PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 7, 2023

Published on June 7, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (41-17) at El Paso Chihuahuas (27-31)

Game #59 of 150/First Half #59 of 75/Road #32 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Justin Hagenman (3-0, 2.33) vs. ELP-RHP Pedro Avila (1-4, 9.64)

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 | Southwest University Park | El Paso, Texas | 7:35 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers try to even their series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 7:35 p.m. CT at Southwest University Park...Despite losing Tuesday's series opener, the Dodgers lead the Pacific Coast League and have an eight-game lead ahead of the second-place Reno Aces...The Dodgers are trying to avoid consecutive losses since a season-high three-game losing streak May 3-5 during their last trip to El Paso.

Last Game: The El Paso Chihuahuas scored 11 unanswered runs between the third and seventh innings as part of an offensive barrage during a 15-5 win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers Tuesday night at Southwest University Park. The Dodgers trailed, 4-0, in the third inning but rallied to tie the game. Michael Busch hit a bases-clearing double, and Jahmai Jones followed with a game-tying RBI single. But from that point forward, the Chihuahuas took command of the game. El Paso scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning to regain the lead before adding four more runs in the fourth inning. The score stayed at 10-4 until a five-run bottom of the seventh inning, with four runs scoring with two outs. Drew Avans homered in the ninth inning for the Dodgers' final run of the night.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Justin Hagenman (3-0) is scheduled to make his second start of the season tonight and 17th appearance overall, beginning what is expected to be a bullpen game for the Dodgers...He has recorded eight consecutive scoreless outings spanning 15.2 innings and has not allowed a run since April 30. During his recent roll, Hagenman has allowed seven hits, with two walks and 14 strikeouts while holding opponents 7-for-53 (.132)...He last pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless and hitless relief June 2 against Reno in OKC with three strikeouts. He also pitched earlier in the series May 31 against Reno with 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk with two strikeouts...He also started May 28 at Sacramento, serving as an opener ahead of Andre Jackson. He completed 2.0 scoreless innings, with one hit and one strikeout...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...He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 23rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Penn State.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2023: 2-5 2022: 13-14 All-time: 43-38 At ELP: 24-25

This marks the second series of the season between the teams and second in El Paso in the span of five weeks...The teams last played May 2-7 at Southwest University Park and the Dodgers suffered their first and only series loss of the season, dropping four of six games. After the Dodgers took the series opener, the Chihuahuas won four of the final five games...Ryan Ward led OKC with six hits and tied Devin Mann with a team-best five RBI during the first series. El Paso outscored OKC, 35-24, and hit 12 homers compared to the Dodgers' four. Despite the hitter-friendly nature of Southwest University Park, the Dodgers batted just .202 (39x193) and scored a total of 24 runs...The Chihuahuas won the 2022 season series against the Dodgers, 14-13, clinching just their second season series win against OKC since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season and their first against OKC since 2018. The Dodgers went 6-3 at home, but 7-11 at Southwest University Park, including losses in seven of their last nine games....After the teams played five series in 2022, the teams meet for just three series in 2023, including two in El Paso, and their season series wraps up July 23.

In the Dog House: Last night continued the Dodgers' recent struggles at Southwest University Park. Entering today, the Dodgers have lost five of their last six games, nine of their last 12 games and 12 of their last 16 games in El Paso. They have lost at least three straight games within each of their last four series at Southwest University Park. This season they are 2-5 in El Paso, but 39-12 in all other games and 19-5 in other road games. Going back to 2022, the Dodgers are 9-16 (.360) at the venue, but 116-67 (.634) in all other games...What's been most curious has been OKC's general lack of offense at hitter-friendly Southwest University Park. This season they have scored 29 runs in seven games, but 13 of those runs have occurred within three innings, with only 16 runs over the remaining 60 innings. Going back to their final series in El Paso last season, the Dodgers have been limited to three or fewer runs in six of the last 11 games.

Trend Setters: The 41-17 Dodgers own the best record in the Minors and only the 44-19 Tampa Bay Rays have more wins in all of affiliated professional baseball but have played five more games than OKC...The Dodgers are 19-6 since May 9 and have followed up each of their previous five losses with a win in the next game...Their 41 wins are the most by an OKC team through 58 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998) and no other OKC team since 1998 has had fewer than 21 losses through 58 or 59 games...The Dodgers reached 40 wins in 55 games - faster than any PCL team since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. The previous fastest PCL teams to 40 wins since 2005 were the 2019 El Paso Chihuahuas, 2015 OKC Dodgers, 2010 Fresno Grizzlies and 2008 Salt Lake Bees, who all picked up their 40th win in Game 61...OKC is 21-10 on the road and have the most road wins in Triple-A. They have just three losses in their last 13 road games.

Keeping Up with the Joneses: Jahmai Jones extended his current hitting streak to 13 games and current on-base streak to 21 games last night, going 1-for-2 with two walks and a RBI. During the hitting streak he is 17-for-36 (.472) with eight doubles, two homers and 14 walks. The hitting streak is the second-longest by a Dodgers player this season and is one game shy of tying Yonny Hernández's team-best 14-game hitting streak. Jones' on-base streak is the third-longest by an OKC player this season (Michael Busch - 25 G; Devin Mann - 24 G). His last hitting streak to reach 13 games was May 9-June 19, 2021 between Triple-A Norfolk and Single-A Aberdeen with a stint on the Injured List included during that span...He has reached base at least twice in 11 of his last 13 games, and since April 29, Jones' .505 OBP is second in the PCL, while his .635 OBP since May 19 (13 G) leads all of Triple-A. He has reached base in 29 of his last 44 plate appearances over 11 games (.659 OBP), getting on base at least three times in six of the 11 contests...Overall this season, Jones' .436 OBP is sixth in the league, while his 14 doubles are tied for fifth.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann did not play Tuesday, but in his last game Sunday went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI as he extended his on-base streak to 24 consecutive games - the second-longest on-base streak of the season by an OKC player and one game shy of Michael Busch's team-best 25-game streak. It's also the third-longest active on-base steak in the league...On Sunday, Mann also collected his league-leading 22nd double of the season in his 48th game of 2023. He has now exceeded his doubles total from 2022 (21 doubles in 118 G) and his 22 doubles are second-most in all of the Minors...During his current on-base streak, Mann is 27-for-80 (.338) with seven doubles, four homers, 25 RBI, 21 runs scored and 19 walks while posting a .475 OBP...He is currently on his third nine-game hitting streak of the season, during which Mann is 14-for-32 (.438) with 14 RBI and nine runs scored...After slashing .233/.314/.400 through May 2 (25 games), he is slashing .351/.485/.597 since May 3 (23 games). His OBP since May 3 is third in the PCL and his 1.082 OPS is 10th. His 26 extra-base hits this season are tied for seventh in the league.

Yon The Reg: Yonny Hernández was held without a hit last night (0x4, BB), snapping his 14-game hitting streak. During the streak, he went 18-for-49 (.367) for the longest hitting streak of the season by an OKC player and tied for sixth-longest in the PCL this season...It was the second-longest hitting streak of Hernández's career, trailing only a 17-game streak in 2016 with the DSL Rangers...Hernández drew a walk and scored a run to extend his on-base streak to 15-games - his longest of the season...His .435 OBP overall this season ranks eighth in the PCL.

Getting Offensive: The Dodgers have scored at least five runs in eight straight games (60 R) and in 13 of the last 14 games. They have also scored seven or more runs five times in their last eight games and their 40 runs scored so far in June (5 G) are third-most in the league...They have now homered in five of the last six games (6 HR), as well as in three straight games for the first time since May 14-17... Over the last 11 games, OKC is batting .292 (110x377) with 77 runs and 39 extra-base hits...The Dodgers scored four runs in the third inning Tuesday and now have 12 innings over the last 13 games in which they have scored four or more runs, including at least one in seven of the last eight games (nine total). They have also registered a four-plus run inning in four straight games...The team is batting .338 (49x145) with runners in scoring position over the last 13 games.

Mound Mystery: The Dodgers allowed a season-high 15 runs Tuesday night and have now allowed six or more runs in four of the last six games, totaling 45 runs. Over the six-game stretch, opponents are batting .335 (71x212), including .408 (29x71) with runners in scoring position. Over the 19 games between May 9-30, the Dodgers posted a 2.62 ERA and allowed a total of 61 runs. Opponents batted .196 overall, including .127 (20x127) with runners in scoring position. The RISP problems have been further exacerbated over the last five games, with opponents going 26-for-59 (.441), including 9-for-20 by the Chihuahuas last night...OKC surrendered four or more runs in three separate innings last night. They entered yesterday having allowed 12 such innings all season and had not allowed more than one in a game since April 18 at Albuquerque.

Honor Society: Matt Andriese was named PCL Pitcher of the Month for May and Mark Washington was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for May 29-June 4, as selected by Minor League Baseball earlier this week. In four May starts, Andriese went 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA. He held opponents to a .194 average and did not allow an earned run in two of his four starts and just one earned run in another outing. The right-handed pitcher allowed 14 hits over 20.1 innings with four walks and 13 strikeouts, posting a 0.89 WHIP...In two appearances last week, Washington pitched a combined 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He made an emergency start May 30, pitching a season-high 3.0 scoreless innings against Reno and combined with three other pitchers for a 7-0 shutout. He followed that up with 2.2 scoreless innings June 3 against the Aces. He is the fourth OKC Dodger, and third pitcher, to receive a weekly honor this season.

Around the Horn: Drew Avans has homered in each of the last two games, marking the first time since 2018 with Rookie-Advanced Ogden he's gone deep in consecutive games...The 10-run margin of defeat last night was team's largest of the season. In the team's previous five losses combined, the margin of defeat was seven runs total...With last night's defeat, OKC had its streak of six consecutive wins in series openers come to an end, and tonight the Dodgers will try to avoid their first 0-2 series start of the season...El Paso's Luis Liberato hit two home runs Tuesday, including an inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning for the first inside-the-park home run by a Dodger or an Oklahoma City opponent this season.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 7, 2023


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