PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 21, 2023

Published on May 21, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Sugar Land Space Cowboys (18-25) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (32-12)

Game #45 of 150/First Half #45 of 75/Home #21 of 75

Pitching Probables: SUG-RHP Angel Macuare (0-1, 6.57) vs. OKC-RHP Michael Grove (NR, -.--)

Sunday, May 21, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 2:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers close out their six-game series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 2:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers' 10-game winning streak was snapped last night, but OKC has won 11 of the last 13 games and owns the best record in the PCL with five more wins than second-place Reno...Kids can take the field following the game to run the bases, and prior to the game, players and coaches from the OKC Dodgers Rookie League will be honored during a pregame parade.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers' 10-game winning streak came to an end Saturday night with a 4-3 loss in 11 innings against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The teams played to a 2-2 tie through nine innings before the Space Cowboys scored runs in both the 10th and 11th innings for the win. In the 10th inning, Grae Kessinger connected on a RBI single to give Sugar Land a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Luke Williams evened the score with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 11th inning with two outs, Luke Berryhill's RBI single put the Space Cowboys in front, 4-3. In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers had the potential tying run thrown out at the plate for the second out. Yonny Hernández then grounded out to end the game. The Dodgers scored two runs in the first inning on a RBI single by Ryan Ward and another on a RBI fielder's choice by Hunter Feduccia for a 2-0 edge. A two-run home run by Sugar Land's Bligh Madris tied the score in the fifth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Michael Grove begins a Major League Rehab Assignment with the OKC Dodgers today...He suffered a right groin strain April 20 during a game at the Chicago Cubs to land on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List...Grove had been slated to be the OKC Dodgers' 2023 Opening Day starter before being recalled to Los Angeles March 30 to replace injured pitcher Ryan Pepiot on the Dodgers' Opening Day roster...Grove made four starts with Los Angeles in April, going 0-1 with an 8.44 ERA over 16.0 innings with seven walks and 14 strikeouts. He allowed 15 runs and 21 hits total, but allowed two runs or less in each of his last two outings and five hits or less in three of his four starts...He pitched a season-high 5.2 innings against the Cubs at Dodger Stadium, April 15 allowing one run, two hits and two walks with six K's...Grove pitched in a combined 26 games (23 starts) during the 2022 season, splitting time with Double-A Tulsa, OKC and in the Majors. He spent the majority of the season with OKC, making 14 appearances (12 starts) and was recalled by Los Angeles five times during the season...Grove started the 2022 season with Double-A Tulsa before making his ML debut as a spot starter for Los Angeles against Philadelphia May 15 at Dodger Stadium, becoming the first Dodger since Danny Coulombe in Sept. 2014 to make his ML debut straight from Double-A...Grove earned his first ML win Sept. 25, 2022 against St. Louis after allowing one run and three hits over 5.0 innings...Grove entered the 2023 season tabbed as the Los Angeles Dodgers' No. 18 prospect by Baseball America...With OKC last season he made his Triple-A debut May 21 and went on to post a 1-4 record with a 4.07 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 68 strikeouts over 59.2 IP...Grove was originally selected in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft from West Virginia University...Tonight is Grove's fifth career appearance and third start against the Space Cowboys. In four appearances and two starts against Sugar Land last season, Grove allowed just six runs and 14 hits over 17.1 innings for a 3.12 ERA. He went 0-0 with seven walks and 17 strikeouts.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2023: 8-3 2022: 16-8 All-time: 36-23 At OKC: 25-13

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.

Trend Setters: The Dodgers lead the PCL with a 32-12 record, and their 32 wins are the most among all teams in the Minors. Only the Tampa Bay Rays (34-13) have more wins in affiliated professional baseball, but have played three more games...OKC's 32 wins are the most by an OKC team through 44 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998), and no other OKC team since 1998 has had fewer than 13 losses through 44 games or fewer than 14 losses through 45 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 11 of the last 13 games and in 10 consecutive contests from May 9-19 before yesterday's loss.

It Was A Good Run: The Dodgers' 10-game winning streak came to an end with Saturday's loss. It was the team's second-longest winning streak during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and the 10 consecutive wins were the team's most since a team-record 12-game winning streak July 26-Aug. 6, 2013. There have only been six winning streaks of at least nine games by the team since 1998 and prior to this season was 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 since April 22...The last PCL team with a winning streak of 10 games was Las Vegas last season between May 25-June 5..

Fever Pitch: The Dodgers allowed just two runs through nine innings - via a two-run homer in the fifth inning - before allowing an unearned run in both the 10th and 11th innings when Sugar Land's automatic runner scored. It was the fourth time in the last five games OKC allowed four or fewer total runs as well as the sixth time in the last eight games...With two unearned runs allowed last night in extra innings, the Dodgers bullpen has now allowed five total runs (3 ER) and 22 hits in 60.0 innings over the last 14 games, holding opponents 22-for-191 (.115) with 68 strikeouts. The unit has allowed just three runs (1 ER) over 43.1 innings going back to the start of the previous series in Round Rock (11 games)...Overall, the OKC pitching staff leads the PCL with a 4.27 ERA, 208 runs allowed, 329 hits allowed, a .229 opponent average and 179 walks...Dodgers pitchers recorded 12 strikeouts Saturday and have finished a game with 12 or more strikeouts 10 times this season...During the current series, the Dodgers have held the Space Cowboys 7-for-71 with three runs between the fifth and ninth innings, and they have allowed no runs and two hits between the sixth and ninth innings (20 innings total)..Over the last 11 games, OKC pitchers have allowed a total of 34 runs and 65 hits, while producing a 2.41 ERA (27 ER/101.0 IP), .185 BAA (65x352) and 1.04 WHIP (105 H+BB).

Off on Offense: Last night the Dodgers were limited to three runs and five hits over 11 innings and went 1-for-the-last-21 .The Dodgers were held without an extra-base hit for the second time in the last eight games and to one extra-base hit or less for the third straight game and seventh time in the last 10 games (17 XBH). The team has no extra-base hits over the last 18 innings...OKC finished with five total hits last night as they were held to six hits or less for the third time in the last four games and were held to one hit over the final seven innings...The Dodgers' .247 average overall this season is lowest in the PCL and OKC's 356 hits are also a league-low...Since April 27, the Dodgers are batting a league-low .216 and have 144 hits in 22 games (6.5 hits per game)...The Dodgers have been held without a home run in three straight games and in five of the last eight games. OKC's 13 total homers since April 21 (25 G) are fewest in Triple-A by seven...During the current series, the Dodgers are 9-for-60 (.150) with runners in scoring position, with three of those hits coming in one inning during a fourth-inning rally Friday night.

Drew the Line: Drew Avans picked up a hit, walk, stolen base and scored two of OKC's three runs Saturday. He has now hit safely in seven straight games for his longest hitting streak of the season and the longest active streak by an OKC player (8x29). He has also reached base in eight consecutive games...Avans' 33 walks this season are tied for third in the league, while his 33 runs are tied for eighth.

Close Calls: Including last night, six of the last seven games have been decided by one or two runs. And now for the season, 22 of 44 games have been decided by two runs or less, with OKC going 19-3 in those games. With yesterday's defeat, the Dodgers are now 13-2 in one-run games...OKC lost in extra innings last night for the first time this season after entering the game with a 3-0 record. It was also the first time this season OKC played past 10 innings. Three of OKC's first 10 games of the season went into extra innings, but last night was the team's first extra-inning contest since April 11 also against Sugar Land at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Over the last 17 games, seven have been decided in the eighth inning or later...Thirteen total games this season have been decided in a final at-bat (OKC - 9; Opp. - 4).

Never Say Die Dodgers: The Dodgers won Friday after trailing, 6-1, tying their largest deficit in a win this season. The Dodgers have now trailed at some point in 22 of their 32 total victories this season, as well as in each of their last five wins and in 12 of their last 14 wins...The Dodgers have won 12 times after trailing by at least two runs, seven times after trailing by at least three runs - including in three of the last six games - and four times after trailing by five runs. They have eight wins when trailing after seven innings and five wins when trailing after eight innings.

Around the Horn: Ryan Ward collected OKC's lone multi-hit game as he went 2-for-5 Saturday with a RBI and made a diving catch on a sharp liner in the seventh inning. He leads the Dodgers with 37 hits and 31 RBI this season...The Dodgers drew six walks Saturday and have at least five walks in 15 of the last 20 games (120 BB)...The Dodgers won the first four games of the current series and built a 4-0 series lead for the fourth time this season before yesterday's loss. Prior to this season, the Dodgers had only won the first four games of a six-game series once between the 2021-22 seasons (44 series). Since the start to mostly six-game series in 2021, the Dodgers are 5-4 in Game 6 after going 4-1 through five games...Devin Mann walked twice Saturday as he extended his on-base streak to 12 games - the longest current on-base streak by an OKC player....The Dodgers are 4-3 in series finales this season, including 1-2 at home and 1-2 in their last three finales.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 21, 2023


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