PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 18, 2023

Published on May 18, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Sugar Land Space Cowboys (17-23) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (30-11)

Game #42 of 150/First Half #42 of 75/Home #18 of 75

Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Jayden Murray (2-3, 6.39) vs. OKC-RHP Matt Andriese (3-2, 5.50)

Thursday, May 18, 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 have won eight consecutive games and will try to match their second-longest winning streak during the Bricktown era (since 1998) when they continue their series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Dodgers have won nine of their last 10 games and own the best record in the PCL with five more wins than second-place Reno.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored five runs over their final four at-bats and the pitching staff shined again on the way to a 5-1 win Wednesday night against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers overcame an early deficit as the Space Cowboys took the game's first lead by scoring a run on a RBI groundout in the third inning. The Dodgers scored two runs in the fifth inning, bringing in the game-tying run when they drew four straight walks to start the inning. With the bases loaded again, another run scored when Yonny Hernández grounded into a double play for a 2-1 lead. In the sixth inning, Luke Williams connected on a solo home run out to left-center field before OKC added two runs in the eighth inning on Jonny DeLuca's RBI double and a Space Cowboys throwing error later in the frame.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Reigning PCL Pitcher of the Week Matt Andriese (3-2) makes his team-leading ninth start of the season tonight...He was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week for May 8-14 by Minor League Baseball Monday after combining with two relievers to throw 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. He retired the first 10 batters of the game as well as 17 of the first 18. Andriese did not allow a walk for a fourth consecutive start (20.1 IP)...Over his last four starts, Andriese has limited opponents to five runs and 12 hits over 20.1 innings with no walks and 14 strikeouts, resulting in a 2.21 ERA, .169 BAA and 0.59 WHIP...He has allowed one or no walks in six of his eight appearances this season, with three walks in his last seven starts combined (33.2 IP)...Andriese is in his 13th professional season and signed with the Dodgers Jan. 30 after spending the 2022 season with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, going 5-2 with a 2.86 ERA over 15 games. He notched 56 strikeouts against 14 walks in 63.0 IP...Andriese was selected in the third round of the 2011 MLB Draft by San Diego from UC Riverside and he made his ML debut with Tampa Bay April 10, 2015 at Miami. He's made a total of 217 appearances in the Majors with five different teams throughout his career...Tonight is his second appearance of the season against Sugar Land. In an April 12 start in OKC, he allowed four runs (two earned) and seven hits over 5.0 innings with one walk and six strikeouts and was charged with the loss in OKC's 7-3 defeat.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2023: 6-2 2022: 16-8 All-time: 34-22 At OKC: 23-12

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 30-11 record and their 30 wins are tied with Triple-A Norfolk (30-10) for the most wins among all teams in the Minors. OKC's 30 wins are the most by an OKC team through 41 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998), and no other OKC team since 1998 has had fewer than 13 losses through 41 or 42 games...The Dodgers have reached 30 wins faster than any PCL team since Las Vegas in 2014, which also started 30-11. In each of the last seven seasons, a PCL team needed at least 43 games (OKC in 2015) to reach 30 wins and at least 45 games in each of the last six seasons. In 2022, Round Rock was the first PCL team to reach 30 wins and did so in 50 games...With a win tonight, the Dodgers would match their longest winning streak since a nine-game streak April 7-17, 2018 - tied for the second-longest winning streak by an OKC team during the Bricktown era. There have only been five winning streaks of at least nine games during the Bricktown era...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 nine of the last 10 games and in eight consecutive contests. OKC is now a season-best 19 games above .500 and the most games above .500 since Aug. 31, 2022 when the team was 72-53 last season...After not recording a win streak of at least six games since July 2019, the Dodgers have now put together three such streaks this season, as well as two winning streaks of at least seven games over their last 22 games overall.

Fever Pitch: For the third time in the last five games, the Dodgers allowed one or no runs and have now allowed no more than three runs in four of the last five games. Last night, Dodgers pitchers held Sugar Land scoreless and to one hit over the final six innings and retired 18 of the last 20 batters. On Tuesday, the Dodgers did not allow a run or a hit over the final five innings and retired 14 of the final 15 Space Cowboys to step to the plate...Starting pitcher Bobby Miller pitched a season-high 6.0 innings Wednesday, allowing one run and two hits with one walk and six strikeouts. He threw 76 pitches, including 43 strikes and retired the final 11 batters he faced. Relievers Alex Vesia, Tayler Scott and Nick Robertson combined for 3.0 scoreless innings, holding the Space Cowboys to one hit and one walk with two strikeouts...Over the last 11 games, the Dodgers bullpen has allowed just three runs and 19 hits over 46.2 innings, holding opponents 19-for-149 (.128) with 54 strikeouts. The unit has allowed just one run over 30.0 innings going back to the start of the previous series in Round Rock...Overall, the OKC pitching staff leads the PCL with a 4.41 ERA, 194 runs allowed, 306 hits allowed, a .230 opponent average and 166 walks...During the current eight-game winning streak, OKC pitchers have allowed one run or less in four games and a total of 20 runs and 42 hits, while producing a 2.38 ERA (19 ER/72.0 IP), .170 BAA (42x247) and 0.96 WHIP (69 H+BB). The Dodgers have allowed three or fewer runs in six of the last 10 games and are now 16-0 when allowing no more than three runs in game this season.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann went 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored yesterday as he extended his hitting streak to nine games - tying his team-leading season-best nine-game hitting streak initially set April 15-27. During the current streak, Mann is 12-for-29 (.414) with six extra-base hits and nine RBI. He has also now reached base in a season-best 10 consecutive games...Mann paces the Minors with 19 doubles and he has 16 doubles in his last 23 games, while hitting safely in 20 of the 23 games, going 28-for-77 (.364) with 18 RBI and 16 runs scored. His 21 extra-base hits are tied for fifth-most in the PCL...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).

Never Say Die Dodgers: Including last night's win, the Dodgers have now trailed at some point in 20 of their 30 total victories this season, as well as in each of their last three wins and in 10 of their last 12 wins. Last night the Dodgers trailed, 1-0, before scoring five runs over their last four at-bats, and in the team's last 10 wins combined, they have scored a total of 19 runs through six innings (60 innings total), but 32 runs between the seventh and ninth innings (29 innings total)...On Tuesday night, the Dodgers won a second straight game after they trailed heading into the eighth inning, and for the fifth time in the last seven wins, the Dodgers trailed heading into the seventh inning. Tuesday night's victory was the team's ninth last at-bat win of the season through 40 games overall, as well as their fifth walk-off win through 16 home games. They now have eight wins when trailing after seven innings and five wins when trailing after eight innings. In four of their six wins at Round Rock, they trailed in the seventh inning or later...With Tuesday night's win, OKC improved to 17-2 in games decided by one or two runs this season, including a 12-1 record in one-run games...Luke Williams became the third OKC player with a walk-off hit for the Dodgers this season, following two from Jahmai Jones and two from Devin Mann. Last season, OKC had eight walk-off wins, which were the most for the team in a single season since 2015 when OKC had 11 walk-off wins...Tuesday also marked the sixth time this season during a win the Dodgers never led in the game until their final at-bat and the sixth time they won after trailing by as many as three runs at some point.

Yard Work: The Dodgers have now homered in three straight games with Luke Williams' home run Wednesday night and the team has 11 homers in the last 11 games after a stretch of just two homers in the previous 12 games. OKC's 13 total homers since April 21 (23 G) are fewest in Triple-A and their 38 home runs through 41 games are third-fewest in the PCL overall this season...On the other hand, the Dodgers did not allow a home run last night for just the second time in the last 16 games. OKC had allowed a home run in three straight games entering Wednesday, as well as in 14 of the previous 15 games (22 HR). OKC has allowed 60 home runs through 41 games - third-most in the league and four behind league-leading Albuquerque's 64 homers allowed. During their 12-game road trip, the Dodgers allowed 19 home runs, with two or more homers in six of the last 11 games (18 HR)...Opponents have scored 13 of their last 20 total runs via eight home runs....With yesterday's win, the team is now 7-0 when not allowing a home run this season.

Around the Horn: Michael Busch's 25-game on-base streak came to an end last night as he was held 0-for-4 He compiled the second-longest on-base streak in the PCL to start 2023 (Michael Stefanic, Salt Lake - 36 G) and had reached base in 31 straight Triple-A games going back to the end of the 2022 season. During the 25-game streak, Busch collected 32 hits and hit safely in 21 of the 25 games while slashing .327/.455/.510...The Dodgers turned a season-high three double plays Wednesday and have now turned five through the first two games of the series...The Dodgers have a 2-0 start to a series for the fourth time this season. They improved to 3-0 each of the three previous times...Luke Williams homered Wednesday and has now homered five times in 137 total plate appearances between OKC and LAD this season after going deep just twice in 194 total plate appearances between the Majors and Triple-A last season and only three times in 445 total plate appearances between 2021-22.

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from May 18, 2023


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.

OurSports Central