PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 19, 2023

Published on May 19, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Sugar Land Space Cowboys (17-24) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (31-11)

Game #43 of 150/First Half #43 of 75/Home #19 of 75

Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Forrest Whitley (1-2, 5.40) vs. OKC-LHP Robbie Erlin (2-1, 7.71)

Friday, May 19, 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 seek a 10th consecutive win 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 games in a row, as well as 10 of their last 11 games, and own the best record in the PCL with five more wins than second-place Reno...Tonight is OKC 89ers Night and Dodgers players and coaches will take the field wearing special retro 89ers jerseys and hats. Postgame Friday Night Fireworks will be presented by LifeShare of Oklahoma.

Last Game: Jonny DeLuca finished with a team-high three hits and four RBI in the Oklahoma City Dodgers' 6-4 win against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as the Dodgers picked up a ninth consecutive victory. Sugar Land scored the game's first runs in their first at-bat, taking a 2-0 lead on a solo homer by Bligh Madris and sacrifice fly by J.J. Matijevic. The Dodgers knotted the score, 2-2, in the bottom of the first inning when DeLuca hit a two-run single with two outs. OKC took the lead in the second inning when Drew Avans hit into a double play with the bases loaded and a run scored. Steven Duggar's RBI single in the third inning put OKC in front, 4-2. Sugar Land scored a run on a fielder's choice and error in the fourth inning and tied the score, 4-4, in the fifth inning when Grae Kessinger grounded into a double play and a run scored. In the bottom of the inning, DeLuca lined a two-out, two-run double into left field for a 6-4 OKC lead. The Dodgers then held Sugar Land scoreless and to one hit over the final four innings of the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Robbie Erlin (2-1) is set to make his ninth start of the season, tying him with Matt Andriese for the team lead...In his last start May 13 in Round Rock, Erlin allowed a season-low one run over five innings to earn his second win of the season. Erlin also tied his season low with four hits while allowing one walk and striking out five. The Dodgers improved to 7-1 in his starts this season with a 2-1 victory over the Express...Erlin has allowed 15 home runs through his first eight outings of the season - most in the Minors. He has allowed three or more homers in three games and at least one homer in each outing...Erlin spent the majority of the 2022 season with OKC, making 21 appearances (14 starts). He went 5-4 with a 7.01 ERA, tied for fourth on the team in starts and ranked fourth in strikeouts. The team went 8-6 in his starts...He originally signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Feb. 21, 2022, and the lefty re-signed with the organization during this past offseason...Erlin was originally selected by Texas in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft and traded to San Diego July 31, 2011. He has appeared in 117 games (43 starts) in the Majors, primarily with San Diego, but has also logged time with Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Los Angeles (NL)...Erlin last started against the Space Cowboys April 13 in OKC. He allowed two runs and five hits over 5.0 innings with one walk against a season-high eight strikeouts. He was credited with the win in OKC's 12-5 victory.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2023: 7-2 2022: 16-8 All-time: 35-22 At OKC: 24-12 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 31-11 record, and their 31 wins are the most in all of Triple-A, as well as among all teams in the Minors. OKC's 31 wins are the most by an OKC team through 42 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998), and no other OKC team since 1998 has had fewer than 13 losses through 42 or 43 games...The Dodgers 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 to reach 30 wins - including OKC in 2015 - 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...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 10 of the last 11 games and in nine consecutive contests. OKC is now a season-best 20 games above .500 and the most games above .500 since Aug. 30, 2022 when the Dodgers had a 72-52 record. The Dodgers last were 21 games above .500 Aug. 5, 2022 with a 62-41 record.

Blue Streak: With a win tonight, the Dodgers would notch the team's second winning streak of at least 10 games during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and the first since a team-record 12-game winning streak July 26-Aug. 6, 2013. OKC's current nine-game winning streak is tied for the team's second-longest in the Bricktown era, and there have only been six winning streaks of at least nine games by the team since 1998, last achieved April 7-17, 2018...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 23 games overall.

Jonny On the Spot: In his third Triple-A game, Jonny DeLuca went 3-for-4 with a double, game-high four RBI and two stolen bases Thursday night. The outfielder has reached base in each of his first three games since joining OKC from Double-A Tulsa Tuesday and is 4-for-11 with two doubles, five RBI, a walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases...His four RBI Thursday were his most in a game since July 14, 2022 with Tulsa at Springfield when he also had four RBI...At the time of his promotion, he led the Drillers with 10 homers, 29 runs scored, 72 total bases and nine stolen bases. He also led the Texas League in runs scored and ranked among the league's top-five in homers (2nd), total bases (2nd), extra-base hits (3rd, 18), OPS (T-3rd, .970) and SLG (5th, .590).

Fever Pitch: For just the second time in the last six games, the Dodgers allowed more than three runs in a game last night - although only three earned runs - but Dodgers pitchers held Sugar Land scoreless over the final four innings and to one hit. During the team's current nine-game winning streak, OKC pitchers have allowed one run or less in four games and a total of 24 runs and 51 hits, while producing a 2.44 ERA (22 ER/81.0 IP), .182 BAA (51x280) and 1.00 WHIP (81 H+BB)...Yesterday relievers Adam Kolarek, Mark Washington and Wander Suero combined to allowed one hit over 3.1 scoreless innings. The Dodgers bullpen has now allowed just three runs and 20 hits in 50.0 innings over the last 12 games, holding opponents 20-for-160 (.125) with 58 strikeouts. The unit has allowed just one run over 33.1 innings going back to the start of the previous series in Round Rock (nine games)...Overall, the OKC pitching staff leads the PCL with a 4.38 ERA, 198 runs allowed, 315 hits allowed, a .231 opponent average and 169 walks...The Dodgers have allowed three or fewer runs in six of the last 11 games and are 16-0 when allowing no more than three runs in game this season.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann reached base in a season-best 11th consecutive game last night with a walk, hit by pitch and run scored. However, his nine-game hitting streak came to an end. Mann was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning and exited the game when he was replaced by pinch hitter Ryan Ward in the eighth inning...During his nine-game streak, Mann went 12-for-29 (.414) with six extra-base hits and nine RBI. It was his second nine-game hitting streak of the season, which is the longest by any OKC player this season...Mann paces the Minors with 19 doubles but has been held without a double in a season-high six straight games after collecting a double in four consecutive games. 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)...His 21 extra-base hits are tied for fifth-most in the PCL.

Never Say Die Dodgers: Including last night's win, the Dodgers have now trailed at some point in 21 of their 31 total victories this season, as well as in each of their last four wins and in 11 of their last 13 wins. Sugar Land grabbed the early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning before the Dodgers flipped a recent trend and scored all six of their runs in the first five innings last night before being held scoreless in the sixth through eighth innings. Entering Thursday, the Dodgers had scored a total of 19 runs through six innings (60 innings), but 32 runs between the seventh and ninth innings (29 innings) in their previous 10 wins combined...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 last night's win, OKC improved to 18-2 in games decided by one or two runs this season, including a 12-1 record in one-run games.

Yard Work: The Dodgers were held without a home run for the first time in four games last night after hitting 11 homers in their previous 11 games. Prior to the recent stretch, the Dodgers had just two homers across 12 games and OKC's 13 total homers since April 21 (24 G) are fewest in Triple-A...On the other hand, Bligh Madris hit a home run on the first pitch of the game last night, giving OKC opponents their third leadoff homer of the season. The Dodgers have now allowed at least one homer in 15 of the last 17 games (23 HR). OKC has allowed 61 home runs through 42 games - third-most in the league and four behind league-leading Las Vegas' 65 homers allowed...Opponents have scored 14 of their last 24 total runs via nine home runs.

Around the Horn: OKC tied its season-high mark with four stolen bases Thursday, recording four steals for the second time in the last five games...The Dodgers have a 3-0 start to a series for the fourth time this season. They improved to 4-0 each of the three previous times...Last night Ryan Ward became the first Dodger to be used as a pinch hitter this season when he walked for Devin Mann in the eighth inning...The Dodgers have struck out six or fewer times in four of the last five games, and through the first three games of the current series, they have 20 walks against 15 strikeouts.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 19, 2023


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