PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 1, 2023

Published on September 1, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (34-20/78-50) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (28-26/78-49)

Game #128 of 148/Second Half #55 of 75/Home #65 of 73

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Marc Church (6-0, 2.97) vs. OKC-RHP Nick Frasso (1-0, 0.00)

Friday, September 1, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: 94.7 FM The Ref, 947theref.com, iHeartRadio; Video: Bally Live, MiLB.tv

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers seek a third straight win when they open September and continue their series against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers lead the series, 2-1, and won three of the last four games to close out August following a 4-15 stretch...Fireworks presented by Springhill Suites are scheduled to follow the game. Prior to the game, the final INTEGRIS Health "Home Run For Life" honoree of the season will be honored.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored three runs without a hit in the seventh inning to regain the lead in a 4-2 win against the Round Rock Express Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers took the game's first lead in the second inning on a solo home run by Ryan Ward out to center field. Round Rock later tied the score, 1-1, on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and took a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly coupled with an OKC fielding error in the seventh inning. The Dodgers then took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, loading the bases before Patrick Mazeika hit into a fielder's choice to bring in the game-tying run. With the bases loaded again, Drew Avans drew a walk to put the Dodgers in front, 3-2. Bryson Brigman later scored on a wild pitch for a 4-2 advantage.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Nick Frasso (1-0) is set to make his second Triple-A start this evening...In his Triple-A debut Aug. 27 against Albuquerque in OKC, Frasso earned the win, pitching 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk and four strikeouts. He retired 18 of 21 batters overall, including the final 13 straight, during OKC's 14-0 win. Prior to Sunday, Frasso had yet to exceed 5.0 innings during his career. He was then named PCL Pitcher of the Week the following day...At the time of his promotion to OKC, Frasso led the Double-A Tulsa Drillers with 21 starts. He went 3-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 73.2 IP. His 94 strikeouts were second-most on the team and he had allowed just 24 walks, posting a 1.25 WHIP with the Drillers. His 21 starts were tied for fifth-most in the Texas League in late August...The right-handed pitcher was named Texas League Pitcher of the Month for April, compiling a 1.23 ERA and a 1-1 record. In 22.0 innings, he allowed just three runs, 16 hits and five walks with 30 strikeouts. He recorded a 0.95 WHIP and held opponents to a .203 batting average...Frasso notched a season-high eight strikeouts twice - Aug. 3 at Wichita and April 25 at Arkansas...He is currently rated as the Los Angeles Dodgers' No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 9 Dodgers prospect by Baseball America...Last season, Frasso pitched at three levels, starting at Single-A and ending in Double-A between the Blue Jays and Dodgers organizations...Frasso was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft. In August 2022 he was traded, along with LHP Moises Brito, to the Dodgers in exchange for RHP Mitch White and 2B Alex De Jesus...The native of Torrance, Calif., played collegiately at Loyola Marymount University.

Against the Express: 2023: 12-3 2022: 16-14 All-time: 174-138 At OKC: 81-68

The Express and Dodgers meet for their third and final series of the season as well as their second series this month...The Dodgers won the last series between the teams, 4-2, Aug. 1-6 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers won four of the final five games of the series after losing the series opener. The series finale was a 17-7 Dodgers win in which OKC set a new team record for hits in a home game with 22...The Dodgers swept the Express May 9-14 in their last series in Round Rock. It was OKC's first-ever six-game series sweep since PCL teams started playing primarily six-game series starting in 2021. The Dodgers held Round Rock to a .180 AVG as they allowed one run or less in three of the six meetings. OKC trailed in the seventh inning or later in four of the six wins and hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning twice...After playing one another 30 times during the 2022 season and 29 times during the 2021 season, the Dodgers and Express meet for just three six-game series in 2023, including two during the second half of the season.

Rising Back Up: The Dodgers have won three of the last four games, as well as two of the first three games of the current series against Round Rock, to retake the lead in the overall Pacific Coast League season standings by a half game...After taking four of six games from the Express Aug. 1-6, the Dodgers' overall record stood at 72-34 and the Express' was 60-47, as the Dodgers led the overall standings by 12.5 games. But starting Aug. 8, Round Rock surged and won 18 of the next 19 games, including a franchise record 14 straight wins Aug. 8-23, while the Dodgers went 4-15 during the same span. Round Rock surpassed OKC in the league standings to open the current series in first place...The Dodgers have now won two of the first three games of a series for the first time since Aug. 1-3 against Round Rock, also in OKC, after the Dodgers entered this week having lost three straight series for the first time since May 6-25, 2021...The Dodgers are 3-7 in their last 10 games, have just five wins in the last 17 games and are 7-16 since Aug. 4...OKC finished August with 10 wins (10-17), tied for second fewest in the league last month with Salt Lake and ahead of Sugar Land's eight wins (8-19). The Dodgers had not won fewer than 12 games in a month since May 2021 (9-14). It was the team's lowest monthly winning percentage since going 9-19 in August 2019...Tonight the Dodgers seek a third straight win for the first time since Aug. 2-4 against Round Rock. The Express have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since the same three-game stretch.

The Big Picture: The Dodgers (78-49) are back in first place in the overall PCL standings with a 0.5-game lead ahead of Round Rock (78-50). The two PCL teams are tied with High-A Cedar Rapids (78-45) for the second-most wins in the Minors trailing only Triple-A Norfolk (79-49)...The Dodgers have now held at least a share of first place in the PCL overall standings for all but six days this season, holding first place from April 1-Aug. 25 and moving back into first place with last night's victory...Oklahoma City is in sixth place in the second half of the Pacific Coast League season standings at 28-26, six games behind first-place Round Rock (34-20)...This season's OKC squad became the fastest PCL team to reach 50, 60 and 70 wins since at least 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. They also became the second-fastest Pacific Coast League team to reach 75 wins (117 games) since at least 2005, with the 2017 Memphis Redbirds doing it two games earlier in 115 games...During the Bricktown era (since 1998), OKC's best previous record through 127 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 77-50...The Dodgers won the PCL's first-half title (50-23) and will host a best-of-three PCL Championship Series Sept. 26-28 against the winner of the second half.

The Warden: Ryan Ward picked up one of OKC's three hits last night, belting a solo home run out to center field in the second inning, as he extended his hitting streak to nine games and tied his longest hitting streak of the season. During the current streak, Ward is 12-for-39 (.308) with a double, triple, two homers and 10 RBI. His previous nine-game hitting streak was July 25-Aug. 4 during which he went 17-for-39 (.436)...Only four OKC players have compiled hitting streaks of 10 games or more this season...Overall this season, Ward's career-high 89 RBI and five triples lead the Dodgers, while his 20 homers and 80 runs scored rank second. He currently ranks third in the PCL in RBI, while his 50 extra-base hits are tied for fifth and his 209 total bases are seventh...Only 12 OKC players have finished a season with 90 or more RBI during the team's Bricktown era...Ward has hit 17 of his 20 homers since June 9, which ranks second in the PCL only behind fellow Dodger Michael Busch (20).

Slightly Offensive: The Dodgers scored four runs on three hits last night and their three hits matched their season-low mark for hits in a victory. The Dodgers also had three hits in a 5-2 win in El Paso May 2 as well as in a 1-0 win in Game 2 of a seven-inning doubleheader against Sacramento April 27...After the team had not homered in three of four games for the first time since May 30, Ryan Ward went deep last night. The Dodgers have eight homers in their last 10 games and their 32 home runs in August (27 G) ranked eighth in the PCL. It was the team's lowest monthly home run total since May when OKC had 20 homers in 26 games...Entering Thursday, the Dodgers had scored a combined 29 runs on 39 hits over their last three games including an inning of five-plus runs in each of those three games. OKC was held 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position Thursday after going 17-for-35 with RISP over the previous three games.

How He Drew It Up: Drew Avans led the Dodgers with two hits last night, going 2-for-3 with a RBI and a walk. He has hit safely in each of the first three games of the current series, going 4-for-10 with two RBI. The output follows a 2-for-20 stretch over his previous seven games...Overall this season, Avans leads the Dodgers with 116 hits, 86 runs scored and 69 walks. His run total ranks third in the league while his walks are tied for seventh and hits tied for ninth in the PCL.

Mucho Miggy: Miguel Vargas was held 0-for-3 but drew a walk last night to extend his on-base streak to 15 games for the longest active on-base streak for an OKC player. During the streak, Vargas is 20-for-55 (.364) with four doubles, a home run, eight RBI, nine runs scored and 13 walks. Since his on-base streak started Aug. 13, Vargas' 13 walks are tied for most in the league, while his .478 OBP ranks fourth, his .364 AVG is seventh and his 20 hits are tied for seventh.

Mound Matters: During the team's current 6-15 stretch, the Dodgers have allowed a total of nine runs in their six wins but 110 runs across the 15 losses (7.3 rpg), with at least six runs in 12 of the 15 defeats. Within the current homestand, the Dodgers have allowed five runs over their three wins, but 50 runs in the six losses (8.3 rpg), with at least six runs in each game and at least eight runs in five of those six games...With 11 more strikeouts last night, the Dodgers have notched 11 K's in back-to-back games as well as 194 strikeouts over the last 18 games (10.8 pg), with at least 10 K in 13 of the 18 contests. OKC leads the PCL and ranks second among all Triple-A teams this season with 1,214 strikeouts...The Dodgers have not allowed a home run in back-to-back games and in three of their last four games...With yesterday's win, the Dodgers are now 40-2 when allowing three runs or less and 25-9 when not allowing a home run this season.

Around the Horn: Jonny DeLuca did not play Thursday but went 1-for-3 with a double, walk and run scored Wednesday. After going 0-for-5 with a walk and sac fly over his first two games back with OKC, DeLuca is 5-for-10 (.333) with two doubles, a triple, home run, two walks, three RBI and five runs over his last three games...Jorbit Vivas has reached base in each of his first eight Triple-A games, going 9-for-32 (.281). He is 7-for-20 over his last five games...David Dahl has hit safely in five straight games, going 5-for-19 with three doubles. Since joining OKC June 20, his 18 doubles lead the league....Reliever Jimmy Nelson struck out all three batters he faced last night and has not allowed a run in six straight appearances. Since Aug. 4, Nelson has thrown 6.0 scoreless innings with two hits, four walks and 10 strikeouts, holding opponents 2-for-19...Wander Suero recorded his 15th save of the season last night - tied for most in the PCL this season with Tacoma's Matt Festa. The 15 saves are Suero's most in a season since 2017 when he combined for a career-best 20 saves with Triple-A Syracuse and Double-A Harrisburg in the Nationals organization.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 1, 2023


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