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OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 4, 2023

May 4, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (21-8) at El Paso Chihuahuas (12-17)

Game #30 of 150/First Half #30 of 75/Road #15 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Dylan Covey (1-0, 4.09) vs. ELP-RHP Anderson Espinoza (0-2, 11.12)

Thursday, May 4, 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 look to take the lead in their road series when they face the El Paso Chihuahuas at Southwest University Park starting at 7:35 p.m. CT...The series is tied, 1-1, and the Dodgers have won eight of their last 10 games...OKC owns the best record in the PCL and is tied with Norfolk for a Triple-A-leading 21 wins.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers once again fought back from an early deficit, but it wasn't enough as a clutch El Paso home run sent the Chihuahuas to a 5-3 win at Southwest University Park Wednesday night. The Dodgers fell behind, 3-0, through four innings after surrendering two home runs and an RBI single. Yonny Hernández got Oklahoma City back in the game with a two-run double in the fifth inning. Hernández then tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. The Chihuahuas took the lead back for good with a two-run homer by Preston Tucker with two outs in the eighth inning. The Dodgers went down in order in the ninth inning to end the contest.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Dylan Covey (1-0) makes his sixth appearance and fifth start of 2023 tonight...In his last outing April 29, Covey piggybacked Bobby Miller's start and entered the game in the fifth inning. He pitched 4.0 scoreless innings with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts and was credited with the win in OKC's 5-1 victory. He retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced...Over his last three outings, Covey has allowed just three runs (two earned), nine hits, and six walks (13.2 IP). During the stretch opponents are 9-for-52 (.173) and he owns a 1.10 WHIP...Opponents are batting only .212 for the season, including .143 with RISP...Covey signed with the Dodgers as a free agent Jan. 30 after spending the 2022 season with the Rakuten Monkeys of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball, posting a 13-6 record with a 3.47 ERA and 100 K's in 23 starts. He led the team in wins and ranked second in innings (140.0 IP), starts and strikeouts...Covey originally signed with Oakland after being selected in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of the University of San Diego...He made his MLB debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2017 and most recently appeared in a MLB game during the 2020 season with the Boston Red Sox...Covey last pitched in Triple-A during the 2019 season with Charlotte and this is his first career appearance against El Paso.

Against the Chihuahuas: 2023: 1-1 2022: 13-14 All-time: 42-34 At ELP: 23-21 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: Despite a loss last night, the Dodgers' 21-8 record leads the PCL and the team's 21 wins are tied for most in all of Triple-A to start the season. OKC's 21 wins through 29 games are third-most by an OKC team through 29 games in the Bricktown era (since 1998). Only the 2018 and 2015 Dodgers had more wins, going 22-7. Both teams then went 22-8 through 30 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 10-4, have won three of their last four road games as well as five of the last seven 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).

To the Wire: One night after the Dodgers captured their seventh last at-bat win of the season, their opponent notched the second last at-bat win of the season against OKC Wednesday night, with the other occurring April 21 at Albuquerque. With the loss, the Dodgers fell to 12-2 in games decided by one or two runs. The loss was only the team's third in the last 13 games overall and second in the last 10 games overall...In Tuesday's win, the Dodgers' picked up their sixth win after trailing in the eighth inning or later and fourth win after trailing in the ninth inning or later. It was 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, and Tuesday also marked the fifth time this season during a win the Dodgers never led in the game until their final at-bat...Fourteen of the team's 29 games this season have been decided by one or two runs.

What a Mighty Good Mann: Devin Mann hit his 16th double of the season Wednesday night. He also drew a walk and scored a run...Mann leads all of the Minors in doubles by five. He and Matt Chapman (15) of the Toronto Blue Jays are the only two players to have more than 12 doubles in the Minors or Majors. Mann now has 13 doubles in his last 15 games. His 16 extra-base hits are tied for fourth 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 12 of his last 15 games, going 17-for-51 (.333) with nine RBI and nine runs scored.

Yonny B. Good: Yonny Hernández set a season high with three RBI, driving home all three runs for the Dodgers last night, hitting a two-run double and a sacrifice fly. Hernández has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, going 14-for-43 (.326) with three doubles, two triples, nine RBI and nine runs scored. The 11-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 13 of his 14 games with OKC this season and is currently slashing .347/.441/.510.

Hits are Overrated: The Dodgers have been held to five or fewer hits in four straight games, going a collective 14-for-103 (.136) during that time. Despite being 4-2 over the last six games, the Dodgers have batted just .153 (23x150), but 11 of their 23 total hits have gone for extra bases and they have drawn 39 walks, helping them to score 24 runs during the stretch. On Tuesday night, OKC managed to win a nine-inning game with only three hits for the first time since May 13, 2014 during a 1-0 home victory against Colorado Springs...The Dodgers went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position last night and are 2-for-23 with RISP over the last three games...OKC has been shut down by El Paso left-handed starting pitchers Jay Groome and Ryan Weathers over the first two games of the series. The duo has combined to pitch 10 scoreless innings with one hit and 12 strikeouts. The last four times the Dodgers have faced a lefty starting pitcher, those southpaws have combined to throw 16.2 innings while allowing just two runs and three hits, holding OKC 3-for-50 with 27 strikeouts.

Power Switch: The Dodgers were held without a home run last night for the seventh time in the last eight games. Luke Williams' solo home run in Tuesday's series opener snapped the OKC Dodgers' six-game drought without leaving the ballpark and his homer was only the team's second in the last 11 games. It was the team's longest stretch without a homer since Sept. 4-10, 2022, and since April 21, the team's two home runs are fewest among all Triple-A teams and tied for the second-fewest in all of the Minors...On the other hand, last night Oklahoma City surrendered multiple home runs in the same game for the first time since April 20 at Albuquerque, when they also allowed three home runs. They allowed a total of seven home runs in the 10 games in between, with no more than one home run allowed in each game. OKC has given up 44 home runs through 29 games, which are fourth-most in the Minors and second-most in the PCL. Last season the team did not allow its 44th home run until Game 44 against Reno on May 26...Over the last 23 games (34 HR), 55 of the 107 total runs allowed (51.4 percent) have scored via home runs.

More Than Lukewarm: Luke Williams picked up another hit Wednesday and has hit safely in both of his games back with OKC after being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers April 28. He singled last night and on Tuesday hit a home run and drew a walk. Through 16 games with OKC this season, is slashing .359/.447/.688 with 23 hits, 13 extra-base hits, 14 RBI and six stolen bases...Williams has now homered three times in 86 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.

Holding It Down: Last night the Dodgers allowed five runs - tied for their highest total over the last 11 games. They also allowed two multi-run innings in the game after allowing only four multi-run innings in the previous 11 games...Over the last 10 games, the OKC pitching staff has allowed two runs or fewer for the six times and the team has posted a 2.89 ERA (26 ER/81.0 IP) with a 1.11 WHIP (90 H+BB) and .200 (58x290) opponent batting average...Yesterday El Paso scored three runs and collected four hits with two outs, including the game-deciding two-run homer in the eighth inning. Over the last four games, opponents are batting .309 (13x42) while scoring seven runs with two outs. In the previous nine games leading into Sunday's doubleheader, the Dodgers had limited opponents 9-for-84 (.107) with five runs while batting with outs.

Around the Horn: Reliever Bryan Hudson pitched a scoreless seventh inning and notched two strikeouts Wednesday. Hudson has now struck out 26 of the 56 total batters he's faced this season (46 percent)...After being held hitless in his last four games (0-for-8), Jahmai Jones connected on a team-high two hits Wednesday, including his first triple of the season...Drew Avans picked up two more walks and scored a run last night. His 23 walks are tied for third-most in the PCL while his 24 runs scored are tied for eighth in the league. Overall, he has reached base in 24 of his 26 total games with OKC...The Dodgers have drawn at least seven walks in 10 of their last 20 games and rank second in the PCL with 169 walks this season...The Dodgers have started each of their first five series of the season either 3-0 or 2-1 and have not lost two of the first three games of a set yet. They are 3-0 in Game 3 when tied through the first two games.

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