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OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 22, 2021

June 22, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (20-21) at Round Rock Express (24-17)

Game #42 of 120/Road #24 of 60

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (4-1, 4.41) vs. RR-Tyler Phillips (NR, -.--)

Tuesday, June 22, 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 close out their six-game road series against the Round Rock Express with a 7:05 p.m. game at Dell Diamond. Despite a loss Monday night that snapped a five-game winning streak, the Dodgers lead the series 4-1 and are 9-3 over their last 12 road games, including 8-2 in the last 10.

Last Game: The Round Rock Express overcame an early three-run deficit, and Charles Leblanc's game-winning double in the bottom of the 11th inning sent the Express to a 4-3 win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers Monday night at Dell Diamond. The Dodgers scored three runs within the first three innings, but scored no runs over the final eight innings of the game. Sheldon Neuse put OKC ahead with a RBI double in the first inning, and DJ Peters swatted a two-run homer to make it 3-0 in the third inning. The Express scored one run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to tie the game, including home runs by Curtis Terry and Carl Chester, who hit an inside-the-park home run. The Dodgers did not have a hit after the sixth inning and did not advance the automatic runner past second base in either extra inning. On a 0-2 pitch with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning, Leblanc lined a double to left field to give the Express a walk-off victory.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Austin Bibens-Dirkx (4-1) tries for his team-leading fifth win of the season - and a third straight - when he starts tonight for the second time this series...He pitched in Thursday's series opener against the Express and earned his fourth win, allowing two runs and four hits over 5.0 innings. He issued two walks and registered a season-high six strikeouts...In his last three games, Bibens-Dirkx has allowed three runs and 11 hits with five walks and 14 strikeouts over 14.2 innings...He was named Triple-A West Pitcher of the Week following an outing of 5.0 scoreless innings June 6 vs. Sugar Land, marking his first weekly award since May 2013 with the High-A Dunedin Blue Jays...Bibens-Dirkx enters today ranked tied for second in Triple-A West with four wins, while his 1.24 WHIP is fourth, his .239 AVG is fifth and he ranks sixth with a 4.41 ERA. Tonight he'll look to join Sugar Land's Brett Conine as the only pitchers in Triple-A West to reach five wins...Bibens-Dirkx signed with the Dodgers May 4 after he did not see any formal game action in 2020. He was with the Texas Rangers during Spring Training in 2020 and was released June 1...He made his MLB debut May 17, 2017 for the Texas Rangers and went on to be voted Texas Rangers Rookie of the Year in 2017 by DFW BBWAA chapter...He was originally selected in the 16th round of the 2006 MLB Draft by Seattle from the University of Portland and has spent time playing in the Mariners, Cubs, Rockies, Nationals, Blue Jays and Rangers organizations...Bibens-Dirkx made 40 appearances (31 starts) for Round Rock from 2016-18 and last played for the Express in 2018. He also pitched against the Express May 10 in Round Rock, allowing one run and six hits over 5.0 innings in his season debut. He did not issue a walk and had four strikeouts in his first win of 2021.

Against the Express: 2021: 5-6 2019: 6-10 All-time: 135-114 At RR: 67-57

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...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...The Dodgers have now won five of the last seven games at Dell Diamond after going 3-11 over the previous 14 games in Round Rock.

Looking to Break Even: After starting the season 4-13, the OKC Dodgers climbed back to .500 before last night's loss put them back to one game under at 20-21. The Dodgers have posted a 16-8 record over the last 24 games, including an 11-7 record in June...Prior to yesterday's 20-20 mark, the last time the Dodgers owned a .500 record was when they were 6-6 on April 16, 2019. They last held a winning record on the final day of the 2018 season when they finished 75-65. Including last night, OKC has lost in each of the last six chances they've had to achieve a winning record.

Dinger Details: DJ Peters' two-run homer in the third inning last night gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead and pushed the team's streak of consecutive games with a homer to eight. OKC has 14 homers over the eight-game stretch and at least one homer in 13 of the last 14 games (22 HR). They have hit 46 home runs in their last 29 games, including 20 in the last 12 games. In contrast, the Dodgers hit just 11 homers over the first 12 games of 2021...Meanwhile, the Dodgers pitching staff gave up two home runs last night for the second straight game and for just the third time in the last 11 games after not allowing a homer in seven of the previous nine games. Round Rock has homered seven times through the first five games of the current series after OKC had allowed just four homers over its recent 12-game homestand, although all seven have been solo shots. Opponents have been held without a homer in 10 of the last 17 games after they had gone deep at least once in 22 of the first 24 games (42 HR)...Round Rock's Carl Chester hit an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning Monday. It was the second inside-the-park home run hit against OKC this year, along with Albuquerque's Danny Edgeworth on May 24...The Dodgers have allowed just 12 home runs over 18 games in June. The next lowest total in Triple-A West is 21 (Round Rock).

Mound Turnaround: Last night was the 14th time in the last 19 games the Dodgers have allowed four or fewer runs in a game. And in nine of those games, the Dodgers have allowed two or fewer runs, including three of five games in the current series...During the team's current 16-8 stretch, the pitching staff has posted a 3.77 ERA - lowest in Triple-A West since May 25 - and opponents are batting .237. Prior to May 25, the team had a 7.44 ERA, 1.72 WHIP and .293 BAA over the first 17 games...Over the last 17 games, OKC has allowed 60 runs (3.5 rpg) and opponents are batting .238 (133x560) overall...OKC leads Triple-A West with a 3.73 ERA in June after placing eighth in the 10-team league with a 6.53 ERA in May. The Dodgers' 69 runs allowed in June are third-fewest among all Triple-A teams...The Dodgers issued eight walks last night after issuing nine walks over the first four games of the current series combined, including one over the previous two games.

Getting Neuse: Sheldon Neuse went 1-for-3 with a double, RBI, two walks and a stolen base last night and has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 15-for-35 (.429) with seven RBI. Going back to last Tuesday's game against El Paso, Neuse is 11-for-22 over his last six games. He has now reached base 15 of his last 26 plate appearances as well as in 16 of his last 28 plate appearances...Prior to the recent hot streak, Neuse was 4-for-29 with 12 strikeouts to begin his time with OKC.

DJ Remix: DJ Peters was the lone Dodger to finish with a multi-hit game last night, going 2-for-3 with his second home run of the season with OKC. He has now hit safely in a season-high six straight games, collecting seven hits during the stretch, including a double, triple, homer, three RBI and four runs scored. Peters last hit safely in six or more games June 28-July 4, 2019 with OKC (seven games)...Peters was ejected in the seventh inning Monday after arguing a called third strike for the Dodgers' fifth ejection of the season and second by a player.

Stalled Out: OKC's offense was held to fewer than four runs last night for the first time since a 4-3 loss to El Paso June 14 in OKC and for just the third time in the last 22 games that went at least nine innings. The team went 5-for-37 overall (.135) and did not have a hit after the sixth inning, going 0-for-the-last-17 and 1-for-the-last-21. OKC went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-the-last-12 with runners on base.

Streaks Snapped: In addition to the team's five-game win streak coming to a close, a pair of relievers had some notable individual streaks also end. Kevin Quackenbush allowed his first run of the season in the 11th inning - albeit an unearned run since the automatic runner scored. He had held opponents scoreless in each of his first 13 appearances, spanning 14.1 innings. Additionally, Ryan Moseley had made eight consecutive scoreless appearances (7.1 IP) before giving up the tying run in the sixth inning.

Reks in Effect: The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled outfielder Zach Reks yesterday for the first time in his career and he made his Major League debut last night in San Diego, going 0-for-2 before exiting the game as part of a double switch in the fifth inning. Reks departed OKC leading the team with 42 hits, 14 doubles, 32 runs scored and 20 walks. He had reached base in 31 of his 32 starts and was tied for third in Triple-A West with 32 runs scored and 14 doubles, ranked fourth with a .445 OBP, seventh with a .341 AVG, tied for seventh with 19 extra-base hits and ninth with a 1.022 OPS...Reks is the first player this season to make his ML debut directly from OKC. DJ Peters, Luke Raley and Edwin Uceta have also made their ML debuts this season, but all were before OKC's season began.

Around the Horn: With last night's loss in 11 innings, the Dodgers dropped to 0-2 in extra-inning games this season. Monday also marked the team's second walk-off loss of 2021 (May 23 at Albuquerque)...Four of OKC's last five losses have been by one run....After posting a -49 run differential over the first 13 games (3-10), the Dodgers have a +71 run differential over their last 28 games (17-11)...Through five games of his current rehab assignment, Yoshi Tsutstugo is 2-for-18 with two homers, four walks and three RBI. He was placed on the Injured List June 9 with a right calf strain...Luke Raley leads OKC and ranks fourth in Triple-A West with 34 RBI despite playing in just 23 of the team's 41 games...Keibert Ruiz is in the midst of an 0-for-12 slide. It's the first time he's gone hitless in three straight starts since June 18-22, 2019 with Double-A Tulsa (four games)...The bullpen has allowed only four of 24 inherited runners to score this month...The Dodgers are 3-3 in series finales this season, with wins in three of the last four.

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