OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 28, 2021
June 28, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (24-22) at Sugar Land Skeeters (26-19)
Game #47 of 120/Road #29 of 60
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (5-1, 4.31) vs. SUG-RHP J.P. France (0-0, 3.00)
Monday, June 28, 2021 | Constellation Field | Sugar Land, 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 road series against the Sugar Land Skeeters, 3-1, as the teams meet for the fifth time in their six-game series at 7:05 p.m. at Constellation Field as part of Triple-A West Night in America. The Dodgers are 8-2 overall during their Texas road trip and are now 13-4 over the last 17 games, including 12-3 in the last 15 road games...Overall, the Dodgers are 9-2 in the last 11 games, with each of the two losses by identical 4-3 scores.
Last Game: After seeing an early four-run lead slip away, the Dodgers regrouped thanks to Keibert Ruiz's late-innings offense to beat the Skeeters, 6-4, Sunday evening at Constellation Field. The Dodgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Sheldon Neuse hit a three-run homer to right-center field. OKC added a run in the second inning after having the bases empty with two outs. Drew Avans knocked a single and stole second base, then scored on a RBI double by Carlos Asuaje. The Skeeters proceeded to hit three homers over the next three innings to pull into a 4-4 tie, with solo homers in the third and fifth innings and a two-run shot in the fourth inning. The game was still even in the seventh inning when Ruiz led off with a long home run past the bullpens in right field to regain the lead. Avans and Ruiz teamed up for another run in the ninth inning. Again, Avans singled and stole second base, but this time he also went to third base on a throwing error during the play. Ruiz later hit a sacrifice fly to score Avans and put the Dodgers up by two runs.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Austin Bibens-Dirkx (5-1) makes his third start of the road trip and seventh start of the season overall with OKC...He picked up his team-leading fifth win of the season in his last start June 22 in Round Rock - also his third straight win. He allowed two runs and five hits over 5.0 innings with one walk and five strikeouts during the team's 8-6 victory...He is just one of three pitchers in Triple-A West with five wins and tonight can become the first to reach six wins. His 1.24 WHIP is third, his .240 AVG is tied for third and his 4.31 ERA is fifth...Over four outings in June, Bibens-Dirkx is 3-0 with a 2.29 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and .219 BAA. He has six walks and 19 strikeouts over 19.2 innings...The Dodgers are 5-1 in his starts this season, including wins in three straight entering tonight...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 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...He last pitched against the Skeeters June 6 in OKC while working out of the bullpen, allowing three hits over five scoreless innings with one walk and four K's in OKC's 8-5 loss.
Against the Skeeters: 2021: 7-3 2019: N/A All-time: 7-3 At SUG: 3-1 The Dodgers and Skeeters are meeting for their second series of the season and first at Constellation Field...The teams faced off June 3-8 in OKC at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for their first-ever series, which the Dodgers won, 4-2. Zach Reks and Rangel Ravelo each led OKC with seven hits, with Ravelo hitting three homers and finishing with a team-high eight RBI. Luke Raley also recorded seven RBI over five games as OKC outscored the Skeeters, 38-21...Triple-A newcomer Sugar Land was previously an independent team and is now the top affiliate of the Houston Astros. The team was established in 2012 and is one of three previously independent teams to become affiliated in 2021 along with the St. Paul Saints (Triple-A East; Twins) and Somerset Patriots (Double-A Northeast; Yankees)...Sugar Land leads the East Division of Triple-A West a 26-19 record and is 13-8 at home this season, with three of those home losses in the current series. The Skeeters' +50 run differential is best in the league. The team's .286 batting average is second-best in all of Triple-A while their pitching staff's 4.37 ERA leads Triple-A West, and they have allowed a league-low 208 runs so far in 2021.
Over the Hump: The Dodgers now own a 24-22 record and are two games above .500 for the second time this season, surpassing the .500 mark on Thursday for the first time since the end of the 2018 season. After starting 2021 with a 4-13 record, the team has gone 20-9 since, including 15-8 in June. Since this current run began May 25, OKC owns the best record in Triple-A West - and second-best record in all of Triple-A (Omaha, 22-8)...The Dodgers are now 2.5 games behind first-place Sugar Land for the East Division lead, which is tied for the closest they've been since May 7.
Back in the Driver's Seat: One day after being held to a season-low three hits, the Dodgers bounced back with 10 hits last night for their highest total of the current series. The Dodgers finished with seven extra-base hits, marking their fourth game of the season with seven or more extra-base hits and their highest total since June 8, also against Sugar Land. The team also tied its season high with five doubles, previously done May 23 at Albuquerque...The Dodgers scored four runs between the first and second innings Sunday and have now scored within the first two innings in nine of the last 10 games (19 R)...After being held to three or fewer runs in back-to-back games for the first time since mid-May, the Dodgers scored six runs last night and have averaged 6.4 runs per game since May 16...Over the last six games, the Dodgers are 4-2. In the two losses, OKC has combined to go 8-for-66 (.121) overall and 2-for-18 with RISP while scoring six runs over 20 innings. In the four wins, they've batted .267 (39x146) overall and 11-for-38 with RISP (.289) while scoring 21 runs in 36 innings.
Pitching Plaudits: Last night marked the 18th time in the last 24 games the Dodgers allowed four or fewer runs in a game. Over the last 11 games, they've allowed three or fewer earned runs seven times and two or fewer runs in four of 10 games during the current road trip...The OKC pitching staff leads Triple-A West with a 3.72 ERA in June - more than 1.4 runs lower than second-place Round Rock (5.17)...The Dodgers recorded six strikeouts last night for their lowest strikeout total in seven games, and just the second time in 20 games they've had fewer than seven strikeouts. But the Dodgers still rank second in Triple-A West with 219 K's so far in June - just one behind league-leading Sacramento's 220 K's this month.
Aaron's Accolades: Starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson was named Triple-A Pitcher of the Week for June 21-27. In his June 24 start at Sugar Land, Wilkerson turned in 6.0 scoreless innings, scattering three singles with no walks and a season high-tying eight strikeouts. Wilkerson allowed only one runner to reach scoring position and held the Skeeters 3-for-21 overall and 0-for-6 with runners on base. He retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced, as well as 15 of the final 17 batters he faced. Over his last six outings, Wilkerson is now 4-0 and has posted a 2.18 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, .203 opponent batting average and has 40 strikeouts against eight walks in 33.0 innings...This is the second weekly honor for Wilkerson this season, who was also named Triple-A West Pitcher of the Week for May 24-30.
Dinger Details: After being held without a home run in consecutive games for just the second time this season, the Dodgers got homers from Sheldon Neuse and Keibert Ruiz last night. The Dodgers have hit 53 home runs in their last 34 games, including 27 in the last 17 games. In contrast, the Dodgers hit just 11 homers over the first 12 games of 2021...Prior to Friday, the Dodgers had homered in a season-high 10 straight games, hitting 18 homers during the stretch...After being held without a home run in three straight games, the Skeeters hit three home runs last night accounting for all four of their runs. It was the first time since May 24 at Albuquerque the Dodgers allowed three homers in one game. Sugar Land had hit just four home runs in nine games throughout the season series until yesterday...The Dodgers have held an opponent without a homer 10 times in the last 16 games and in 13 of the last 22 games after they had gone deep at least once in 22 of the first 24 games (42 HR)...Even with three homers last night, the Dodgers have allowed just 16 home runs over 23 games in June. The next lowest total in Triple-A West is 30 (Round Rock).
Ruizy Peazy: Keibert Ruiz led the OKC offense with a homer, double, two RBI and two runs scored Sunday. He leads the Dodgers with 17 RBI, seven homers and 18 runs scored in the month of June and is now tied with Luke Raley for the team lead overall this season with nine homers (tied for 10th in Triple-A West)...He collected his third multi-hit game of the series last night and is now 6-for-14 with four walks at Constellation Field. Ruiz has 11 multi-hit games so far this season - tied for second most among Dodgers players - and his 20 extra-base hits are tied with Zach Reks for the OKC lead...Between OKC and his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, Ruiz has hit 10 homers and 11 doubles in 139 total plate appearances (36 games). During his last full season in 2019, Ruiz hit six homers and nine doubles between OKC and Double-A Tulsa over 350 plate appearances (85 games). Ruiz entered 2021 with a career .420 SLG, but it's up to .602 this season, which ranks ninth in Triple-A West.
Luke Uses the Force: Luke Raley went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and run scored Sunday, and over his last 20 starts with OKC, Raley is 28-for-74 (.378) with seven doubles, two triples, seven homers, 34 RBI and 24 runs scored...Raley leads the Dodgers with 37 RBI and is tied with Keibert Ruiz with a team-leading nine homers despite playing in just 27 of the team's 46 games this season...His 37 RBI are sixth-most in Triple-A West while his homers are tied for 10th-most in the league. Since May 23, Raley leads Triple-A with 36 RBI and ranks fourth overall in all of the Minors.
Around the Horn: The Dodgers have played six straight games decided by one or two runs and are 4-2 in those games. Eight of the 10 games of the current road trip have been decided by one or two runs, and OKC is 6-2 in those games...After posting a -49 run differential over the first 13 games (3-10), the Dodgers have a +77 run differential over their last 33 games (21-12)...Sheldon Neuse hit a three-run homer in the first inning last night for his second home run in three games. Neuse has now hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games, going 19-for-51 (.373) with 12 RBI.. The OKC bullpen combined for 4.0 scoreless innings Sunday and allowed just one hit, retiring 10 of 13 batters while facing one over the minimum...Drew Avans has hit safely in his last four starts, going 6-for-15 with five runs scored and four stolen bases.
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