PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 8, 2022

Published on June 8, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Sugar Land Space Cowboys (21-34) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (33-22)

Game #56 of 150/Home #29 of 75

Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Chad Donato (2-3, 5.32) vs. OKC-RHP Andre Jackson (0-4, 6.11)

Wednesday, June 8, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 12:05 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 four of their last five games entering today's 12:05 p.m. Field Trip Day game against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers own the best record in the Pacific Coast League and seek a third straight win.

Last Game: Max Muncy crushed a two-run home run out to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night, sending the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 6-4 win against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. With the game in a 4-4 tie, Michael Busch drew a walk with one out. Muncy, who is with OKC as part of a Major League Rehab Assignment, then came up to bat and hit the Dodgers' second walk-off home run of the season. Sugar Land built a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning on three solo homers, including two by Enmanuel Valdez in his Triple-A debut. Drew Avans got the Dodgers on the scoreboard in the fifth inning with a solo home run. A sacrifice fly gave the Space Cowboys a 4-1 advantage before Miguel Vargas hit a two-run single to trim the lead to one run in the seventh inning. A sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Stefen Romero knotted the game at 4-4 in the eighth inning, as the Dodgers ended up scoring five unanswered runs in the comeback win.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Andre Jackson (0-4) seeks his first win of the season when he starts for the Dodgers this afternoon and looks to build on his strong outing in his last start...Last Wednesday in Round Rock, Jackson completed 6.0 innings for the first time since July 30, 2019 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga, matching his career high. Prior to that, Jackson had not exceeded 4.0 innings in each of his first eight starts of the season. Jackson allowed only one run on five hits, with three walks and two strikeouts, while inducing 12 groundouts. However, he took a tough-luck loss as the Dodgers fell, 4-0...Over his last two games, Jackson has allowed one earned run (two runs total) and six hits over 10.0 innings He's held opponents 6-for-35...After returning from a brief stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers in late April, Jackson allowed a combined 19 runs (17 ER) and 16 hits with 16 walks and 11 strikeouts over just 11.1 total innings across five starts in May (0-3)...OKC has lost each of Jackson's last six starts. In his last three games, the team has only scored a total of four runs...Jackson was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of the University of Utah...He last started against the Space Cowboys May 20 in Sugar Land, allowing three runs and two hits over 3.0 innings with two walks and four strikeouts and was charged with the loss in a 6-2 defeat.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2022: 7-3 2021: 12-12 All-time: 19-15 At OKC: 11-8 The Dodgers meet Sugar Land for the third time this season and second time at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers won the initial series between the teams in OKC, 4-2, April 26-May 1, closing out the series with three straight wins and outscoring the Space Cowboys overall, 39-30, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers won a short three-game road series against the Space Cowboys May 20-22 in Sugar Land, 2-1...Entering the current series, Miguel Vargas led OKC with 12 hits in nine games against Sugar Land, including a triple and two homers, along with seven walks, four RBI and 12 runs scored. Stefen Romero had a team-best 13 RBI in six games against the Space Cowboys this season, including five doubles and two homers, as seven of his nine hits have gone for extra bases. Pitcher Ryan Pepiot is 2-0 against Sugar Land with 13 K's against three walks in 11.0 IP...The teams split their 2021 season series, 12-12. Both teams went 6-6 on their home fields as Sugar Land played its first season as a Triple-A franchise. The Dodgers won nine of the first 12 games before Sugar Land took nine of the final 12 games and six of the last seven games...The Dodgers have won six of their last seven games against the Space Cowboys after they had lost 11 of the previous 15 meetings going back to last season.

Rehab Report: Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy continued a Major League Rehab Assignment Tuesday with the OKC Dodgers, playing his third game with the team and first at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Last night he went 1-for-4 with a walk-off home run, walk and two RBI. Through three games with OKC, Muncy is 2-for-10 with a home run, three walks and two RBI. He was placed on the 10-day Injured List May 28 with left elbow inflammation...Starting pitcher Andrew Heaney, who made his first outing Saturday in Round Rock (3.0 IP), is scheduled to pitch Thursday night against Sugar Land.

Party at Home Plate: The Dodgers secured their third walk-off win of the season last night, as well as their second walk-off home run of 2022. Jason Martin hit the team's first walk-off home run in the ninth inning in the season opener April 5 against Albuquerque. Eddy Alvarez hit a walk-off single in the ninth inning for a win against El Paso May 19...The Dodgers had three total walk-off wins during the 2021 season and two walk-off wins in 2019. The team last surpassed three walk-off wins in a season in 2018 when they finished with six walk-off victories...Going back to last season, three of the team's last four walk-off wins have ended with home runs.

Comeback Trail: The Dodgers notched their first win of the season when trailing after six or seven innings last night. They also matched their largest come-from-behind victory of the season by erasing a three-run deficit (also April 9 and May 7 vs. Albuquerque), but last night was the latest they had trailed in a game by three runs before rallying to win.

Dinger Details: Six of the combined 10 runs scored by the Dodgers and Space Cowboys last night came via home run. Oklahoma City hit two home runs Tuesday for the team's fourth straight multi-homer game as the team has now hit eight homers over the last four games, immediately following a stretch of three consecutive games without a homer to tie for the longest homer-less streak of the season. It's the first time this season they've hit at least two home runs in four straight games...On the other hand, the Dodgers allowed three home runs last night, marking the fourth time this season they have three or more home runs and the first time it has happened at home. OKC has allowed eight home runs over the last five games. The back-to-back homers Sugar Land hit in the fifth inning Tuesday were the second back-to-back homers allowed by the Dodgers this season (May 13 at Round Rock) and first at home...Enmanuel Valdez became the third opponent with a multi-homer game against the Dodgers, but the second within a week, with Willie Calhoun of Round Rock also hitting two home runs June 1...The five combined homers tied for the most in a game at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this season (April 10 vs. Albuquerque), but it's the first time each team has hit at least two homers.

Drew Point: Drew Avans hit his fourth home run of the season - and his second home run in the last three games - in the fifth inning last night and also reached base via a hit by pitch. Avans has now hit safely in nine of his last 11 games, going 12-for-34 (.353) with two homers, three doubles and seven walks. He has also now reached base in a season-best 12 straight games with a plate appearance. It is the longest active on-base streak for an OKC player...Since May 22, Avans has raised his season batting average by 42 points and his season on-base percentage by 69 points...He leads the Dodgers with 10 stolen bases this season.

Mighty Miguel: Miguel Vargas extended his hitting streak to eight games, going 1-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base last night. During the eight-game stretch, he is 9-for-33 with a homer, three doubles and eight RBI. His current streak is tied for fourth-longest among OKC players this season and is his third eight-game hitting streak of the season...Vargas leads the PCL with 46 runs scored, while ranking tied for first with 60 hits. His 31 walks and 100 total bases are fifth-most in the league, while his 36 RBI are tied for fifth...He paces the Dodgers in runs, hits and games played (53) and has started 53 of the team's last 54 games. He is now tied with Jake Lamb for the team lead in RBI.

On the Lamb: Jake Lamb went 1-for-3 with a walk Tuesday and he has now reached base in 16 of his last 17 games as well as in 31 of his last 33 games. Over the 33-game stretch, Lamb is slashing .305/.435/.576 with nine homers, five doubles, 27 walks, 27 RBI and 23 runs scored...His 33 walks this season pace the Dodgers and are tied for most in the PCL. His 36 RBI and 12 homers are both tied for fifth in the league.

Taking Offense: The Dodgers scored six runs last night, hitting the milestone for the sixth time in the last nine games. They continue to lead all full-season minor league teams with 353 runs scored and a .373 OBP. OKC ranks second in OPS (.828), fourth in walks (277), fifth in average (.272) and fifth in hits (505). However, over the last 12 games (since May 26), the Dodgers have slashed .238/.339/.379 with 55 runs. They have been held to two or fewer runs in five of the 12 games - including their first two shutouts of the season - and to seven or fewer hits in seven of 12 games, including in four of the last six games. In the last three games, the Dodgers are 19-for-95 overall (.200), including 5-for-37 with runners on base and 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position...Over the last 12 games, the team's season batting average has dropped nine points from .281 and season on-base percentage has dropped eight points from .381.

Balls and Strikes: The Dodgers drew five more walks last night and have drawn 129 walks over the last 24 games (5.4 per game)...On the other hand, the Dodgers struck out 15 times Tuesday and have struck out at least 10 times in 10 of the last 11 games (138 K) and in 11 of the last 13 games (153 K). Last night was the seventh time this season OKC batters struck out at least 15 times.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers are 7-7 in day games this season, including 3-5 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with losses in five straight home day games. The team had lost six of seven day games until Sunday's win in Round Rock...Playing in his first game in 10 days, Stefen Romero entered Tuesday's game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and connected on a sacrifice fly to bring in the game-tying run. Romero now how 19 RBI in his 18 games with OKC this season...OKC has held opponents to four runs or less in nine of the last 11 games as well as in 11 of the last 15 games. Opponents have also been held to seven or fewer hits in eight of the last 11 games...Tomás Telis has hit safely in four straight games, going 5-for-14, with two RBI...The Dodgers have not had a 2-0 series lead since April 19-20 at Sacramento. They are 1-4 in Game 2 after a win in the series opener, with losses in each of the last three instances. Six of the team's last seven series have been 1-1 through two games, including each of the last five.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 8, 2022


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