OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 7, 2021
Published on June 7, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Sugar Land Skeeters (18-8) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (11-16)
Games #28 & 29 of 120/Home #10 & 11 of 60
Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Carson LaRue (2-0, 1.00) vs. OKC-RHP Aaron Wilkerson (2-3, 4.30)
SUG-LHP Ryan Hartman (1-1, 3.27) vs. OKC-RHP Edwin Uceta (0-0, 4.50)
Monday, June 7, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 4:35 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM AM-1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers play their first doubleheader of the season starting at 4:35 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark against the Sugar Land Skeeters. Saturday's game between the teams was postponed due to rain and the teams will make up the game today when they play two seven-inning games, with Game 2 following approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1...The Dodgers are 7-3 over their last 10 games and lead the current series, 2-1.
Last Game: The OKC Dodgers rallied from an early five-run deficit to tie their game Sunday evening, but the Sugar Land Skeeters scored three runs in the eighth inning to go back in front and ended up winning, 8-5, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Skeeters scored one run in the first inning before scoring four more in the second inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead. OKC took advantage of a Sugar Land error in the fourth inning to score three times, with doubles by Luke Raley and DJ Peters combining to drive in all three runs. The Dodgers pulled even in the fifth inning with RBI singles by Omar Estévez and Steven Souza Jr. to make it a 5-5 game. The Skeeters notched three runs on four hits in the eighth inning to regain the lead. The Dodgers put the tying run at the plate three times between the eighth and ninth innings but went 0-for-3.
Today's Probable Pitchers: Aaron Wilkerson (2-3) tries for a third straight win when he takes the mound for OKC in Game 1...Wilkerson last pitched 5.0 innings May 31 in El Paso as the team's primary pitcher, entering the game in the fourth inning. Wilkerson held the Chihuahuas scoreless and to four hits with two walks and seven K's in OKC's 5-1 victory...Over his last two outings, Wilkerson has thrown 11.2 scoreless innings while allowing five hits and four walks with 14 strikeouts, earning the win each time...He was named Triple-A West Pitcher of the Week following his performance May 25 in Albuquerque, when he held the Isotopes to one hit over 6.2 scoreless innings and did not allow a hit until Ryan Vilade led off the bottom of the seventh with a single...He currently ranks fourth in the Triple-A West with a 1.17 WHIP and his .239 BAA and 4.30 AVG each rank seventh...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 made his ML debut in September 2017 with the Brewers against Miami and has pitched in 14 ML games (three starts) with Milwaukee.
Edwin Uceta (0-0) makes his second appearance and first start of the season for the OKC Dodgers in Game 2...He was optioned to OKC June 3 and has made seven appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers over two stints, going 0-2 with a 3.55 ERA with 13 strikeouts against four walks over 12.2 IP, holding opponents to a .234 average with a 1.18 WHIP...He last pitched June 2 against St. Louis with two scoreless and hitless innings, no walks and one strikeout...He made his OKC and Triple-A debut May 11 in Round Rock, allowing two runs and three hits over 4.0 innings of relief with six strikeouts against two walks...His first two appearances of the season came with the Los Angeles Dodgers as he made his MLB debut April 30 at Milwaukee with 2.0 innings in a spot start and was charged with the loss, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts...Uceta spent a portion of the 2020 season at the Dodgers' Alternate Training Site and was added to the Los Angeles Dodgers' 40-man roster Nov. 20...He split the 2019 season between High-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa and combined for an 11-2 record and 2.77 ERA with 141 strikeouts over 26 appearances, including 24 starts...He originally signed with the Dodgers July 2, 2016 as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic at the age of 18.
Against the Skeeters: 2021: 2-1 2019: N/A All-time: 2-1 At OKC: 2-1
The Dodgers and Skeeters are meeting for the first of their first of four series (24 games) this season...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)...Despite trailing the current series, 2-1, and OKC outscoring the Skeeters, 23-10, Sugar Land's +56 run differential is still the best in Triple-A West, and their .294 team batting average and .381 OBP also pace the league. The Sugar Land pitching staff leads Triple-A West with a 3.26 ERA, .211 BAA and 1.25 WHIP...The Astros' Triple-A affiliate was previously in Round Rock (2019-20) and Fresno (2015-18) after a four-year stint in Oklahoma City as the RedHawks from 2011-14. In 2019 with Round Rock, the team went 84-56 and won the American Southern Division as well as American Conference before falling in the PCL Finals to Sacramento. They went 10-6 against OKC...Skeeters manager Mickey Storey pitched for OKC in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Double Dipping: The Dodgers are set to play their first doubleheader of 2021 today. In 2019, the team played six doubleheaders, going 4-8 with a series record of 1-3-2. OKC posted a 2-4 record in both Game 1 and Game 2...Coincidentally, each of the team's two doubleheaders at home in 2019 were also against the Astros' Triple-A affiliate, then located in Round Rock. The Express swept the first doubleheader on May 1 (12-5, 9-3) before OKC swept the second twinbill on July 5 (1-0, 4-3).
Burgeoning Bats: The Dodgers have now played 27 games this season, and the differences between the offense in the first 13 games (3-10; -49 R) and the last 14 games (8-6; +45 R) are stark. Through the first 13 games of the season, the Dodgers scored 48 runs (3.7 rpg) with a .216/.306/.345 slashline. But over the last 14 games, the team has scored 118 runs (8.4 rpg) and is slashing .300/.391/.524. Since May 21, the Dodgers rank second among all 120 teams in the Minor Leagues with 118 runs and 153 hits. (Low-A Tampa leads with 122 runs and Triple-A Sacramento leads with 154 hits, but both teams have played one more game than OKC.) The Dodgers also pace all Triple-A teams with a .300 AVG, .391 OBP and .918 OPS...The OKC offense plated five runs last night, marking 10th straight game the Dodgers have scored at least four runs...During the 14-game roll, the Dodgers are batting .358 (62x173) with runners in scoring position after starting the season .227 (25x110) with RISP over the first 13 games...The team hit just 12 homers through the first 13 games of the season but has swatted 23 homers since...The Dodgers drew just two walks last night after picking up 10 walks Friday for their second-highest total of the season (11; May 21 @ ABQ). OKC has now drawn 70 walks in the last 14 games (5.0 pg), which are the most in Triple-A West. Their 121 walks overall this season are second-most in the league.
Raging Ravelo: Rangel Ravelo continued his offensive tear with two more hits last night for his team-leading 11th multi-hit game of the season. He finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and extended his hitting streak to 11 games, during which time he has gone 21-for-39 (.538) with eight extra-base hits (five homers), 15 RBI and eight walks...On Friday, the MiLB.com Triple-A West Player of the Month for May hit two home runs, including a grand slam, on the way to a career-high six RBI. His grand slam in the fourth inning out to left field marked the second grand slam of the season for the OKC Dodgers as well as Ravelo's second grand slam of his career. The multi-homer game was Ravelo's second in his last nine games after notching just one multi-homer game though the first 926 games of his entire pro career...Since May 22, Ravelo leads all players in the Minors with a .538 AVG, .612 OBP and 1.612 OPS, while his 1.000 SLG is second, 21 hits are tied for third, 39 total bases are tied for sixth and 16 RBI are tied for seventh...Overall this season, he leads all Triple-A players with a .411 AVG, .753 SLG and 1.267 OPS, while he ranks second with a .514 OBP, tied for fifth with 15 extra-base hits, tied for sixth with 35 hits and 64 total bases and tied for 10th with 17 walks...He leads the Dodgers' offense with 35 hits, seven homers, 17 walks, tied for first with eight doubles and ranks second with 25 RBI...Ravelo has 17 walks against 11 strikeouts in 107 total plate appearances this season.
Cool Hand Luke: Luke Raley drove in a pair of runs for the Dodgers last night with a double in the fourth inning to get the team on the board. Over his last eight starts, Raley is 16-for-34 (.471) with four doubles, a triple, four homers, 24 RBI and 13 runs scored...Raley paces OKC and ranks tied for third in all of Triple-A with 27 RBI despite playing in just 15 of the team's 27 games...On May 30 in El Paso, Raley homered three times for the first time in his career and set an OKC team record and new career high with nine RBI. He hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and a grand slam in his next at-bat in the sixth inning for the team's first grand slam of 2021...Since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers May 21, Raley is batting .367 (18x49) with five homers, four doubles, a triple, 14 runs scored and 26 RBI over the 13-game stretch. Since May 23 he leads all players in the Minors or Majors with 26 RBI (12 games).
Burn Notice: Andy Burns went 2-for-3 with a double, walk and run scored last night. Since May 17, Burns is batting .407 (22x54) with eight doubles, three homers, 17 runs scored and 14 RBI over 16 games. During his current six-game hitting streak, Burns is 12-for-21 with two homers, three doubles and eight RBI...For the season, he is tied for first on the team with eight doubles, is second with 20 runs scored and tied for second on the team with 27 hits...He ranks tied for sixth in the league with five stolen bases.
Reks in Effect: Zach Reks had last night off, but on Friday extended his current hitting streak to six games as he went 2-for-4, scoring three runs with a double and RBI. During the streak Reks is 11-for-27 (.407) with four doubles...His 22 runs scored this season are tied for fourth-most in Triple-A West while his .447 OBP ranks fifth and his .342 AVG ranks eighth...Overall this season, Reks has reached base in 19 of his 20 games while hitting safely in 17 of his last 19 games...Reks has scored 13 runs in his past five games, with three games of at least three runs scored. No other player in the Minors or Majors has scored more than 12 runs since May 29.
Around the Horn: Steven Souza Jr. is 9-for-21 with five extra-base hits (four homers) and 12 RBI over his last six games... Over the last six games, the OKC pitching staff has allowed just one run three times, but allowed eight or more runs in each of the other three games...Last night's game lasted 3 hours, 20 minutes. Of OKC's first 27 games, 21 have lasted at least three hours, with 16 games going at least 3:20. The Dodgers' 3:23 average during their nine home games leads Triple-A West.
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