PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 19, 2022

Published on May 19, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (21-17) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (23-15)

Game #39 of 150/Home #21 of 75

Pitching Probables: ELP-RHP Reiss Knehr (2-3, 6.49) vs. OKC-LHP Robbie Erlin (2-1, 5.47)/RHP Sam Gaviglio (3-2, 6.41)

Thursday, May 19, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers close out their three-game series at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The series is tied, 1-1, and the Dodgers have lost two of their last three games after winning four in a row...OKC is 3-3 in series finales this season, including 2-1 at home.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers were held to one run and the OKC pitching staff allowed 10 walks in a 9-1 loss to the El Paso Chihuahuas Wednesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Chihuahuas collected their first hits of the night in the fourth inning, taking a 3-0 lead on a RBI double by Nomar Mazara and a two-run double by Taylor Kohlwey. The Dodgers' lone run of the night scored in the fifth inning on an El Paso fielding error. El Paso added a two-run homer by Mazara in the sixth inning for a 5-1 advantage The Chihuahuas drew six walks in the seventh inning, including five straight at one point, and scored four runs after the bases were empty with two outs. Oklahoma City and El Paso each finished the game with eight hits.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Robbie Erlin (2-1) makes his fifth start and seventh appearance with OKC...Erlin last started with the Dodgers May 14 in Round Rock, holding the Express to one run and three hits over 3.0 innings with one walk and three K's (ND)...It was his first appearance with OKC since having his contract selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers May 7 and making 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...With OKC April 30 against Sugar Land, he piggybacked Mike Wright Jr. and allowed no runs and two hits over the final five innings to earn the win, retiring 14 of 17 batters racking 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.).

Sam Gaviglio (3-2) is scheduled to make his eighth appearance and piggyback Erlin...During his last outing May 13 in Round Rock, he allowed a season-high seven hits and tied his season-high with five runs over 4.0 innings. The Express hit four home runs against Gaviglio, setting a career high. He did not issue a walk and had five K's and did not factor into the decision...Gaviglio has primarily worked in a tandem with other pitchers and appeared out of the bullpen in four of his first six outings...Gaviglio signed with LAD as a free agent Jan. 31, 2022 after splitting last year with Triple-A Round Rock and SSG Landers of the KBO in Korea...He spent the entire 2019 season as a member of Toronto's bullpen, making a career-high 52 appearances...He made his ML debut May 11, 2017 with the Seattle Mariners at Toronto, striking out the first batter he faced...He was selected by St. Louis in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Oregon State University.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2022: 4-4 2021: 14-9 All-time: 32-23 At OKC: 14-11 The Dodgers and Chihuahuas meet for their second series of 2022 and first in OKC...The teams split their first series of the 2022 season at Southwest University Park in El Paso, 3-3, as the Chihuahuas won the first three games before the Dodgers responded and closed out the series with three straight wins...Ryan Noda compiled a team-best 10 RBI and 10 hits in the series, including two homers. Jason Martin also homered twice in the initial series as the Dodgers outscored El Paso, 42-30...The Dodgers won the 2021 series between the teams, 14-9, including 6-5 at home. OKC outscored the Chihuahuas, 143-115, and had 37 homers while holding El Paso to 21 home runs over the 23-game season series. Starting pitcher Yefry Ramírez went 4-0 in five starts, recording a team-leading 32 strikeouts against 10 walks while posting a 3.96 ERA over 25.0 IP...Outside of 2018, OKC has won or split each season series against the Chihuahuas since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season...Until the first series this season, OKC had not lost three straight games at Southwest University Park Dodgers started playing at the venue in 2015.

Opposite Offense: After scoring a combined 26 runs over the previous two games combined, and scoring at least five runs in 11 straight games, the Dodgers' offense was held to one run Wednesday, which scored on a two-out error in the fifth inning. The run output tied the team's season low mark and was the team's lowest since scoring one run in three consecutive games April 22-24 in Sacramento. Although the Dodgers only plated one run, they were never retired in order in any inning. They still collected eight hits and two walks, but went 2-for-18 with runners on base and 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The leadoff batter reached base five times but only scored once...Even with last night's quiet performance, Oklahoma City still leads all 120 teams in the Minors with 268 runs scored through the team's first 38 games and entered last night's game having scored at least 13 runs in four of their last six games and plated 69 runs during the six-game stretch while batting .358 (83x232) with 13 homers and 34 extra-base hits...OKC paces all 30 Triple-A teams in runs (268), hits (378) and batting average (.289)...The eight hits by Oklahoma City Wednesday snapped the team's stretch of three straight games with 10 or more hits and back-to-back games with 16 hits. Wednesday was also the first time in eight games Oklahoma City tallied fewer than nine hits.

More Than Steady Eddy: Eddy Alvarez reached base four times last night for a fifth straight game, collecting a game-high three hits, and was also hit by a pitch. Alvarez has now reached base in 20 of his last 24 plate appearances (12x16, 6 BB, 2 HBP), including each of his last eight plate appearances. He has hit safely in six consecutive games, batting .609 (14x23) with four doubles, a triple, two homers, 11 RBI, 11 runs scored and six walks. He went 3-for-3 Wednesday for his fourth straight multi-hit game and his fifth during his six-game hitting streak...Alvarez now has seven three-hit games this season to lead the team...Due to the recent surge, Alvarez now leads the league with a .471 OBP and is third with a .333 average. His nine HBP's top all players in Triple-A.

Zach Attack: Zach McKinstry went 2-for-4 Wednesday and was hit by a pitch, extending his hitting streak to 11 games - the longest hitting streak by an Oklahoma City player this season. During the streak, McKinstry is 20-for-45 (.444) with 11 runs, six RBI and seven multi-hit games...He leads the PCL with a .382 average and four triples, ranks second with a .466 OBP and tied for third with 42 hits. His hit total ranks second among OKC players despite playing in just 28 of the team's 38 games and his 14 multi-hit games this season are second-most among Dodgers players.

Lookin' for a Busch: Michael Busch made his Triple-A debut Tuesday after being promoted from Double-A Tulsa, where he led the Drillers in home runs (11), RBI (29), walks (24) and OBP (.445). On Tuesday, he went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and scored two runs. Busch's first Triple-A hit was a two-run homer in the third inning. He added a double in his first at-bat Wednesday, and he is now 3-for-9 with two RBI and two runs scored during his first two career Triple-A games...Between OKC and Tulsa, Busch has hit safely in 10 straight games, going 15-for-36 (.417) with three home runs, four doubles, 14 runs and eight RBI.

Mighty Miguel: Miguel Vargas was held 0-for-4 Wednesday as his 19-game on-base streak came to an end. The on-base streak is tied for sixth-longest in the PCL this season. Vargas had put together six straight multi-hit games (12x27) entering Wednesday and had hit safely in 16 of his previous 17 games, going 28-for-69 (.406) with 15 RBI, 13 walks and 25 runs scored. He also had scored at least one run in 16 of his previous 17 games...Vargas paces the PCL with 45 hits and 37 runs scored this season and ranks tied for second in the league with 25 walks. His run total is third-most in all of the Minors.

Ups and Downs on the Mound: The 10 walks issued by Dodgers pitchers last night was the fourth time this season OKC issued 10 or more walks and the third time in the last eight games. The Chihuahuas racked up six walks in the seventh inning alone, including five straight walks at one point. Three Dodgers pitchers combined to throw 53 pitches in the inning, with only 22 strikes. Overall, the bullpen walked nine of El Paso's final 18 batters...The 13 strikeouts by Dodgers pitchers Wednesday marked the fourth time this season OKC has compiled 13 or more K's in a game and fell one shy of the team's season-high mark...After allowing a combined 10 runs over a four-game stretch in Round Rock, the Dodgers have allowed a total of 28 runs over the last three games combined, including two games allowing nine or more runs...Over the last 12 games, the Dodgers are 8-4. In the eight wins, they've allowed 25 runs total. In the four losses, they've allowed 47 runs total, with at least nine runs in each game...The team has a 5.85 ERA in 15 games this month, including a 6.98 ERA among the starters/primary pitchers/tandem pitchers.

Pillar of Strength: Kevin Pillar came off the bench last night and went 0-for-1 with a walk. Over his last 10 games (nine starts), Pillar is batting .432 (16x37) with two doubles, five homers, 16 RBI, 10 runs scored and six multi-hit games. He has hit safely in five of his last six starts and in seven of his last nine starts...He leads the Dodgers with 33 RBI in 31 games and is tied for the team lead with nine homers. His 33 runs scored this season are second-most in the PCL and he also ranks among the league's top-five leaders in OPS (2nd - 1.078), SLG (3rd - .658), total bases (T-3rd - 75), RBI (4th - 33), extra-base hits (T-4th - 17) and home runs (T-5th - 9).

Around the Horn: Tonight the Dodgers will play their first rubber match of the season. This season they are 1-2 when they have a chance to win the series in the finale. Neither the Dodgers nor Chihuahuas have lost a series this season...Jake Lamb singled Wednesday and has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .326 (14x43) with six extra-base hits, six walks, 12 runs scored and 12 RBI...Tomás Telis did not play yesterday but is currently on an eight-game hitting streak, going 12-for-31 (.387) with 10 RBI. He has collected at least one hit in 13 of his last 14 games with a plate appearance, batting .396 (21x53) during the stretch...Last night marked the first time since Opening Night the Dodgers and their opponent were both kept scoreless through the first three innings.

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