Sports stats

PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 15, 2021

May 15, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Sacramento River Cats (4-4) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (1-7)

Game #9 of 120/Home #3 of 60

Pitching Probables: SAC-RHP Tyler Beede (0-0, 6.75) vs. OKC-RHP Aaron Wilkerson (0-1, 13.50)

Saturday, May 15, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue their first home series of the season at 7:05 p.m. against the Sacramento River Cats at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. This marks the Dodgers' first action in Oklahoma City following the conclusion of the 2019 season Sept. 2, 2019, the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League Baseball season and delayed start of the 2021 season. Sacramento leads the six-game series, 2-0.

Last Game: Zach Reks extended his hitting streak to seven games and recorded his first three-hit game of the season - including a homer in the third inning - but the Sacramento River Cats sent the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 5-2 loss Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Reks' solo homer onto the Budweiser Deck in left field put the Dodgers in front, 1-0, in the third inning. The River Cats then scored four straight runs to build a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Keibert Ruiz doubled and later scored on a RBI single by Reks for OKC's second run of the night, but Sacramento tacked on another run in the top of the ninth inning on the way to taking a 2-0 lead in the six-game series.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Aaron Wilkerson (0-1) makes his second start of the season for OKC tonight...In his OKC Dodgers debut May 9 in Round Rock, Wilkerson allowed four runs and six hits over 2.2 innings with three strikeouts and was charged with the loss in OKC's 6-3 defeat...He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent May 1 shortly before the season began. 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 started the season with Triple-A San Antonio before making eight relief appearances over three stints with the Milwaukee Brewers, totaling 16.0 innings throughout the season and posting a 7.31 ERA with 11 strikeouts and nine walks. He spent the majority of the season with San Antonio, making 17 starts and going 8-2 with a 3.42 ERA over 76.1 innings with 45 strikeouts...Wilkerson made his ML debut in September 2017 with the Brewers against Miami and has pitched in 14 ML games (three starts) with the Brewers...Tonight is his third career start against Sacramento (0-1, 2.25 ERA), with previous meetings in 2018 with Colorado Springs and 2019 with San Antonio.

Against the River Cats: 2021: 0-2 2019: 1-2 All-time: 40-47 At OKC: 19-25 The Dodgers and River Cats are meeting for their lone series of the season...Sacramento won a three-game set between the teams in their last meeting in June 2019, as OKC won the series opener before Sacramento clinched back-to-back wins at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for their first series win against OKC since 2015...The River Cats went on to win the 2019 Pacific Coast League Championship, sweeping Round Rock, 3-0, in the Finals, then won the Triple-A National Championship Game against Columbus, 4-0...Since OKC became affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the River Cats with the San Francisco Giants in 2015, Sacramento has an 11-8 edge in the Triple-A version of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry. Going back to 2019, Sacramento has won four straight meetings, all taking place at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Stuck in the Starting Gate: The Dodgers have opened the season with a 1-7 record, marking their slowest start to a season in the Bricktown era (since 1998). The team had only once registered as few as two wins through eight games (2002). The team's lowest win total through nine games is three, going 3-6 in 2002...OKC began the 2021 season 0-4 for the first time in team history...Tonight the Dodgers look to avoid starting 0-3 at home for just the third time in the ballpark's history (2013, 2017).

Reks in Effect: Zach Reks picked up his first three-hit game of the season Friday, including his second homer of 2021, and he has now hit safely in seven straight games after being held without a hit in the season opener. During the hitting streak he is 11-for-30 (.367) with two homers, two doubles and owns a team-high eight RBI. He has also notched at least one RBI in each of the last four games (seven RBI total)...Between Double-A Tulsa and OKC last season, Reks slashed .291/.385/.536 and led the Dodgers minor league system with 93 RBI. He blasted 28 homers in 121 games after hitting just seven homers over his first 135 career games combined.

Raging Ravelo: Rangel Ravelo reached base in three of his five plate appearances last night as well as in six of his nine plate appearances in the current series. Through the first eight games, Ravelo is 9-for-27 - hitting safely in seven of eight - and paces the Dodgers with seven walks and a .486 OBP. His four extra-base hits are tied for most on the team, while his 15 total bases and five RBI both rank second.

Ways of the K's: The OKC pitching staff racked up 12 strikeouts last night, marking already the fifth time this season they've struck out at least 10 batters this season. In 2019, the Dodgers set a team record with 1,287 K's and led the league in strikeouts for the third time in four years...On the flipside, the Dodgers offense struck out 15 more times last night - already the fourth game this season with at least 14 K's at the plate and the seventh time in eight games with double-digit strikeouts, including the last six straight. The team's 96 strikeouts are the most in Triple-A West...Over the first two games of the current series, 56 of the 159 total batters to step to the plate have struck out (35 percent).

The Run Around: OKC has allowed the third-most runs in Triple-A West through six games (59 R/57 ER) and is second in the league in homers allowed with 15. The Dodgers have allowed at least five runs in each game, including two games with 10 or more runs allowed...The 59 runs allowed by the Dodgers are the most given up by an OKC team through eight games in the Bricktown era. OKC's previous high for runs allowed through the first eight games of a season was 47 allowed in 1999, and in previous years, an OKC team had not allowed a combined 59 runs prior to their 10th game of a season (2013, 2006)...Going back to the season opener May 6 after starting pitcher Josiah Gray left the game, the pitching staff has retired the side in order just 14 times over the past 62 innings (including three times Friday night), allowing 82 hits and 32 walks during that span (1.84 WHIP), including 14 HR. Opponents have scored 57 runs while batting .317 (82x259)...Last night Sacramento scored four of five runs with two outs and went 6-for-15 with two down. This season opponents are batting .347 with two outs and have scored 27 of 59 runs with two outs.

Double Down: Top Dodgers prospect Keibert Ruiz picked up another double Friday night and has four in his first four games with OKC, leading the Triple-A West in doubles since joining OKC May 10. Ruiz is a combined 6-for-20 with one RBI since being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Around the Horn: Last night marked the first game this season OKC did not allow a home run...Through the first eight games, when the Dodgers' leadoff man has reached base, he's scored in 11 of 15 instances. However, leadoff hitters have only reached base in two of the last 24 innings. For the season, leadoff hitters are batting just .162 with a .208 OBP thus far...Reliever James Pazos has struck out seven of the 14 batters he's faced...Already 11 OKC players have made their Triple-A debuts this season (without appearing previously the in Majors). Three current members of the pitching staff had not previously appeared above Low-A prior to this season...Through the first eight games, the Dodgers' shortest time of game is 2:57. Six of eight have lasted at least three hours - with the two exceptions being 2:57 and 2:58 - and five of eight have lasted at least 3:20.

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from May 15, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Oklahoma City Comets Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central