PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 3, 2023

Published on May 3, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (21-7) at El Paso Chihuahuas (11-17)

Game #29 of 150/First Half #29 of 75/Road #14 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP William Cuevas (2-1, 5.19) vs. ELP-LHP Ryan Weathers (NR, -.--)

Wednesday, May 3, 2023 | Southwest University Park | El Paso, Texas | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers seek back-to-back wins when they continue their road trip at 7:35 p.m. CT against the El Paso Chihuahuas at Southwest University Park...The Dodgers have won eight of their last nine games as well as 10 of their last 12 games and own the best record in all of Triple-A. The Dodgers are the first team in the Minor Leagues to reach 21 wins this season.

Last Games: After being held to no runs and one hit through eight innings, the Oklahoma City Dodgers rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to come back and stun the El Paso Chihuahuas, 5-2, Tuesday night at Southwest University Park. The Dodgers did not collect their first hit until there were two outs in the seventh inning and had only had four batters reach base through eight innings. With OKC trailing, 2-0, the ninth inning began with a solo home run by Luke Williams. The next two batters walked before Ryan Ward gave the Dodgers the lead with a two-run double. The Dodgers added two more runs, first on a sacrifice fly by Ben DeLuzio and later on an El Paso error. The Chihuahuas brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning before Nick Roberston induced a game-ending groundout. El Paso scored one run in each of the first and second innings, but the OKC pitching staff did not yield another run throughout the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Reigning PCL Pitcher of the Week William Cuevas (2-1) is scheduled to make his fifth appearance and fourth start of the season tonight...Cuevas was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week for April 24-30 by Minor League Baseball. During Game 2 of the Dodgers' April 27 doubleheader against the Sacramento River Cats, he pitched 5.0 scoreless innings and allowed one hit and hit one batter as the Dodgers went on to a 1-0 victory. He recorded five strikeouts while retiring 15 of 17 batters faced...Over his last three games, Cuevas has held opponents 9-for-51 (.176) with 16 strikeouts over 14.1 innings...Cuevas spent parts of the 2022 season playing in Korea and Mexico, appearing in two games with the KT Wiz in the Korea Baseball Organization and one start for the Diablos Rojos del México in la Liga Mexicana de Béisbol. He missed most of the season due to an elbow injury...Prior to signing with the Dodgers, Cuevas played for Colombia in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and pitched in one game against Great Britain March 13, throwing 3.0 innings...Between 2019-22, Cuevas made a total of 82 starts for KT Wiz, going 33-23 with a 3.89 ERA and 1.24 WHIP and helped KT to its first ever KBO championship in 2021...His most recent Major League appearance was Sept. 28, 2018 with the Boston Red Sox...The native of Caracas, Venezuela made his MLB debut April 28, 2016 with Boston against the Yankees and originally signed with Boston as a free agent June 2, 2009...This is his first career appearance against the Chihuahuas.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2023: 1-0 2022: 13-14 All-time: 42-33 At ELP: 23-20

This marks the first series between the Dodgers and Chihuahuas after the teams competed down the stretch for the 2022 PCL East Division title Sept. 20-25, 2022 in El Paso. The Chihuahuas won four of the final six games between the teams and won the division title by one game ahead of OKC. The Chihuahuas went on to lose in the PCL Championship game to Reno, 6-2, in Las Vegas...The Chihuahuas also won the season series against the Dodgers, 14-13, clinching just their second season series win against OKC since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season and their first against OKC since 2018. The scheduled was unbalanced with 18 games in El Paso compared to only nine in OKC. The Dodgers went 6-3 at home, but 7-11 at Southwest University Park, including losses in seven of their last nine games...Jason Martin led the Dodgers with 28 hits, including 10 home runs, against the Chihuahuas last season and finished with 20 RBI and 22 runs scored. James Outman finished with a team-best 24 RBI in 16 games, including hitting for the cycle Aug. 26 in OKC...Pitcher Ryan Pepiot finished with 20 strikeouts in 13.0 IP...The Dodgers outscored El Paso, 185-168, last season and had 46 home runs compared to 37 for the Chihuahuas...After the teams played five series in 2022, the teams meet for just three series in 2023, including two in El Paso, and their season series wraps up July 23.

Strong Start: The Dodgers' 21-7 record leads the PCL and is also the best record in all of Triple-A to start the season. OKC's 21 wins through 28 games are tied for the second-most wins by an OKC team through 28 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998). Only the 2018 Dodgers had more wins, going 22-6, while the 2015 Dodgers also went 21-7. Both the 2018 and 2015 teams went 22-7 through 29 games...The Dodgers have the most home wins and the most road wins among all 10 PCL teams to start the season. OKC is 11-4 to start 2023 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for their best home start to a season since 2018 when they opened the season with 15 consecutive home wins. They are 8-2 over the last 10 games in Bricktown. On the road, the Dodgers are a league-best 10-3, have won three straight road games as well as five of the last six road games...OKC finished April with a winning record for the 18th time in 24 seasons during the Bricktown era (no April games in 2021).

The Never Say Die Dodgers: Tuesday's win marked the Dodgers' seventh last at-bat win of the season, sixth win after trailing in the eighth inning or later and fourth win after trailing in the ninth inning or later. It's also the second time in seven games they entered the ninth inning down by two runs, only to rally and win the game...The team has trailed during some point of the game in 13 of its 21 wins, including seven games trailing by at least two runs, such as last night's game. Tuesday also marked the fifth time this season during a win the Dodgers never led in the game until their final at-bat.

More Than Lukewarm: Luke Williams played in his first game with OKC after being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers April 28. He went 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk. At the time he was selected by Los Angeles April 18, Williams was slashing .375/.455/.696 with 12 extra-base hits and 13 RBI over his first 14 games with OKC...With the Los Angeles Dodgers, he went 1-for-10 over four games (three starts) and pitched the final inning of a 13-0 loss against the Cubs April 21, marking his first career pitching appearance. He was optioned to OKC April 28 when Max Muncy returned from the Paternity List...Williams has now homered three times in 81 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.

Power Switch: Luke Williams' solo home run Tuesday snapped the OKC Dodgers' six-game drought without leaving the ballpark and his homer was only the team's second in the last 10 games. It was the team's longest stretch without a homer since Sept. 4-10, 2022...After allowing 35 home runs through the first 19 games, the Dodgers have allowed six home runs over the last nine games, with no more than one in each contest. Heliot Ramos' two-run homer in Game 2 of Sunday's doubleheader is the only home run the Dodgers have allowed with a runner on base over the last 10 games.

Yonny B. Good: Yonny Hernández singled for the Dodgers' first hit of the night with two outs in the seventh inning. Hernández has now hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 13-for-39 (.333) with two doubles, two triples, six RBI and nine runs scored. The 10-game stretch included an eight-game hitting streak April 18-30 (12-for-32) - tied for the second-longest by an OKC player this season...Hernández has reached base in 12 of his 13 games with OKC this season and is currently slashing .356/.463/.511.

Holding It Down: Last night, the OKC pitching staff allowed two runs or fewer for the sixth time in the last nine games. Over that nine-game stretch, the team has a posted a 2.59 ERA (21 ER/73.0 IP) with a 1.08 WHIP (79 H+BB) and .191 (49x257) opponent batting average...Starting pitcher Robbie Erlin tossed a season-high six innings Tuesday and allowed two runs and seven hits, with one walk and four strikeouts. After giving up two runs and four hits over the first two innings, Erlin held the Chihuahuas to no runs and three hits over his final four frames. Relievers Tayler Scott, Wander Suero and Nick Robertson each turned in a scoreless inning and retired nine of 11 batters faced combined...The Dodgers have allowed only four multi-run innings in the last 11 games, with just one inning allowing as many as three runs...In the team's last three games at hitter-friendly venues in Albuquerque and El Paso, the Dodgers have allowed five runs and 18 hits.

Hits are Overrated: Although the Dodgers are 4-1 over their last five games, they have batted just .150 (18x120) during that stretch. However, they have managed to score 21 runs on the strength of 32 walks and by going 10-for-35 (.286) with runners in scoring position...Since the start of Sunday's doubleheader, the Dodgers have gone just 9-for-73 (.123) overall with four extra-base hits. The team was mired in a 2-for-47 slump entering the ninth inning last night...Last night marked the first time OKC won a nine-inning game with only three hits since May 13, 2014 during a 1-0 home victory against Colorado Springs...OKC was shut down by El Paso left-handed starting pitcher Jay Groome over six hitless and scoreless innings Tuesday with nine strikeouts. The last three times the Dodgers have faced a left-handed starting pitcher, those southpaws have combined to throw 12.2 innings while allowing just two runs and two hits, holding OKC 2-for-39 with 24 K.

Series Scenarios: The Dodgers are trying to win the first two games of a series for the third time this season and in back-to-back series. They are 2-1 so far in Game 2 after winning the series opener...The Dodgers won five games during their six-game home series against Sacramento, taking a 5-0 lead in the series before losing the finale in Game 2 of Sunday's doubleheader. It was not only the first time OKC won the first five games of a six-game series since PCL teams started playing primarily six-game series in 2021, but the first time the Dodgers won five consecutive games at any point during the same series under the new format. Overall, it's the fifth time through 48 total six-game series since 2021 OKC has taken five of six games, including twice this season.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann was held without a hit Tuesday but drew a walk. In Game 1 Sunday, he hit his 15th double of the season and he finished the game with three RBI after hitting a bases-clearing double. Mann leads all of the Minors in doubles and now has 12 doubles in his last 14 games. His 15 extra-base hits are tied for fifth in the PCL...Last season, Mann finished with 21 total doubles over 118 games in Double-A (16) and Triple-A (5) and his career-high mark for doubles in a season is 27 over 110 games with Tulsa in 2021...Mann has hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games, going 16-for-48 (.333) with nine RBI and eight runs scored.

Around the Horn: Ryan Ward had been 0-for-his-last-12 before his go-ahead double in the ninth inning last night. Ward leads OKC and is tied for third in PCL with 25 RBI this season. He also leads the team with seven multi-RBI games...Steven Duggar entered last night's game as a pinch runner in the top of the ninth inning and later struck out swinging in his lone at-bat, bringing his 15-game on-base streak to a close. It was the third-longest on-base streak by a Dodger this season, and during the streak, he had 13 hits, 12 walks and 14 runs scored.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 3, 2023


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