OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 10, 2023
September 10, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (33-29/83-52) at Sugar Land Space Cowboys (21-41/54-83)
Game #136 of 148/Second Half #63 of 75/Road #69 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Mike Montgomery (3-4, 5.75) vs. SUG-RHP Shawn Dubin (1-3, 5.77)
Sunday, September 10, 2023 | Constellation Field | Sugar Land, Texas | 2:05 p.m. CT
Radio: 1340 AM The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers try for back-to-back wins to close out their current six-game series as well as their season series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 2:05 p.m. at Constellation Field. The Dodgers lead the series, 3-2, and can win their fourth series of the season against Sugar Land with a victory today. The Dodgers are 17-6 against the Space Cowboys this season and have won eight of their last 10 games at Constellation Field.
Last Game: In a bullpen game featuring five different relievers, the Oklahoma City Dodgers held the Sugar Land Space Cowboys to one run and five hits and got just enough offense to capture a 2-1 win Saturday night at Constellation Field. The Dodgers started the scoring on a sacrifice fly by Drew Avans in the third inning. David Dahl blasted a solo home run in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 2-0. Sugar Land collected just three hits while remaining scoreless through seven innings, as the Dodgers maintained a two-run lead. In the eighth inning, the Space Cowboys loaded the bases with none out before scoring one run on a double play, but ultimately left the tying run at third base. The Dodgers then stranded the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning to keep it a one-run game. After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, Jake Reed notched a strikeout and then induced a double play to end the game.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Mike Montgomery (3-4) makes his second start of the series today in Sugar Land...Montgomery was charged with the loss in Tuesday's series opener, allowing three runs and five hits over 4.0 innings with a career-high six walks and three strikeouts. He faced 23 total batters and threw 97 pitches, with all three runs scoring in the first inning...Montgomery is now 0-3 in his last five starts as his season ERA has risen from 2.72 as of Aug. 2 to its current level of 5.75. He has surrendered 27 runs and 36 hits over his last 21.1 IP with 21 walks and 18 K's and opponents have batted .375 (36x96) to go along with a 2.67 WHIP...In his previous seven games from June 28-Aug. 2, Montgomery posted a 1.16 ERA (4 ER/31.0 IP), allowing 17 hits with opponents batting .159 (17x107)...He was named the PCL Pitcher of the Month for July. Over five appearances (three starts), he went 2-0 with a 1.21 ERA (3 ER/22.1 IP) and opponents batted .132 (10x76) with no home runs and 23 K's. He was also named PCL Pitcher of the Week for July 24-30 following his outing July 27 in Reno that included five scoreless innings and retiring 15 of 18 batters...He signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers June 7 after starting the season with the Acereros Del Norte in the Mexican League...Montgomery made 183 appearances (70 starts) in MLB from 2015-20 with Seattle (2015-16), the Chicago Cubs (2016-19) and Kansas City (2019-20)...In 2016, he earned the save in the Cubs' World Series-clinching Game 7, entering in the bottom of the 10th inning and securing the game's final out in Cleveland...Montgomery was originally selected by the Royals with the 36th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft from William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita, Calif...This is Montgomery's fourth start of the season against Sugar Land. He owns a 1-1 record, allowing four runs (three earned) and 11 hits with 13 walks and 13 strikeouts over 12.2 IP.
Against the Space Cowboys: 2023: 17-6 2022: 16-8 All-time: 45-26 At SUG: 19-13
The Dodgers and Space Cowboys meet for their fourth and final series and second of the season in Sugar Land...The Dodgers won the first three series of the season April 11-16, 4-2, and May 16-21, 5-1, in OKC as well as the most recent series in Sugar Land June 28-July 3, 5-1. It was the third time this season that the Dodgers won five consecutive games during a single series as they closed out the series with five straight wins. In each of the five wins, the Dodgers limited the Space Cowboys to exactly two runs in each game...Through the first three series of the season, Drew Avans led OKC with 16 hits, 19 runs scored and 20 walks, while Ryan Ward paced the Dodgers with 13 RBI and four homers...The Dodgers outscored the Space Cowboys, 100-61, through the first three series as they held the Space Cowboys to a .200 AVG, but Sugar Land hit 19 homers compared to OKC's 18...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 and have not lost back-to-back games to Sugar Land during the same series since Aug. 23-24, 2021...Of last season's 24 total meetings, nine were one-run games and seven of 23 meetings so far in 2023 have been decided by one run...In each of the team's first three series this season, the Dodgers won four of the first five games.
Finding Their Footing: The Dodgers have won three of their last four games, five of their last seven games, seven of their last 10 games and eight of their last 12 games. Today the Dodgers seek back-to-back series wins for the first time since July 25-30 in Reno and Aug. 1-6 against Round Rock. Following the Round Rock series, the Dodgers lost three consecutive series for the first time since May 6-25, 2021...The Dodgers have maintained their 2.5-game lead in the overall Pacific Coast League standings ahead of second-place Round Rock...The recent boost follows a 4-15 run from Aug. 5-26 as the Dodgers finished August with 10 wins (10-17), tied for second fewest in the league last month. OKC 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.
The Big Picture: The Dodgers picked up their 83rd win of the season Saturday, becoming the fourth OKC team during the Bricktown era (since 1998) to reach the 83-win mark and third team during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015). Only two OKC teams have gone on to win at least 84 games since 1998 (2015, 2022)...The Dodgers (83-52) are tied for the most wins in the Minors with Triple-A Norfolk (83-53)...The Dodgers have had at least a share of first place in the PCL overall standings for all but seven days this season, holding first place from April 1-Aug. 25 and again since Sept. 2...OKC (33-29) trails first-place Las Vegas and Round Rock (37-25) by 4.0 games in the PCL second-half standings, but also has two other teams ahead of them in the standings and are tied with Albuquerque...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 PCL team to reach 75 wins (117 games) since at least 2005, with the 2017 Memphis Redbirds doing it two games earlier (115 games). The fastest PCL team to reach 80 wins was also the 2017 Memphis Redbirds, who reached the milestone in 121 games (80-41)...During the Bricktown era (since 1998), OKC's best previous record through 135 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 81-54...OKC 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.
Fork in the Road: The Dodgers own the most road wins in the Minors with a 44-24 record and have tied the OKC team record for most road wins during the Bricktown era (since 1998). They are just the fourth OKC team to reach at least 40 road wins in a season and are have matched the 2015 Dodgers with 44 road wins, as the 2015 team went 44-28 on the road, although this year's team still has seven road games remaining...Prior to their current 5-3 stretch on the road, the Dodgers had won just one of their previous nine road games and two of their previous 11 road games as OKC is 7-12 in their last 19 road games. For comparison, prior to the current 7-12 stretch, the Dodgers went 26-5 over their previous 31 road games between May 9-July 28.
Better Call Dahl: David Dahl hit his ninth home run of the season in the fourth inning Saturday night and finished 1-for-4. He is currently on a season-best nine-game hitting streak, going 9-for-34 with six extra-base hits and six RBI. He owns the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player and has an extra base hit in each of his last three games...Since joining OKC June 20, his 20 doubles lead the league, and his 25 doubles overall this season are his most in a season since 2019 with the Colorado Rockies (28).
Jonny Be Good: Jonny DeLuca went 1-for-5 with a double last night and has now hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 13-for-37 (.351) with seven doubles, a triple, two homers and nine RBI. He has also hit safely in six straight games, going 8-for-24 with six extra-base hits and six RBI and has reached base in 11 consecutive games for the longest active on-base streak by an OKC player...Since rejoining the team Aug. 24, DeLuca leads OKC with 10 extra-base hits...In 29 Triple-A games this season, DeLuca is slashing .313/.386/.591 with 18 extra-base hits and 29 RBI.
Getting Miggy With It: Miguel Vargas did not play Saturday, but went 1-for-3 with a double and run scored Friday night. Over his last six games, Vargas is 9-for-19 with seven RBI and seven walks, reaching base in 16 of 26 plate appearances...Over his last 21 games, Vargas is 29-for-74 (.392) with 15 RBI and 19 walks. Since Aug. 15, his 19 walks are tied for most in the PCL, while his .511 OBP ranks second in the league. During the same span, his .392 AVG, 15 RBI, .554 SLG, 1.065 OPS, 29 hits, 41 total bases, OBP and walks all pace the OKC Dodgers.
Mound Matters: After scheduling starting pitcher Gavin Stone was scratched, five relievers combined to complete nine innings Saturday. Tyson Miller opened the game with 2.1 innings, followed by John Rooney, who earned the win after his 2.2 scoreless innings. Jake Reed picked up his first save of the season after facing the minimum in the ninth inning. Although the pitching staff allowed eight walks, they limited Sugar Land to five hits - all singles - and 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. It's the eighth time overall this season the Dodgers did not yield an extra-base hit...Between the last two games, the bullpen has had to cover 14.1 innings while allowing just one run and five hits, holding the Space Cowboys 5-for-44 (.113)...Last night was the ninth time in the last 12 games that the Dodgers held an opponent to four runs or less and the fourth time in the last seven games they held an opponent to two runs or less. The 40 runs allowed by the Dodgers over the last 12 games are fewest in the PCL during the span and the team has posted a 3.31 ERA over that time frame. For comparison, El Paso has allowed a league-high 100 runs over the same span...The Dodgers have not allowed a home run in nine of the last 10 games (2 HR) as well as 10 of the last 12 games (3 HR) - fewest in the league during the last 12 games.
Cold Case: The OKC offense continued to struggle, producing two runs and five hits Saturday. It's the third time in five games during the current series the Dodgers finished with two or fewer runs and five or fewer hits. Over the last two games, the Dodgers have scored three runs on 10 hits, going 10-for-59, including 2-for-25 with runners on base and 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Around the Horn: When entering a series finale with a chance to win the series this season, the Dodgers have gone 7-1, including 6-0 in the finale of a six-game series. Overall, the Dodgers have won eight of their 11 road series finales this season...Justin Yurchak is 5-for-9 over his first three games of September with a double, walk and two runs scored. He is 13-for-30 (.433) over his last 10 games, and since Aug. 9 he is batting .377 (20x53) across 17 games, raising his season batting average by 32 points from .244 to .276...The Dodgers are 15-for-85 (.176) with RISP over the last nine games.
Pacific Coast League Stories from September 10, 2023
- Isotopes Rally, Blow Lead, Fall 8-6 to Aces - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Sugar Land Shutdown in Series Finale against Dodgers - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Dodgers Shut down Space Cowboys - Oklahoma City Comets
- English Delivers Knockout Blow for Aces in 8-6 Finale Win - Reno Aces
- Bees Walk off for Third Time this Week - Salt Lake Bees
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 10, 2023 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Dodgers Win, 2-1, Over Space Cowboys - Oklahoma City Comets
- Express Down Chihuahuas 7-3 in 10 Innings on Saturday - Round Rock Express
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
