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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - June 8, 2023

June 8, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (42-17) at El Paso Chihuahuas (27-32)

Game #60 of 150/First Half #60 of 75/Road #33 of 75

Pitching Probables: RHP Andre Jackson (1-1, 5.32) vs. ELP-RHP Anderson Espinoza (2-2, 6.75)

Thursday, June 8, 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 take the lead in their road series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 7:35 p.m. CT at Southwest University Park as the series is tied, 1-1...The Dodgers lead the Pacific Coast League and have a nine-game lead ahead of the Reno Aces and Round Rock Express, which are tied for second place.

Last Game: After a late three-run lead slipped away, the Oklahoma City Dodgers bounced back to score two runs in the 10th inning and defeat the El Paso Chihuahuas, 8-6, Wednesday night at Southwest University Park. The Dodgers held a 6-3 lead in the eighth inning before the rehabbing Nelson Cruz hit a solo home run for El Paso. Luis Liberato hit a home run with one out in the ninth inning to cut the OKC lead to one, and then with two outs, the Dodgers committed an error on a likely game-ending play to extend the contest. Cruz followed with a game-tying single, but Dodgers reliever Bryan Hudson regrouped to strike out the next batter and leave the winning run at third base. In the top of the 10th inning, Ryan Ward drilled a two-run double to deep center field to regain the lead. Mark Washington then used all of four pitches to retire the Chihuahuas and end the game. El Paso led, 3-2, through five innings before Jahmai Jones tied things up with his first home run of the game in the sixth inning. In the seventh inning, Yonny Hernández gave the Dodgers the lead with a two-run blast, and Jones connected on his second homer in eighth inning to make it 6-3 before the Chihuahuas staged their comeback.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Andre Jackson (1-1) is scheduled to make his first start of the season after serving as the team's bulk/primary pitcher in his last three games...He last pitched June 2 against Reno in OKC and entered the game in the second inning following opener Bryan Hudson. He allowed a season-high five runs and eight hits over 4.0 innings with two walks and one strikeout and was credited with the win in the Dodgers' 15-6 victory. His 4.0 innings matched his season-high mark...Jackson has allowed 10 runs and 16 hits over his last three appearances (9.0 IP) after four straight scoreless outings during which he allowed a total of two hits (8.0 IP)...Jackson has made six relief appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, going 0-0 with a 7.98 ERA, 13 K's and three walks, along with a three-inning save in his season debut April 1 vs. Arizona. He was most recently optioned to OKC May 19...Jackson spent the majority of 2022 with OKC, posting a 2-7 record and 5.00 ERA with 76 K's in 21 appearances (19 starts). He led OKC in starts and finished fourth in strikeouts. He was recalled six times by LAD throughout the 2022 season and made four relief appearances, posting a 1.86 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and nine K's in 9.2 IP...Jackson was drafted by the Dodgers from the University of Utah in 2017 as a 12th round selection and made his ML debut in 2021.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2023: 3-5 2022: 13-14 All-time: 44-38 At ELP: 25-25

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.

Trend Setters: The 42-17 Dodgers own the best record in the Minors and only the 45-19 Tampa Bay Rays have more wins in all of affiliated professional baseball but have played five more games than OKC...The Dodgers are 20-6 since May 9 and have not lost consecutive games during the stretch...Their 42 wins are the most by an OKC team through 59 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998) and no other OKC team since 1998 has had fewer than 21 losses through 59 or 60 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 22-10 on the road and have the most road wins in Triple-A. They are 11-3 over the last 14 road games.

Keeping Up with the Joneses: Jahmai Jones set a season high last night with four hits, including two home runs and a triple. It was his second multi-homer game of the season, also accomplished April 4 at Las Vegas. He has hit four homers in his last four games, doubling his season total from his first 42 games this season, and he now leads the Dodgers with eight homers...Yesterday was Jones' fourth career four-hit game and first since Aug. 10, 2019 with Double-A Mobile against Pensacola. It was also his fifth career game with three extra-base hits and his second of the season. His 12 total bases set a career high and are the most by any OKC player in a game this season...Jones extended his current hitting streak to 14 games and current on-base streak to 22 games. The hitting streak is tied for the longest by an OKC player this season and is the longest current streak in the PCL. During the hitting streak he is 21-for-41 (.512) with four homers, a triple, eight doubles, 11 RBI and 14 walks. Since the streak began May 19, Jones leads all qualified players in the Minors in all three slashline categories (.512/.649/1.049). His last hitting streak to reach 14 games was part of a career-high 25-game hitting streak with Inland Empire from July 27-Aug. 24, 2017...His on-base streak is the third-longest by an OKC player this season. He has reached base at least twice in 12 of his last 14 games, and since April 29, Jones' .518 OBP is second in the PCL, while his .649 OBP since May 19 (14 G) leads the Minors. He has reached base in 33 of his last 49 plate appearances over 12 games (.673 OBP), getting on base at least three times in seven of the 12 contests...Overall this season, Jones' 1.039 OPS is fourth in the league, his .446 OBP is fifth and his .593 SLG is seventh...He has collected at least one RBI in six consecutive games (10 RBI) for the longest streak of the season for an OKC player.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann tied his season high with three hits Wednesday, going 3-for-5 with a home run and a double. Mann is now on a season-best 10-game hitting streak, going 17-for-37 (.459) with 15 RBI and 10 runs scored. He also extended his current on-base streak to 25 games, tying him with Michael Busch for the longest by an OKC player this season and the third-longest active on-base streak in the league...Mann has hit a double in back-to-back games and in three of the last four games. His 23 doubles lead the PCL and are tied for most in the Minors. Through 49 games, he has exceeded his doubles total from the 2022 season (21 doubles in 118 G). His 28 extra-base hits this season are tied for fifth in the league...During his current on-base streak, Mann is 30-for-85 (.353) with eight doubles, five homers, 26 RBI, 22 runs scored and 19 walks while posting a .481 OBP...After slashing .233/.314/.400 through May 2 (25 games), he is slashing .366/.490/.646 since May 3 (24 games). His OBP since May 3 is third in the PCL and his 1.136 OPS is sixth as are his 26 RBI during the stretch...Mann now leads the Dodgers with 51 hits and 39 RBI this season. He has picked up at least one RBI in five straight games (9 RBI), in seven of eight games (12 RBI) and in eight of 10 games (15 RBI).

Yon The Reg: One day after his 14-game hitting streak ended, Yonny Hernández went 2-for-5 with a home run and a double last night. Hernández's go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning was his second home run in his last five games and just the seventh home run of his entire pro career, and he has now equaled his home run total from his past three seasons combined. The switch hitter had not hit a home run right-handed since 2018, and now each of his two home runs this season have occurred from the right side of the plate...Hernández has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games, going 20-for-58 (.345) with six doubles, two homers, 13 walks, nine RBI and 15 runs scored...He has also scored a run in seven straight games - the longest scoring streak for an OKC player this season.

Getting Offensive: Last night, the Dodgers recorded eight extra-base hits, setting a new season high. They also tied their season high with four homers, only done once previously April 7 at Las Vegas. Yonny Hernández, Jahmai Jones and Devin Mann each finished with multiple extra-base hits...The Dodgers scored eight runs last night and have scored at least five runs in nine straight games (68 R) and in 14 of the last 15 games (102 R). They have also scored seven or more runs six times in the last nine games...Their 48 runs scored so far in June (6 G) are third-most in the league and they have homered in six of the last seven games (10 HR), as well as in four straight games (8 HR) to tie their longest stretch of games with a homer (May 5-9; 4 HR)...Over the last 12 games, OKC is batting .290 (122x420) with 85 runs and 47 extra-base hits, and the team is batting .333 (52x156) with runners in scoring position over the last 14 games.

The Late Show: Wednesday marked the team's 14th last at-bat win of the season, and 10 of the Dodgers' last 16 games have been decided in the eighth inning or later, including six of the last 11 and eight of the last 14 games...The Dodgers have now trailed at some point during 29 of their 42 wins...With last night's victory, the team improved to 4-2 in extra innings after losing their previous two extra-inning games...OKC is now 23-6 in games decided by one or two runs...However, last night marked the first time all season the Dodgers lost a lead in the ninth inning or later.

In the Dog House: Even with a win last night, the Dodgers have lost five of their last seven games, nine of their last 13 games and 12 of their last 17 games in El Paso. They have lost at least three straight games within each of their last four series at Southwest University Park and have not won consecutive games in El Paso since winning three in a row April 15-17, 2022. This season the team is 3-5 in El Paso, but 39-12 in all other games and 19-5 in other road games. Going back to 2022, the Dodgers are 10-16 (.385) at the venue, but 116-67 (.634) in all other games...Last night, OKC broke out for eight runs - their most in El Paso this season. 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 12 games.

Around the Horn: Justin Hagenman made a spot start Wednesday and allowed one run and four hits over four innings. It was Hagenman's longest outing since 2019 and he set career highs with eight strikeouts and 74 pitches...The Dodgers have now allowed six or more runs in five of the last seven games, totaling 51 runs for a 6.86 ERA. Over the seven-game stretch, opponents are batting .327 (82x251), including .400 (32x80) with runners in scoring position. The team has also allowed 11 or more hits in four consecutive games (52 H). 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...This season when a series is tied, 1-1, through three games, the Dodgers have gone 5-1 in Game 3, but their only loss was in El Paso.

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