PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 13, 2023

September 13, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (35-29/72-67) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (35-29/85-52)

Game #138 of 148/Second Half #65 of 75/Home #69 of 73

Pitching Probables: TAC-RHP Adam Oller (9-6, 5.24) vs. OKC-RHP River Ryan (NR, -.--)

Wednesday, September 13, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 12:05 p.m. CT

Radio: 1340 AM The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: Bally Live, MiLB.tv

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers seek a fourth consecutive win when they meet the Tacoma Rainiers for a 12:05 p.m. game on a Field Trip Day at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers have won three straight games for the first time since Aug. 2-4 and last won four games in a row as part of a six-game winning streak July 22-28...The Dodgers also look to match the team's single-season record during the Bricktown era (since 1998) with their 86th win.

Last Game: Óscar Mercado provided a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning to send the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 5-4 win against the Tacoma Rainiers Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tacoma had scored a run on a RBI double by Riley Unroe in the ninth inning to tie the score, 3-3, and send the game to extra innings. The teams exchanged runs in the 10th inning, including a RBI single by Bryson Brigman that knotted the score again at 4-4. Dodgers reliever Jake Reed (2-1) retired all three batters he faced in the top of the 11th inning. In the bottom of the frame, Ryan Ward grounded out to advance automatic runner Jorbit Vivas from second to third base. Vivas then scored the winning run on Mercado's sacrifice fly to right field. The Rainiers had built a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning before the Dodgers scored three straight runs to take a 3-2 lead on a two-run home run by Miguel Vargas in the seventh inning and a RBI single by Yonny Hernández in the eighth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: River Ryan is set to make his Triple-A debut this afternoon in just his second professional season as a pitcher...Ryan joins OKC from Double-A Tulsa where he posted a 3.33 ERA and 1-6 record over a team-leading 97.1 innings in 24 games (22 starts) with 98 strikeouts and 44 walks...He most recently pitched Sept. 7 in Springfield with 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks with five strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of Tulsa's 5-4 defeat in extra innings. It was his third outing of the season with a season-high five scoreless innings...Of his 24 overall games, Ryan did not allow a run in 10 of those outings. He also allowed two or fewer runs in 16 of the 24 games...He is currently ranked as the No. 8 prospect in the Dodgers organization by MLB Pipeline and No. 11 prospect in the organization by Baseball America...Ryan joined the Dodgers organization March 28, 2022 in a trade with San Diego in exchange for first baseman Matt Beaty...Ryan made 10 starts with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga last season before closing out 2022 with five appearances (three starts) with High-A Great Lakes...Ryan was originally selected by San Diego in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of UNC Pembroke, becoming the 15th selection in program history and the first since 2014. After signing with San Diego, Ryan began his pro career as a position player before fully converting to pitching last season....Ryan's brother, Ryder, is currently a reliever with Tacoma and pitched last night for the Rainiers.

Against the Rainiers: 2023: 4-6 2022: 5-7 All-time: 60-63 At OKC: 37-24

The Dodgers and Rainiers are playing their final series of the season this week and their second of 2023 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams last played a six-game series in Tacoma Aug. 8-13, which the Rainiers won, 5-1. It was the first time the Dodgers lost five games within a series since Aug. 26-31, 2021 at home against Las Vegas, going 40 six-game series between 1-5 results. Additionally, prior to that road series at Cheney Stadium, OKC had not opened a series with three straight losses since losing four in a row to begin a home series against Round Rock Aug. 9-12, 2022, going 26 series between 0-3 starts...The teams last played in OKC March 31-April 2 to open the 2023 season. The Dodgers took two of the three games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in a series with tons of offense. The Rainiers won the season opener, 14-8, before the Dodgers posted back-to-back walk-off wins in the final two games - 6-5, in 10 innings and, 10-9, in nine innings with Jahmai Jones providing walk-off hits in both wins...Through the first nine meetings of the season, Michael Busch led the Dodgers with 11 hits, four homers and 10 RBI against the Rainiers...Tacoma won the 2022 series between the teams, 7-5, marking the first time the Dodgers lost a season series to the Rainiers since 2014 when OKC went 0-4 in Tacoma and entered last season 2-0-3 over the previous five season series...Going back to last season, the Dodgers are now 6-13 in their last 19 games against the Rainiers...Each of the last three games between the teams in OKC has resulted in a walk-off win for the Dodgers.

Down the Stretch: The Dodgers have won three consecutive games as well as five of their last six games, seven of their nine games, nine of their last 12 games and 10 of their last 14 games. It's the first time since Aug. 2-4 the Dodgers have won three straight games, and today the Dodgers seek their first four-game winning streak since notching a six-game winning streak July 22-28...The Dodgers have increased their lead in the overall Pacific Coast League standings to 3.5 games ahead of second-place Round Rock and their seven wins so far in September are second most in the PCL...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 recorded their 85th win of the season last night as they improved to 85-52 overall and became the second OKC team during the Bricktown era (since 1998) - as well as during the Dodgers affiliation - to reach the 85-win mark. Only the 2015 Dodgers won more games, finishing the season 86-58...The Dodgers own the most wins in the Minors and has 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 (35-29) trails first-place Round Rock and Las Vegas (38-26) by 3.0 games in the PCL second-half standings, but is in a three-way tie for third place with Tacoma and Reno...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 and 85 wins was also the 2017 Memphis Redbirds, who reached the 80-win milestone in 121 games (80-41) and the 85-win mark in 133 games (85-48)...During the Bricktown era (since 1998), OKC's best previous record through 137 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 82-55...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.

The Late Show: The Dodgers improved to 8-5 in extra-inning games and played their third game of the season to extend into the 11th inning...The Dodgers' last extra-inning game was Aug. 13 in Tacoma - a 3-2 Rainiers win in 10 innings. OKC's last game to go as far as 11 innings was July 30 in Reno - a wild 16-15 win...Tuesday was OKC's ninth walk-off win of the season and first since a 7-6 win Aug. 3 against Round Rock in OKC (10 innings). The Dodgers' nine walk-off wins this season are the most for an OKC team in a single season since 2015 when the Dodgers had 11 walk-off wins. It was also the team's 23rd last at-bat win of the season, 20th win when trailing after six innings and eighth win when trailing in the ninth inning or later...Last night marked the third time all season the Dodgers were unable to hold a lead in the ninth inning, and the first time it's occurred against a team besides El Paso. However, the Dodgers rebounded to eventually win two of those three games.

Opening Up: Last night snapped a six-game losing streak in series openers. The Dodgers had not won a series opener since July 25 in Reno and was their first win in a home series opener since July 18 against El Paso...The Dodgers are 7-7 (3-5 at home) when aiming to take a 2-0 series lead this season.

Mound Matters: The Dodgers have held opponents to four runs or less in five straight games (12 R), in 10 of the last 12 games (35 R) and in 11 of the last 14 games (45 R). Additionally, OKC has held opponents to two runs or less in six of the last 12 games and in seven of the last 14 games...The 45 runs allowed by the Dodgers over the last 14 games are fewest in the PCL and the team has posted a 3.00 ERA over that time frame. For comparison, El Paso has allowed a league-high 120 runs over the same span...The Dodgers have not allowed a home run in five straight games nor in 11 of the last 12 games (2 HR). Their three homers allowed over the last 14 games are fewest in Triple-A...The Dodgers held Tacoma 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position last night and opponents are a combined 3-for-29 with RISP over the last three games.

Cold Case: The OKC offense finished with five runs Tuesday for their highest run total in four games, but was held to one extra-base hit - a two-run home run by Miguel Vargas in the seventh inning. It's the team's only extra-base hit over the last two games...Last night, the Dodgers started the game 1-for-19 with no runs but finished 7-for-19 with five runs from the seventh inning on...The Dodgers have scored a combined 12 runs over the last four games and the team has only five extra-base hits, including two homers. They have gone 25-for-132 (.189) overall, including 6-for-29 with runners in scoring position...OKC has been held to four runs or less in seven of the last 12 games and to two runs or less four times during the span. Their 44 runs scored so far in September (10 G) are second-fewest in the league.

Better Call Dahl: David Dahl 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. His last game was Saturday, when he went 1-for-4 with a homer in Sugar Land...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).

Fork in the Road: With six road games remaining, the Dodgers set a Bricktown-era single-season team record for road wins Sunday, picking up their 45th away victory of 2023, improving to 45-24 in road games - the most road wins in the Minors this season. They are just the fourth OKC team to reach 40 road wins in a season since 1998 and surpassed the 2015 Dodgers, who went 44-28 on the road.

Around the Horn: Jake Marisnick opened a Major League Rehab Assignment last night and grounded out in both of his at-bats. He played five innings in left field...Yonny Hernández went 2-for-2 with a RBI, walk and run scored after entering Tuesday's game in the fifth inning to replace Michael Busch at third base, including a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning. Hernández has now hit safely in three straight games, going 4-for-9 with a walk...Reliever Rickey Vanasco made his Triple-A debut Tuesday and retired the side in order in the seventh inning with one strikeout...Miguel Vargas went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer and a walk last night. Over his last eight games, Vargas is 10-for-27 (.370) with nine RBI and nine walks...The Dodgers are 20-for-104 (.192) with RISP over the last 11 games.

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from September 13, 2023


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.

OurSports Central