OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 16, 2023
May 16, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Sugar Land Space Cowboys (17-21) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (28-11)
Game #40 of 150/First Half #40 of 75/Home #16 of 75
Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Jairo Solis (0-0, 9.53) vs. OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (2-2, 4.20)
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: Bally Live, MiLB.tv
Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers return home from a 12-game road trip to open a six-game series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers have won six straight games, as well as seven of their last eight games, and can match their season-high seven-game winning streak (April 22-30) with a win tonight...The Dodgers own the best record in the PCL and have five more wins than second-place Reno...Tonight is Bark in the Park and dogs can attend the game with their ticketed owners by filling out a waiver form at the gate.
Last Game: The OKC Dodgers scored five runs over the eighth and ninth innings to come back and defeat the Round Rock Express, 7-5, Sunday afternoon at Dell Diamond as they completed a six-game road series sweep. Trailing, 5-2, entering the eighth inning, Michael Busch connected on a two-out RBI double. Devin Mann followed and sent a two-run home run out to left field to tie the score, 5-5. After OKC reliever Wander Suero held Round Rock scoreless in the bottom of the inning, Ben DeLuzio knocked a RBI single into right field, giving OKC a 6-5 edge. The Dodgers were able to add another run later in the inning as DeLuzio scored on an Express error during a rundown for a 7-5 advantage. The Express put the potential game-tying runs on base and brought the potential winning run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Suero retired the next two Express batters to end the game and secure the win. The teams had exchanged two-run homers in the first inning. Busch hit the first pitch of his at-bat out to right field for a 2-0 OKC lead in the top of the first inning. Then in the bottom of the inning, Round Rock's Blaine Crim hit a two-run homer to tie the score. Crim added another two-run homer in the third inning and Davis Wendzel's RBI double in the sixth inning put Round Rock in front, 5-2.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone (2-2) makes his second appearance with OKC after making his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers May 3. Tonight is his eighth start of the season with OKC, tying Matt Andriese and Robbie Erlin for the team lead...Stone started OKC's series opener in Round Rock last Tuesday, holding the Express to one run and two hits (1 HR) over 5.1 innings with four walks and four strikeouts. It was his third straight, and fourth outing overall with OKC, allowing one run or less...He made a spot start for the LAD May 3 at Dodger Stadium against Philadelphia, joining Michael Busch as the second OKC player this season to make his ML debut. He allowed five runs (four earned) over 4.0 IP with eight hits, two walks and one strikeout and did not factor into the decision of LA's 10-6 win. Stone was then optioned to OKC May 5...After allowing six runs and five hits in his season debut, Stone has allowed eight runs and 16 hits over his last six starts (27.1 IP) with OKC, posting a 2.63 ERA with a .163 opponent batting average...Last season, Stone was named the Los Angeles Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He compiled a 1.48 ERA and 9-6 record across 26 games (25 starts) at three levels, starting the season with High-A Great Lakes (six games) before moving up to Double-A Tulsa (14 games) and making his Triple-A debut with OKC Aug. 18...Stone led all pitchers in the Minors in ERA and tied for ninth overall in strikeouts...Entering this season, Stone was tabbed as the Los Angeles Dodgers' No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 6 prospect by Baseball America...The Dodgers selected Stone in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of Central Arkansas...Tonight is his third appearance of the season against the Space Cowboys. Over two starts he's allowed a combined five runs and six hits, including two homers, five walks and four strikeouts over 7.1 innings (0-1).
Against the Space Cowboys: 2023: 4-2 2022: 16-8 All-time: 32-22 At OKC: 21-12
The Dodgers and Space Cowboys meet for their second of four series this season and second of two series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark within a span of six weeks...The Dodgers won the first series between the teams this season, 4-2, April 11-16. OKC won four of the first five games before losing the finale. Luke Williams had eight hits and three RBI in six games, while Ryan Ward had six RBI in six games with two home runs and eight walks...The Dodgers won the 2022 series, 16-8, and went 11-4 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers did not lose back-to-back games to Sugar Land at any point last season...The teams split their last series of 2022 Aug. 16-21 in Sugar Land in a series that included two games that extended to the 10th inning and were won on walk-off hits by the Space Cowboys. The series also included a doubleheader with Sugar Land winning the second game, 21-4, in seven innings, featuring a 17-run inning...In OKC July 26-31, 2022, OKC won the set, 4-2, including two walk-off wins in 10 innings...Miguel Vargas led the Dodgers with 33 hits, 18 RBI, 23 runs scored and five homers against Sugar Land last season...Pitchers Ryan Pepiot and Carson Fulmer each had four wins in the season series, while Pepiot posted a 1.82 ERA in five games (three starts) with 29 strikeouts...Of last season's 24 total meetings, nine were one-run games.
Trending Up: The Dodgers lead the PCL with a 28-11 record and their 28 wins are tied with Norfolk (28-10) for the most wins in all of Triple-A. OKC's 28 wins through 39 games are the most by an OKC team through 39 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998). In fact, no other OKC team since 1998 has had fewer than 13 losses through 39 games and no OKC team since 1998 has gone on to have fewer than 13 losses through 40 games...After a 20-6 start, the Dodgers then lost four of their next five games, including their longest losing streak of the season at three games and their first series loss of the season in El Paso. However, the Dodgers have since rebounded with wins in seven of the last eight games and in six consecutive contests. OKC is now a season-best 17 games above .500, and the team has also won a season-best six straight road games. The team is a league-best 17-7 on the road overall this season...After not recording a win streak of at least six games since July 2019, the Dodgers have now put together two winning streaks of at least six games over their last 20 games overall.
Six Pack Sweep: With Sunday's win in Round Rock, the Dodgers completed their first-ever six-game series sweep. PCL teams started playing primarily six-game series starting in 2021 and the Dodgers have played 50 total six-game series since...The Dodgers have now won the first five games of two of the last three series, as well as five straight games within the same series - something the team had never accomplished prior to this season since the six-game series format began in 2021. The Dodgers also won the first five games of their six-game series against Sacramento April 25-30 before losing the finale, which was Game 2 of a doubleheader. In fact, the Dodgers have only won five games within the same series under the new format six times since 2021...Prior to this season, the only other time the Dodgers started a six-game series even by going 4-0 was June 17-20, 2021 in Round Rock, and the team has now done it three times in six of their six-game series in 2023...The Dodgers had last swept a series of more than three games May 30-June 2, 2019 in Memphis (4 G). The Dodgers had swept a five-game series April 25-29, 2018 against Iowa in OKC - tied for the previous most games in a series sweep by OKC since 1998.
Down, But Not Out: The Dodgers trailed Sunday's game, 5-2, before scoring three runs in the eighth inning to tie the game and scoring two more runs in the ninth inning to win. Sunday was the Dodgers' eighth last at-bat win of the season, seventh win when trailing after seven innings and eighth win after trailing in the eighth inning or later. They trailed in the seventh inning or later in four of their six wins at Round Rock...The Dodgers have now trailed at some point in 18 of their 28 total wins this season, including nine wins after trailing by at least two runs...In the team's last eight wins combined, the Dodgers have scored a total of 15 runs through six innings (48 innings total), but 27 runs between the seventh and ninth innings (24 innings total)...OKC improved to 16-2 in games decided by one or two runs this season.
With Honors: OKC Dodgers pitcher Matt Andriese was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week for May 8-14 by Minor League Baseball Monday. He combined with two relievers to pitch the Dodgers' first nine-inning shutout of 2023 in a 6-0 win May 12 in Round Rock. Andriese pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits. He matched his longest start of the season and tied a season high with six strikeouts, retiring 18 of the 20 batters he faced overall. He retired the first 10 batters of the game as well as 17 of the first 18 batters. Andriese did not allow a walk for a fourth consecutive start (20.1 IP)...He is the third OKC player to receive weekly honors this season, joining catcher Hunter Feduccia (April 17-23) and pitcher William Cuevas (April 24-30).
Steadfast: Michael Busch went 2-for-4 with a home run, double, team-high three RBI and two runs scored Sunday. He has reached base in all 24 of his games with OKC this season and is now on a 30-game on-base streak in Triple-A games going back to the end of 2022. His current 24-game streak is tied for the second-longest on-base streak in the PCL this season...Busch has hit safely in 20 of his 24 games with OKC in 2023 while slashing .330/.457/.521. His .330 AVG leads the Dodgers and he has 31 hits through 24 games, including 12 for extra bases. He also has 19 RBI, 19 runs scored and 20 walks.
What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann went 2-for-3 with a home run, walk and two RBI Sunday as he extended his hitting streak to eight games - the longest active streak for an OKC player and third-longest active streak in the league. During the streak, Mann is 11-for-27 (.407) with six extra-base hits and nine RBI. He has also reached base safely in nine consecutive games and is one game shy of his team-leading season-best nine-game hitting streak (April 15-27)...Mann paces the Minors with 19 doubles and he has 16 doubles in his last 22 games, while hitting safely in 19 of the 22 games, going 27-for-75 (.360) with 18 RBI and 15 runs scored...Last season, Mann finished with 21 total doubles between Tulsa and OKC (118 games) and his career high is 27 with Tulsa in 2021 (110 games).
Bullish 'Pen: On Sunday, the OKC bullpen allowed a run for the first time in one week. Over the last nine games, the bullpen has allowed just three runs and 18 hits over 40.1 innings, holding opponents 18-for-131 (.137) with 47 strikeouts. During the Round Rock series, the bullpen combined for 19.2 scoreless innings before allowing one run over 4.0 innings Sunday...Overall, the OKC pitching staff's 160 walks and 298 hits allowed so far in 2023 are fewest in the PCL and the team's .234 opponent average is the lowest. OKC's 190 runs allowed and 4.57 ERA are second-lowest in the PCL behind Round Rock.
Around the Horn: The Dodgers have won three straight series openers and are 5-2 overall in openers in 2023, including 2-1 at home...OKC hit two home runs for their second multi-homer outing in the last four games, but also just the second in the last 21 games. OKC's 11 homers since April 21 are fewest in Triple-A. However, the OKC pitching staff allowed two more homers Sunday and has allowed at least one homer in 13 of the team's last 14 games (21 HR). During the 12-game road trip, the Dodgers allowed 19 home runs, with two or more homers in six of the last 11 games (18 HR). The Express scored 12 of their 16 total runs throughout the series via seven home runs....The Dodgers are batting .328 (21x64) with runners in scoring position over the last seven games. The Dodgers held Round Rock 4-for-33 with RISP during the last series, including 2-for-the-last-23. The Dodgers' .208 opponent batting average with RISP this season is best in the league by 39 points.
Pacific Coast League Stories from May 16, 2023
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- Aces Total 17 Hits, Rock River Cats in Series Opener - Reno Aces
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 16, 2023 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Space Cowboys to Host Three Summer Camps in 2023 - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
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