PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 29, 2023

Published on June 29, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (0-1/50-24) at Sugar Land Space Cowboys (1-0/34-42)

Game #75 of 148/Second Half #2 of 75/Road #38 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Justin Hagenman (3-0, 3.00) vs. SUG-RHP Misael Tamarez (0-2, 5.92)

Thursday, June 29, 2023 | 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 continue their series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 7:05 p.m. at Constellation Field, trying to avoid matching their longest losing skid of the season at three games (May 3-5) as well as their first 0-2 series start this season...The Dodgers have lost back-to-back games for just the second time since May 9...Despite a loss in last night's series opener, the Dodgers are 14-5 over their last 19 road games.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers committed four errors, proving to be the difference in a 4-3 loss Wednesday night against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Constellation Field. The Dodgers grabbed a quick lead in the top of the first inning when Drew Avans took a leadoff walk, stole second base and scored on a RBI single by Kole Calhoun. Sugar Land tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the inning when the Dodgers committed two errors on one play. Devin Mann homered on the first pitch of the second inning to regain the lead for OKC. Hunter Feduccia then went deep in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 3-1. Sugar Land scored twice in the fifth inning to tie the game and then scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning when the Dodgers committed an error during a potential inning-ending double play. No Dodgers hitter reached base over the final three innings.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Justin Hagenman (3-0) is scheduled to make his fourth start and 21st appearance of the season for OKC tonight...Hagenman last pitched June 21 against Las Vegas in OKC, pitching one inning of scoreless and hitless relief with one strikeout, preserving a 1-0 lead...He made two other appearances during OKC's last homestand, pitching twice against Salt Lake. He threw at least 3.0 innings during each appearance (one start) and allowed a total of five runs and nine hits across 7.0 innings, with three of those hits resulting in home runs to account for four of the five runs allowed...As either an opener or traditional starter, Hagenman has made three starts this season and the team is 3-0 in those games. On June 7 at El Paso, he notched a career-high eight strikeouts over 4.0 innings during his longest appearance since 2019...Hagenman did not allow a run during the entire month of May (14.0 IP), allowing seven hits with two walks and 14 strikeouts...Hagenman made 41 appearances with OKC last season, going 4-2 with a 6.08 ERA in his first Triple-A season with 55 strikeouts and 21 walks...Hagenman was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 23rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Penn State...Tonight is his fifth appearance of the season against the Space Cowboys and first start. He has allowed four runs and five hits (3 HR) over 7.0 innings of relief with eight strikeouts.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2023: 9-4 2022: 16-8 All-time: 37-24 At SUG: 11-11

The Dodgers and Space Cowboys meet for their third of four series this season and first of the season in Sugar Land...The Dodgers won the first two series of the season in OKC April 11-16, 4-2, and May 16-21, 5-1, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Drew Avans led OKC with 11 hits and 12 runs scored through the first 12 meetings, while Ryan Ward had nine RBI and Michael Busch knocked five doubles. The Dodgers outscored the Space Cowboys, 61-47, through the first two series as they held the Space Cowboys to a .199 AVG, but Sugar Land hit 15 homers compared to OKC's nine...The Dodgers won the 2022 series, 16-8, and went 11-4 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers did not lose back-to-back games to Sugar Land at any point last season...Of last season's 24 total meetings, nine were one-run games and six of 13 meetings so far in 2023 have been decided by one run...The last time OKC played at Constellation Field Aug. 16-21, 2022, four of six games were decided in a team's final at-bat, with three of those games won by the team trailing entering its final at-bat.

Crowning Achievement: The Dodgers clinched the Pacific Coast League's first-half championship as well as a playoff berth June 14. By virtue of winning the first half in the split-season format, the Dodgers will host a best-of-three PCL Championship Series Sept. 26-28 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark against the winner of the second half (or second-place finisher should the Dodgers also win the second half). The International League will do the same, and each Triple-A league champion will advance to Las Vegas for the 2023 Triple-A National Championship Game Sept. 30. The Norfolk Tides won the first-half title in the International League...This is the first time the PCL season has been split into halves during OKC's Bricktown era. OKC last won a PCL division title in 2018 and the team owns 10 PCL division titles and three PCL conference titles since 1998. OKC will seek its first league championship since 1996 this fall...Fellow Dodgers affiliates High-A Great Lakes and Single-A Rancho Cucamonga also won first-half division titles.

Trend Setters: Despite losing back-to-back games, as well as three of the last four games, and going 4-6 over the last 10 games, the Dodgers are 50-24 overall and own the most wins among the 120 full-season teams in Minor League Baseball, while their winning percentage ranks third. The Dodgers reached the 50-win mark in 72 games - faster than any PCL team since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. The previous fastest a PCL team has reached 50 wins in a season since 2005 was in 77 games, achieved by the 2015 Dodgers and 2011 Sacramento River Cats (50-27)...No other OKC team during the Bricktown era (since 1998) has had fewer than 26 losses through 74 games and the team's best previous record through 74 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 48-26...OKC is 28-13 since May 9 and has lost consecutive games twice during the 41-game stretch.

In the Hunt: Hunter Feduccia was the only Dodger with a multi-hit game last night, finishing 2-for-4 with a home run. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 15-for-31 (.484) with six extra-base hits, eight RBI, 10 runs scored and six multi-hit games...On Wednesday, he hit his first home run since May 6 at El Paso...During OKC's previous homestand that wrapped up Sunday, Feduccia went 12-for-23 and reached base 19 times in 30 plate appearances. He tallied five multi-hit games over the seven games he played in during the homestand.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann homered on the first pitch of the second inning last night for his team-leading 12th home run of the season Wednesday. All 12 of his home runs have been hit since May 7 (36 games) and his 12 homers during the stretch are tied for second-most in the PCL...He has homered twice in his last three games, and in 20 games in June, Mann has batted .395 with eight home runs and 26 RBI...His 26 doubles lead the PCL, while his 38 extra-base hits are second, his .998 OPS is third, his .583 SLG is fifth, his 56 RBI are tied for fifth and his 133 total bases are 10th...His 26 doubles are tied for second-most in the Minors and his 38 extra-base hits are tied for fourth...Mann leads the Dodgers with 71 hits and 56 RBI.

Dinger Details:The Dodgers homered twice last night and have hit at least one home run in five of the last six games and in 16 of the last 19 games. The Dodgers have hit 32 homers over the last 19 games (since June 3) after hitting just 13 homers over the 19 games prior (May 12-June 2)...On the other hand, the Dodgers did not allow a home run last night after allowing at least one homer in three straight games (6 HR) and at least two homers in nine of the previous 16 games (23 HR). Overall, OKC has allowed 94 home runs through 74 games. Last season, the Dodgers did not allow their 94th homer until July 22 in Game 91.

Close Calls:Five of the last seven games between Oklahoma City and Sugar Land have been decided by one run, and six of the last seven games between the clubs have been decided by one or two runs. Each of the last four meetings have been one-run games, with OKC going 2-2 in those games...So far in 2023, the Dodgers have played in 24 one-run games and are 16-8 but have lost seven of the last 10 one-run games they've been involved in...Seven of OKC's last 13 losses have been by one run.

Rehab Report:Jimmy Nelson continued his Major League Rehab Assignment and pitched a scoreless sixth inning Wednesday. He allowed one hit, hit one batter and notched two strikeouts. Nelson threw 15 pitches, with 11 strikes...He joined OKC June 20 after making four appearances with the ACL Dodgers and has allowed one unearned run and three hits over 3.0 innings with two walks and four strikeouts with OKC.

Light Switch Offense:OKC has scored three or fewer runs in six of their last seven losses, but has scored seven or more runs in 12 of their last 14 wins and has scored seven or more runs 10 times overall since June 1 (21 G)...The Dodgers have scored more than six runs once in the last five games, but prior to the recent stretch, reached double-digit runs in five of the previous nine games...OKC has scored 161 runs over 21 games this month after scoring 162 runs in 26 April games and 137 runs in 26 May games...The Dodgers are 6-6 over the last 12 games. In the six wins, they have scored 73 runs while batting .340 (75x215). In the six losses, they have scored 19 runs while batting .206 (41x199)...Following Hunter Feduccia's home run in the fourth inning last night, the Dodgers finished Wednesday's game 1-for-18 and 0-for-10.

Mound Matters: OKC allowed four runs on nine hits last night but did not allow an extra-base hit, snapping Sugar Land's streak of 68 consecutive games with at least one extra-base hit. It's the fourth overall time this season the Dodgers have not allowed an extra-base hit and third time it's happened in a nine-inning game, with the previous instance May 30 at home against Reno...Last night was the second time in three games the Dodgers allowed four runs or less after allowing five or more runs in 15 of the 21 games entering Wednesday and eight or more runs six times during the stretch...Last night ended a stretch of three straight games in which opponents tallied double-digit hits and was just the third time in the last 12 games an opponent was held to fewer than 10 hits...OKC owns a 5.83 ERA in June - second-lowest in the PCL this month - but significantly higher than their Triple-A-low 3.39 ERA in May...The Dodgers have allowed 229 hits in 21 games so far this month after allowing a total of 184 hits in 26 games in May and 197 hits through 26 games in April...The OKC pitching staff issued three walks Wednesday and has allowed a total of eight walks over the last five games.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers tied their season high with four errors Wednesday night, previously set June 1 against Reno. The team had committed a total of three errors in the previous eight games combined...David Freitas did not play last night but picked up a hit Sunday to extend his hitting streak to eight games for the longest active streak by an OKC player. During the streak, he is 9-for-32 with two doubles, a home run, six RBI and seven runs scored. He has hit safely in 10 of his 11 games with OKC.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 29, 2023


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