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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 14, 2022

May 14, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (21-13) at Round Rock Express (20-14)

Game #35 of 150/Road #17 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Robbie Erlin (2-1, 5.82) vs. RR-RHP Tyson Miller (2-0, 3.43)

Saturday, May 14, 2022 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: After wins in three straight games, the Oklahoma City Dodgers own first place in the Pacific Coast League and continue their series against the Round Rock Express at 6:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond. Oklahoma City has also won six of the last eight games and nine of the last 13 games, as the team sits a season-best eight games above .500. This is the most games above .500 the Dodgers have been since the end of the 2018 season.

Last Game: The new pace of play rules instituted in Minor League Baseball this season played a pivotal role in Friday's game as the Oklahoma City Dodgers edged the Round Rock Express, 6-5, Friday night at Dell Diamond. With the game tied at 5-5, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth inning. Round Rock's Jesus Tinoco disengaged from the pitching rubber three times during the same plate appearance without an out being recorded, which is penalized as a balk under the new rules. As a result, the go-ahead run scored. Carson Fulmer proceeded to retire the side in order in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the game and give the Dodgers a third straight win. The Express hit four home runs in the game, including two in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers then scored the game's next five runs, culminating with a four-run rally in the fourth inning. Each of the first six batters of the inning reached base and all runs scored with the bases loaded. The Express hit two more homers in the bottom of the inning and scored three runs total to pull even. The game stayed at 5-5 until the ninth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Robbie Erlin (2-1) makes his fourth start and sixth appearance with OKC and first since April 30...Erlin had his contract selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers May 7 and made two appearances out of the LAD bullpen, pitching on back-to-back days May 8-9. He pitched a scoreless and hitless inning in Chicago May 8 in his team debut but surrendered a two-run homer the next day in Pittsburgh. He was designated for assignment May 11 and outrighted to OKC May 13...In his last outing with OKC April 30 against Sugar Land, Erlin piggybacked Mike Wright Jr. and allowed no runs and two hits over the game's final five innings to earn the win during the team's 7-1 victory. He retired 14 of 17 batters faced overall and racked up eight strikeouts for his highest total since June 27, 2015 with Triple-A El Paso (10)...Last season, Erlin pitched in 16 games for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan and signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent Feb. 21, 2022...Erlin has appeared in 117 games (43 starts) in the Majors, primarily with San Diego, and was selected by Texas in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft from Scotts Valley High School (Calif.)...He last pitched against Round Rock in 2019 while with El Paso and has not pitched at Dell Diamond since 2015.

Against the Express: 2022: 3-1 2021: 16-13 All-time: 149-122 At RR: 80-61 The top two teams in the PCL East Division meet for their first series of 2022 after playing 29 games against one another during the 2021 season. They are scheduled to play a total 30 times in 2022...The Dodgers won the 2021 series, 16-13, as the Dodgers finished with a slight edge in runs (147-146) and homers (40-39) while the Express outhit OKC, 261-225. After losing five of the first six games, the Dodgers went 15-8 over the final 23 meetings, including a 9-3 record at Dell Diamond...Cristian Santana led the Dodgers with 27 hits in the series and tied with Zach Reks for a team-leading 16 RBI. Luke Raley homered six times in the series while pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx went 5-1...The first 18 games of the season between the teams were played at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, with the Dodgers going 10-8. The final 11 games of the series were played at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with the Dodgers going 6-5 in those games...The Dodgers have won five of the last six season series between the teams...Only 371 miles separate Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark from Dell Diamond, making it the shortest distance between the Dodgers and any of their PCL opponents.

Getting Offensive: Last night marked the seventh time in the last eight games the Dodgers scored at least six runs in a game, but was also just the second time during the same stretch OKC scored fewer than seven runs in a game after racking up a combined 39 runs over the previous three games...The Dodgers lead all of Triple-A with 236 runs scored and their run total ranks second in all of the Minors, trailing only Double-A Amarillo's 241 runs. They also lead all Triple-A teams in all three slashline categories at .283/.381/.477...The Dodgers had nine hits last night to snap a stretch of three consecutive games with 10 or more hits. They also collected only one extra-base hit after tallying 11 XBH Thursday...So far in May, the Dodgers are batting a PCL-best .322 (123x382) with a league-leading 64 walks while their 85 strikeouts are second-fewest in the league this month...In each of the last three games, all nine batters in the starting lineup have reached base at least once via hit or walk.

Close Calls: Friday's game marked the first time since Opening Night the Dodgers were involved in a contest tied after seven or eight innings. They are now 2-0 when tied after eight innings and 6-5 in one-run games this season...It was also the fourth game this year OKC has been involved in that was decided in a team's final at-bat (2-2).

Mighty Miguel: Miguel Vargas went 2-for-4 with a RBI and a walk last night, extending his on-base streak to 16 games. However, his streak of 13 consecutive games with a run scored came to an end. It was the longest run-scoring streak in the Majors or Minors this season, with the next-longest at 10 games...Since April 28, Vargas has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, going 22-for-54 (.407) with 14 RBI, 12 walks and 20 runs scored while posting a .515 OBP and .611 SLG...He's picked up a hit and RBI in five straight games, going 8-for-20 with 10 RBI...Vargas' 32 runs scored this season pace all of Triple-A and rank tied for second in all of the Minors. His 24 walks are tied most in all of Triple-A, while his 39 hits are tied for most in the PCL. He leads the Dodgers in runs, hits and is tied for first in walks.

On the Lamb: Jake Lamb extended his season-best hitting streak to eight games Friday, going 1-for-4 with a walk. During the streak, Lamb is 11-for-31 (.355) with five extra-base hits, six walks, nine runs scored and 11 RBI...Lamb is also currently on a 15-game on-base streak, hitting safely in 13 games, going 20-for-55 (.364) with five homers, three doubles, 17 RBI, 12 runs scored and 11 walks...His eight homers this season are second-most among Dodgers players as are his 26 RBI. He ranks tied for fifth in the PCL in both categories. Lamb has homered in two of his last three games as well as three of his last six games.

Zach Attack: Zach McKinstry extended his hitting streak to seven games as he went 1-for-4 and drew a bases-loaded walk last night. During the hitting streak, McKinstry is 13-for-28 (.464) with eight runs, four RBI and four multi-hit games. He now has 35 hits in 24 games (23 starts) with OKC, recording a multi-hit game 11 times, and his 35 hits are tied for second-most on the team despite playing in just 24 of the team's 33 games...He leads the PCL with a .376 batting average, a .450 on-base percentage and four triples.

Dinger Details: After six different Dodgers homered Thursday night and the team racked up nine homers over the previous two games combined, OKC was held without a home run Friday night, snapping the team's season-best stretch of eight straight games with a homer (17 HR). Even though they were kept inside the park Friday, OKC has gone deep in 14 of the last 16 games (23 HR)...On the flip side, the Dodgers allowed a season-high four home runs Friday night - all solo shots. It was the first time the team allowed that many homers in a game since Aug. 20, 2021 at Sugar Land (five), and the first time in the last 10 games the Dodgers even allowed more than one home run. Round Rock's Matt Carpenter and Davis Wendzel hit back-to-back homers in the fourth inning, marking the first time an opponent has done that this season. OKC starting pitcher Sam Gaviglio allowed all four homers to set a career high and became the first OKC pitcher to allow four homers since Daniel Corcino surrendered five homers Aug. 5, 2019 at Las Vegas.

Walking Away: The Dodgers tied their season high with 11 walks Friday, previously done May 1 against Sugar Land at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. They have walked 21 times in the last two games and lead all Triple-A teams with 174 walks this season. Only fellow Dodgers affiliate Single-A Rancho Cucamonga has drawn more walks (176) among the 120 teams in the Minors...Eleven different Dodgers have drawn walks over the last two nights. Eddy Alvarez drew a game-high three walks last night after Tony Wolters had three walks Thursday. Ryan Noda has a combined four walks over the last two games...On the other hand, Round Rock was held to just one walk for the second straight night after racking up a combined 20 walks over the first two games of the series.

Tomás the Tank: Tomás Telis went 2-for-5 with a double and RBI single Friday night. The catcher has hit safely in a season-high six straight games, going 9-for-23 with six RBI. He has collected at least one hit in 11 of his last 12 games, batting .400 (18x45) during the stretch.

That's My JM: Jason Martin was held without a hit last night, but drew two walks, collected a RBI and scored a run. He's now reached base in four straight games as well as in 12 of his last 13 games, batting .383 (18x47) with three doubles, three triples, a home run, 11 RBI, 14 runs scored and eight walks. He also has seven multi-hit games during the 13 games...Martin's 27 runs scored this season are third-most in the league behind teammates Miguel Vargas and Kevin Pillar and his .978 OPS currently ranks eighth.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers' bullpen kept Round Rock scoreless and to two hits over the final five frames Friday, with one walk and five strikeouts. Four relievers combined to retire 13 of the final 14 Express batters, including the last nine in a row...Last night Carson Fulmer retired the side in order on eight pitches in the ninth inning to earn his third career save. Over his last seven appearances, Fulmer has thrown 9.1 scoreless innings while holding opponents 3-for-31...Andy Burns did not play Friday but homered in a second straight game Thursday. Over his last six games he is 7-for-22 with a double, three homers and 11 RBI...Stefen Romero went 2-for-5 last night and made a diving catch in right field to end the seventh inning with the go-ahead run at third base. Romero has hit safely in eight of his first 10 games since joining the team...The Dodgers have not committed an error in three straight games, tying their longest streak of the season...OKC was held 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position Friday after batting .347 (42x121) with RISP over the previous 11 games. The team tied its season high with 12 runners left on base.

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