PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 22, 2022

June 22, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (35-32) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (42-25)

Game #68 of 150/Home #35 of 75

Pitching Probables: RR-LHP Cole Ragans (0-0, 2.57) vs. OKC-RHP Michael Grove (0-0, 7.30)/LHP Robbie Erlin (3-1, 4.87)

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 | 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 look to take a 2-0 lead in their series against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Winners in five of the last six games, the Dodgers own first place in the Pacific Coast League and have a four-game lead ahead of second-place El Paso in the East Division standings.

Last Game: Ryan Pepiot recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts over six innings while Miguel Vargas and Michael Busch each hit home runs as the Oklahoma City Dodgers opened a series against the Round Rock Express with a 7-1 win Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Vargas hit a solo home run in the first inning for the first run of the night. Busch and Jason Martin hit back-to-back doubles later in the inning for a 2-0 Dodgers lead. Vargas added a RBI single in the second inning and Oklahoma City added another run on an errant Round Rock pickoff attempt for a 4-0 lead. The lone run of the night for the Express came on a solo home run by Bubba Thompson in the third inning. Jake Lamb knocked a RBI double in the fourth inning and Busch hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning. Pepiot (6-0) allowed one run and three hits over 6.0 innings in his sixth win of the season, becoming the first OKC pitcher with a double-digit strikeout game in 2022.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Michael Grove (0-0) makes his fourth Triple-A start with OKC...In his last start June 16 in Reno, Grove allowed five runs and four hits in 4.0 innings, with three walks and four strikeouts, and did not factor into the decision of the team's 12-8 win...In his last two games, Grove has allowed five home runs over 8.0 IP. Prior to June 7 vs. Sugar Land, he had allowed one home run over 25.1 innings across three levels...Grove made his team and Triple-A debut May 21 in Sugar Land, six days after making his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Grove made the jump from Double-A for a spot start with Los Angeles May 15 against Philadelphia. Grove became the first Los Angeles Dodger to make his Major League debut straight from Double-A since relief pitcher Danny Coulombe in September 2014...He's been recalled three times this season by Los Angeles and has made two appearances. He was most recently optioned to OKC June 14...Grove made five starts with Tulsa to open the season and entered the 2022 season ranked as the Dodgers' No. 24 prospect by Baseball America...He was selected by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft from West Virginia University...This will be his first career meeting with Round Rock.

Robbie Erlin (3-1) is scheduled to follow Grove...He also piggybacked Grove June 16 in Reno, covering the fifth through seventh innings. He was credited with the win after allowing three runs and six hits over 3.0 innings with two walks and three strikeouts, as OKC won, 12-8...Erlin threw five scoreless and hitless innings June 10 against Salt Lake, retiring 15 of the 18 batters he faced. Erlin retired the first 10 Salt Lake hitters before a walk in the fourth inning. He had retired 14 of 15 batters before back-to-back walks with two outs in the fifth inning, but finished his outing with a strikeout of Torii Hunter Jr. and tallied five strikeouts in the no decision. It was his longest hitless outing since June 27, 2010 with Single-A Hickory...The lefty has also made two appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season. He had his contract selected May 7 and pitched on back-to-back days May 8-9. He was designated for assignment May 11 and outrighted to OKC May 13...Erlin has appeared in 117 games (43 starts) in the Majors, primarily with San Diego, and was selected by Texas in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft from Scotts Valley High School (Calif.)...Tonight is his third appearance of the season against the Express. In his first two outings, both road starts, Erlin allowed a combined three runs and seven hits in 7.0 innings with three walks and six strikeouts.

Against the Express: 2022: 9-4 2021: 16-13 All-time: 155-125 At OKC: 70-61 The Dodgers and Express play their third series of the season and third in seven weeks, but first of 2022 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers entered this series with an 8-4 record in the season series to date, most recently winning a six-game set at Dell Diamond, 4-2, May 31-June 5. The teams exchanged shutouts in their first two games of the last series and the Dodgers posted wins in three of the last four meetings...Through the first 13 games of the season between the teams, Miguel Vargas has a team-best 20 hits and 16 RBI. Pitcher Beau Burrows is 2-0 against the Express with 19 K's...The teams had a wild first series in Round Rock 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. In series finale 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, as Round Rock won, 14-13...The Dodgers have won five of the last six season series between the teams.

Life At the Top: The Dodgers sit in first place in the Pacific Coast League with a 42-25 record and have matched their season-high mark at 17 games above .500. OKC has not been at least 18 games above .500 since finishing the 2016 season with an 81-60 record...The Dodgers have now won five of the last six games, seven of the last nine games, 11 of the last 14 games and 14 of the last 17 games. They have also won six of their last seven games at home and tonight look to match their longest home win streak of the season at four games...OKC has won four straight series and is 9-1-3 through their first 13 series of the season, with their lone series loss going to Reno in OKC in late May.

Pep Rally: Ryan Pepiot (6-0) recorded 10 strikeouts for the most strikeouts by an Oklahoma City pitcher this season and the most of his Triple-A career (22 games/19 starts). Pepiot last recorded double-digit strikeouts July 4, 2021 with Double-A Tulsa against Arkansas (11 K)...The last OKC pitcher with 10 strikeouts in a game was Yefry Ramírez in the team's 2021 season finale Oct. 3 against El Paso at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The only other pitcher with 10 K's last season was Josiah Gray in the team's season opener May 6, 2021 in Round Rock...Pepiot also improved to 6-0 with Tuesday's win after allowing one run, three hits and three walks over 6.0 innings, tying his season high. He became the second pitcher in the PCL this season to reach six wins...As a team, the Dodgers improved to 10-0 in Pepiot's starts this season.

Busch League: Michael Busch extended his hitting streak to 12 games last night, going 2-for-5 with a double, homer, two RBI and two runs scored. During the streak, Busch is 17-for-52 (.327) with eight extra-base hits and 11 RBI. The streak is tied with Jake Lamb for the longest hitting streak by a Dodgers player this season and is tied for the second-longest active streak in the PCL. The 12-game streak also matches his career-long streak of hitting in 12 straight games May 8-20 between Double-A Tulsa (seven games) and OKC (five games)...Over his last nine games, Busch is 14-for-38 (.368) with seven extra-base hits...Including last night, he has homered in three of his last six games. He's also tallied at least one extra-base hit in six of his last seven games...With 16 home runs overall, Busch is tied for the most among Dodgers minor leaguers.

On the Lamb: Jake Lamb hit his 12th double of the season last night - including his league-leading ninth of June - and collected a RBI as he extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games. During the streak he is 19-for-48 (.396) with three homers, seven doubles, 13 RBI and 11 runs scored. The streak is tied with Michael Busch for the longest hitting streak by a Dodgers player this season and second-longest active streak in the PCL...Lamb leads the Dodgers with 15 home runs (T-3rd, PCL) and 49 RBI (3rd, PCL) and is tied for the team lead with 38 walks (T-2nd, PCL)...Lamb has also reached base in 16 straight games for the longest active on-base streak among OKC players and his second streak of at least 15 games. He has also reached base in 26 of his last 27 games and in 41 of his last 43 games. Since April 24 (43 games), Lamb is slashing .331/.446/.631 with 12 homers, 12 doubles, 32 walks, 40 RBI and 34 runs scored.

Clearance at JMart: Jason Martin went 1-for-3 Tuesday with his team-leading 14th double, a RBI and two walks. He has now hit safely in a season-best 11 consecutive games, going 16-for-41 (.390) with four home runs, two triples, four doubles and 15 RBI. He has now driven in at least one run in eight of his last nine games (14 RBI) and in nine of his last 11 games (15 RBI). He's also tallied at least one extra-base hit in four straight games as well as in five of his last six...Martin ranks tied for first in the league with five triples and also ranks among the league's top in runs (3rd, 45), extra-base hits (5th, 29), SLG (5th, .571), OPS (5th, .965), doubles (T-5th, 14) and RBI (T-6th, 46).

Mighty Miguel: Following a 3-for-26 slide, Miguel Vargas is 7-for-17 with four RBI, four walks and four runs scored over his last four games. Tuesday he recorded his third multi-hit outing over the last four games and he hit his 11th home run of the season...Vargas leads the PCL with 57 runs scored this season and ranks second with 73 hits. His 38 walks are tied for second in the PCL, while his 48 RBI are fourth and his 126 total bases and four triples tied for third...In 13 games against Round Rock this season, Vargas is slashing .357/.429/.643 with 20 hits, nine extra-base hits, 11 runs and 16 RBI.

Getting Offensive: The Dodgers have scored at least six runs in 11 of the last 13 games (97 R) and have homered in a season-best nine straight games (14 HR)...The Dodgers lead all of Triple-A with 337 walks and a .374 OBP, while their 444 runs scored and .838 OPS are second and their .275 AVG and .464 SLG are third...The run total, OBP and OPS each ranks second overall in the Minors...They have collected 12 or more hits in four of the last six games, batting .317 (70x221) with 52 runs during that stretch.

Around the Horn: Drew Avans went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, two runs and a stolen base last night, as he has reached base in 22 of his last 23 games with a plate appearance. Since May 26 (22 games), Avans is slashing .347/.462/.573 with 26 hits, 21 runs and 14 RBI. He has hit safely in seven of his last eight games (12x32)...OKC has homered in 15 of the last 16 games, tallying 24 total homers during the stretch...After scoring in the first inning in just two of the 22 previous games, they Dodgers have scored in the first inning in three straight games. They are now 19-3 when scoring in the first inning this season...The Dodgers are just 2-4 in Game 2 of a series after a win in the series opener, with losses in three of the last four. Seven of the team's last eight series have been 1-1 through two games, including both previous series against Round Rock...The Dodgers have drawn least five walks in five straight games (34 BB).

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