PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 29, 2021

Published on May 29, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Reno Aces (25-22) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (28-19)

Game #48 of 150/Home #27 of 75

Pitching Probables: RNO-RHP Ryne Nelson (2-4, 7.36) vs. OKC-RHP Sam Gaviglio (4-2, 5.50)

Sunday, May 29, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 2:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers wrap up a six-game series against the Reno Aces at 2:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC is looking for a series split and trying to avoid its first losing series this season, and Reno is looking for its first-ever series win in Oklahoma City...Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench joins retired Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson and acclaimed photographer Jean Fruth today at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for a pregame book signing for "Grassroots Baseball: Route 66." Bench is also slated to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

Last Game: Omar Estévez hit two home runs and the Oklahoma City Dodgers scored nine unanswered runs over the game's first four innings in a 9-2 win against the Reno Aces Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Reno took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning before the Dodgers reeled off nine straight runs. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning and a two-run single by Zach McKinstry tied the score at 2-2. Oklahoma City added four runs in the third inning with a RBI single by Drew Avans followed by a three-run homer by Estévez for a 6-2 Dodgers advantage. Estévez connected on a second three-run homer in the fourth inning. The Dodgers' pitching staff held the Aces scoreless and to four hits over the game's final seven innings as OKC snapped a three-game losing skid.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Sam Gaviglio (4-2) makes his second start of the series and fifth of the season...Gaviglio earned the win against the Aces in Tuesday's series opener. He allowed just one hit through four innings as he retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced and fell one out shy of matching his longest outing of the season. He went on to allow five hits and three runs, two walks and had three strikeouts over 5.1 innings in his team-leading fourth win of the season...Gaviglio has primarily worked in a tandem with other pitchers and appeared out of the bullpen in five of his first nine outings. When he has started, the Dodgers have gone 3-1...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...Prior to this series, Gaviglio had not faced Reno since the 2016 season when he made two starts against the Aces while with Tacoma.

Against the Aces: 2022: 2-3 2021: 3-3 All-time: 29-25 At OKC: 22-13 The Dodgers and Aces are meeting for their first series of the season and their third straight at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams have split their previous two season series and OKC is 22-13 all-time against the Aces in Bricktown, winning or splitting each of the teams' seven series in OKC since 2010. However, the Aces are now 8-7 in OKC over the last three seasons after going 5-15 through their first 20 games. Earlier this series they won three straight games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the first time ever...Entering the current series, the teams had split their last 10 games, with both teams scoring exactly 59 runs during that span...In 2021, the teams split a six-game series in OKC, with the Dodgers winning the first, third and sixth games of the set. The teams were even offensively as well in the series with the Dodgers taking a slight 35-34 edge in runs, a 54-52 edge in hits and 9-8 edge in homers...OKC has not played in Reno since 2018 but will make a trip to the Biggest Little City June 14-19.

Omar Comin': Omar Estévez compiled a career-high six RBI Saturday night as he posted his second career game with two home runs. The two homers he hit Saturday were his first and second home runs of the 2022 season and marked the first time since July 5, 2018 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga he went deep twice...His six RBI tied for the most by a Dodgers player this season, as Stefen Romero first hit the milestone May 1 against Sugar Land in OKC. He also became the fifth OKC player with a multi-homer game in 2022...Following a 2-for-30 start to the season, Estévez is batting .326 (14x43) with seven extra-base hits and 11 RBI over his last 12 games.

Taking Offense: After scoring a total of four runs and tallying 13 hits over the previous three games combined, the Dodgers' offense broke out for nine runs and 10 hits Saturday night. The team's hit total was OKC's highest since May 17 against El Paso when the Dodgers finished with 16 hits...OKC batted .157 (13x83) over the three games before Saturday with 33 strikeouts, including 5-for-28 with runners on base 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position. They had been held scoreless in 21 of 24 innings and the leadoff batter had reached base only three times. On Saturday, the Dodgers went 10-for-33 overall, including 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position...The Dodgers lead the Minors with 311 runs scored this season, a .388 OBP and .842 OPS. They also lead all 30 Triple-A teams in batting average (.275) and walks (241).

All Walks of Life: The Dodgers' offense drew eight more walks yesterday and now has 93 walks over the past 16 games (5.8 per game). OKC leads all Triple-A teams and is fourth overall in the Minors with 241 walks this season, trailing only Single-A Lake Elsinore (239), fellow Dodgers affiliate Single-A Rancho Cucamonga (238) and Double-A Corpus Christi (242)...Yesterday was the ninth time in 47 games this season the team has drawn at least eight walks.

Zach Attack: Zach McKinstry went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI Saturday while notching his second straight multi-hit game and 17th multi-hit game of the season. His 49 hits rank second on the team although he has only played in 35 of OKC's 47 games, and he has now collected a multi-hit game in nearly half of his games with OKC...McKinstry leads the PCL in batting average (.355), ranks second in OBP (.442) and third in hits (49)...He has hit safely in four of his last five games as well as in 15 of his last 18 games.

When In Romero: Stefen Romero went 1-for-4 with a walk Saturday and has now hit safely in 14 of his 17 games (16 starts), batting .323 (21x65) with 11 extra-base hits...In his last five starts, Romero is 10-for-20 with two homers, four doubles, six RBI and four multi-hit games...He entered Friday's game as a pinch-hitter and struck out in his lone at-bat to snap his 15-game on-base streak - the third-longest by an OKC player this season...Since April 30, Romero has 18 RBI despite only playing in 15 games (14 starts) during that time.

On the Lamb: Jake Lamb drew two more walks Saturday night and went 1-for-3. He has now reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games and has hit safely in 19 of those games. He has also drawn a walk in six consecutive games and has 10 walks during the six-game stretch...Since April 24, Lamb has played in 25 games is slashing .318/.450/.625 with eight homers, three doubles, 24 RBI, 20 runs scored and 21 walks...Lamb leads OKC and is tied for fourth in the PCL with 11 homers while his 33 RBI are sixth in the league and his 27 walks are sixth.

J Mart Special: Jason Martin had Saturday off, but on Friday night he collected both of the Dodgers' extra-base hits, as he went 2-for-3 with a homer, double, walk and scored two runs. He has hit safely in three of his last four games, going 5-for-12 with three extra-base hits and six RBI, along with three walks and three runs scored...In Tuesday's series opener, Martin collected a game-high and season-high five RBI as he went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and scored a run. He became the fourth OKC Dodgers player to tally five or more RBI in a game this season and it was his highest RBI total since also finishing with five RBI May 7, 2017 while with High-A Buies Creek...Martin leads the team this season with 19 extra-base hits and ranks third in RBI (31) and runs scored (32).

Steady Eddy: Eddy Alvarez went 0-for-5 last night, marking just the second time in the last 14 games he was held without a hit. During the 14-game stretch, he is 21-for-54 (.389) with six doubles, two triples, 14 RBI, 14 runs scored and nine walks...Alvarez's nine HBP's lead the PCL, while his .437 OBP ranks third in the league.

Ferg is the Word: Caleb Ferguson appeared for a second straight game Saturday and struck out the only batter he faced to strand the bases loaded in the fifth inning. On Friday, Ferguson recorded an immaculate inning, striking out all three batters he faced on a total of nine pitches. His four strikeouts over the last two games have been on a total of 13 pitches...Since returning to OKC May 20, Ferguson has made four appearances and recorded all eight of his outs via strikeout. He's struck out eight of the 10 batters he's faced during that time with one walk and one hit batter.

Sunday Runday: The Dodgers have played seven games on Sundays so far this season, with the Dodgers and their opponents averaging a combined 15.6 runs per game (109 runs total). In five of the seven games, the winning team has scored at least 10 runs, and there have been two games when both teams scored in double digits...In each of the Dodgers' three Sunday home games, the winning team has scored at least 11 runs each game and the teams have combined for 59 runs with an average score of 12.7-7...OKC won last Sunday in Sugar Land, 7-2, for the second-lowest scoring Sunday game the Dodgers have played in this season.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers enter a series finale playing for a split for just the second time this season (April 17 at El Paso). They are 5-0-3 in series this season...The six through nine hitters in yesterday's lineup combined to go 5-for-11 with five walks and scored all nine of the team's runs...Miguel Vargas hit safely Saturday and reached base twice to snap just his second three-game stretch of the season without a hit and also snap his first three-game stretch of the season without reaching base. Vargas leads the PCL with 44 runs scored, ranks second with 30 walks and 52 hits and is tied for third with 86 total bases...Over the last two games, the OKC bullpen has thrown 7.1 scoreless innings while holding the Aces 3-for-25 with one walk and 11 strikeouts. And over the last three games, the relief corps has allowed two earned runs and six hits with 17 strikeouts in 11.1 innings...The Dodgers are 10-19 at home against West Division opponents over the last two seasons.

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