCL and are tied for second-most in all of the Minors.

Hit Me Up: The Dodgers finished with 11 hits last night, reaching double digits for a third straight game for the second time this season and first since the first three games of the season March 31-April 2. Over the last seven games, the team is batting .288 (69x240) with 44 runs and 27 extra-base hits, recording 10-plus hits in five of seven contests...The Dodgers have 15 extra-base hits over the first three games of the series after being held to three XBH or less in nine of the previous 12 games...The team is batting .320 (33x103) with runners in scoring position over the last nine games.

Close Calls: Including last night, 12 of the Dodgers' last 17 games have been decided by one or two runs, including nine of the last 13 games. Of the team's 54 total games this season, 28 have been decided by two runs or less. OKC is now 22-6 in those close games...Last night was the team's 15th win when trailing after six innings and the eighth win after trailing by at least three runs.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers were charged with a season-high four errors last night after going a season-high six consecutive games without an error. Their previous four errors occurred over a span of 11 games...After holding opponents to four runs or less in five consecutive games and in eight of the previous nine games, the Dodgers have allowed at least five runs each of the last two nights against the Minors' top hitting team...Last night's game endured two weather delays, totaling 1 hour, 31 minutes.

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