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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 29, 2021

June 29, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (25-22) at Sugar Land Skeeters (26-20)

Game #48 of 120/Road #30 of 60

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Aaron Wilkerson (4-3, 3.86) vs. SUG-RHP Brett Conine (5-1, 3.67)

Tuesday, June 29, 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 have won back-to-back games, as well as five of the last six games, entering their 7:05 p.m. series finale against the Sugar Land Skeeters at Constellation Field. The Dodgers lead the current series, 4-1, and will win their second straight series regardless of tonight's result. The Dodgers are 9-2 during their Texas road trip with their two losses being by identical 4-3 scores. They are 14-4 over the last 18 road games, including 13-3 in the last 16 road games.

Last Game: The OKC Dodgers scored twice in the ninth inning to tie the game and then scored the eventual game-winning run in the top of the 11th inning for a dramatic 5-4 win over Sugar Land Monday night at Constellation Field. The Skeeters took a 3-0 lead through four innings, as the Dodgers faced their largest deficit in two weeks. Sheldon Neuse trimmed the Sugar Land lead to one with a two-run single in the fifth inning. The game remained 3-2 in favor of the Skeeters until they added a run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ahead by two, Sugar Land still had runners at the corners with none out, but Dodgers reliever James Pazos worked out of the jam to keep it a 4-2 game. Each of the first four Dodgers to bat in the ninth inning reached base, including a bases-loaded walk by Drew Avans. Yoshi Tsutsugo came up next and grounded into a double play, but it scored the tying run. Neither team advanced the automatic runner past second base in the 10th. Cristian Santana began the 11th inning with a RBI single to score automatic runner DJ Peters from second base. Dodgers closer Kevin Quackenbush retired all three batters in the bottom of the 11th and stranded the tying run at third base.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Reigning Triple-A West Pitcher of the Week Aaron Wilkerson (4-3) looks to defeat the Skeeters for the second time this series...In his last start Thursday, Wilkerson turned in 6.0 scoreless innings, scattering three singles with no walks and a season high-tying eight strikeouts. He 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 and was named league Pitcher of the Week for June 21-27 for his second weekly honor of the season...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 IP. Thursday marked his second scoreless start this season of at least 6.0 innings (also May 25 at Albuquerque)...Overall this season, Wilkerson's 1.13 WHIP leads Triple-A West, while his 3.86 ERA, 50 K's and .240 AVG each rank third. His four wins are tied for fourth and his 44.1 innings are fifth...Wilkerson signed with the Dodgers as a free agent May 1. He originally signed with Rakuten of the Chinese Professional Baseball League during the 2020-21 offseason, but opted out of his contract due to family reasons...Wilkerson was under contract with the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2020 season, but was not part of the team's player pool and did not play due to the canceled Minor League season...In 2019, Wilkerson spent most of the year with Triple-A San Antonio but also made eight relief appearances over three stints with Milwaukee. While with San Antonio, he made 17 starts and went 8-2 with a 3.42 ERA over 76.1 IP with 81 strikeouts...Wilkerson has faced the Skeeters twice this season and is 2-0, allowing just two runs and six hits over 11.0 innings with on walk and 13 strikeouts.

Against the Skeeters: 2021: 8-3 2019: N/A All-time: 8-3 At SUG: 4-1

The Dodgers are poised to win their second series of the season against the Skeeters as the teams are wrap-up their first series 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 26-20 record and is 13-9 at home this season, with four of those home losses in the current series. The Skeeters' +49 run differential is best in the league. The team's .287 batting average is second-best in all of Triple-A while their pitching staff's 4.34 ERA leads Triple-A West, and they have allowed a league-low 213 runs so far in 2021...The Dodgers and Skeeters next meet July 22-27 in Oklahoma City.

Moving On Up: The Dodgers are three games above .500 for the first time this season after 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 21-9 since, including 16-8 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 1.5 games behind first-place Sugar Land for the East Division lead, which is the closest they've been since May 6 (after the first game of the season).

June Boon: The Dodgers are 16-8 in June, and even with a loss tonight, it will be the fewest losses in June during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998). OKC has reached at least 17 wins in June six previous times, but over a minimum of 28 games (last in 2017; 17-12). A win tonight will give OKC its all-time highest winning percentage in June, surpassing the 2007 squad that went 19-10...Although the Dodgers are last in the league this month in batting average (.244) and hits, they have drawn 118 walks to tie for the league lead and have hit 33 homers in 24 games. The pitching staff leads the league with a 3.70 ERA and has allowed 37 fewer runs than any other team. They also pace the league in strikeouts (229), WHIP (1.35), opponent average (.246) and fewest home runs allowed (16).

Pitching Plaudits: Last night marked the 19th time in the last 25 games the Dodgers allowed four or fewer runs in a game. Over the last 12 games, they've allowed three or fewer earned runs seven times and two or fewer runs in four of 11 games during the current road trip...The Dodgers recorded 10 strikeouts last night for the eighth time in the last 12 games and their 229 strikeouts so far in June lead Triple-A West...The OKC bullpen had another strong night, allowing one run and four hits over the final six innings. Ryan Moseley kept the Skeeters scoreless in both the ninth and 10th innings to earn the win. Kevin Quackenbush retired all three batters in the bottom of the 11th inning and earned his league-leading 10th save...The Dodgers walked two batters last night in 11.0 innings, marking the sixth time in nine games they've issued two or fewer walks, as well as for the fourth time in the last six games.

Extra Curricular: Last night marked the Dodgers' first win in extra innings since a 10-8 victory May 30, 2019 in Memphis in 10 innings. OKC had lost each of its two previous extra-inning games this season and had lost four straight games that extended to extra innings going back to 2019...Last night's game was the team's second during the current road trip to last 11 innings. It also set a new mark for longest time of game, as it was completed in 4 hours, 26 minutes.

Dinger Details: Monday was the third time in four games the Dodgers were held without a home run, including back-to-back games Friday and Saturday for just the second time this season...The Dodgers have hit 53 home runs in their last 35 games, including 27 in the last 18 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...Last night marked the fourth time in five games this series the Dodgers held the Skeeters without a home run and Sugar Land has just seven homers through the first 11 games of the season series with OKC. The Dodgers have now held an opponent without a homer 11 times in the last 17 games and in 14 of the last 23 games after they had gone deep at least once in 22 of the first 24 games (42 HR)...The Dodgers have allowed just 16 home runs over 24 games in June. The next lowest total in Triple-A West is 30 (Round Rock).

Luke Uses the Force: Luke Raley had last night off, but on Sunday went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and run scored. 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 tied for sixth-most in Triple-A West. Since May 23, Raley leads Triple-A with 36 RBI and ranks fourth overall in all of the Minors.

Close Calls: The Dodgers have played seven straight games decided by one or two runs and are 5-2 in those games. Nine of the 11 games of the current road trip have been decided by one or two runs, and OKC is 7-2 in those games...The Dodgers have won three games by one run during the road trip after collecting just one one-run win all season prior to the road trip...Monday marked the first time in 47 games this season either the Dodgers or their opponent tied the game when trailing in the ninth inning. The last time OKC won after trailing in the ninth inning was July 12, 2019 at Memphis. The Redbirds led, 3-2, before the Dodgers scored four times in the ninth inning to win, 6-3...Last night was the team's their second last at-bat win of season, and the first on the road (previously May 17 vs. Sacramento).

Rehab Report: Reliever Scott Alexander made the third appearance of his rehab assignment last night and retired the side in order in the sixth inning on 13 pitches. Through three outings, Alexander has allowed one run and two hits over 2.2 innings while retiring eight of 10 total batters faced.

Around the Horn: OKC is 4-3 in series finales, including 2-2 on the road this season, and has won three straight series finales...After posting a -49 run differential over the first 13 games (3-10), the Dodgers have a +78 run differential over their last 34 games (22-12)...The Dodgers committed three errors last night, tying their season high (May 23 at ABQ). They've committed six errors in five games this series after committing six errors in the previous 17 games combined...Sheldon Neuse has now hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, going 20-for-56 (.357) with 14 RBI. He leads the Dodgers with 23 hits in June...Elliot Soto is on a season-best five-game hitting streak, going 7-for-21. He has three doubles in the last two games...Drew Avans has hit safely in his last five starts, going 7-for-18 with six runs scored and four stolen bases.

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