PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 14, 2021

Published on September 14, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (58-54) at Salt Lake Bees (47-65)

Game #113 of 130/Road #60 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Andre Jackson (2-1, 4.97) vs. SL-LHP Ryan Smith (0-0, 7.20)

Tuesday, September 14, 2021 | Smith's Ballpark | Salt Lake City, Utah | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers wrap up their six-game road series against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:35 p.m. CT at Smith's Ballpark. The Dodgers have a 4-1 lead in the series and regardless of tonight's result will win a second straight series. The Dodgers have won six of their last seven games and eight of their last 10 games.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers racked up 19 hits and scored in six different innings, leading to a 12-2 win over the Salt Lake Bees Monday night at Smith's Ballpark. Each team's first batter of the night hit a home run. Luke Raley led off the game with a blast to right field, but Brendon Davis started the bottom of the inning with a homer as well. The Bees added another run in the first inning to take the lead before Raley blooped a RBI single in the second inning to even the score at 2-2. The Dodgers went in front with a three-run, three-hit top of the fourth inning, as Drew Avans provided the go-ahead RBI single. Raley added another RBI single in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 6-2. OKC put the game out of reach with a five-run rally in the top of the eighth inning, including a two-run single by Cristian Santana. A home run by Zach McKinstry in the ninth inning capped the scoring. After Salt Lake scored its second run of the first inning, the Dodgers pitching staff retired 26 of the final 29 batters.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Andre Jackson (2-1) is set to make his fourth appearance with OKC...Jackson last appeared for OKC Sept. 2 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in a start against Albuquerque. He was charged with his first Triple-A loss, tying his season high with five runs allowed (four earned) and a season-high six hits over 4.2 innings with a walk and two strikeouts in OKC's 7-6 loss...Jackson has been recalled by Los Angeles three times since mid-August and has appeared in two games with LAD, allowing just one run and six hits over 8.2 innings...Jackson made his ML debut Aug. 16 against Pittsburgh, pitching 4.0 scoreless innings of relief, allowing two walks and four walks with five strikeouts at Dodger Stadium. Per STATS Perform, he became the first pitcher in MLB's modern era to record 4.0 scoreless innings with at least four walks and at least five strikeouts while making a relief appearance in his ML debut...Jackson was promoted to OKC from Double-A Tulsa July 31. Prior to his promotion, Jackson pitched a team-leading 63.1 innings for the Drillers, making 15 appearances (13 starts). He posted 75 strikeouts (second-most on the team) against 20 walks - fewest among Drillers starting pitchers. He went 3-2 with a 3.27 ERA - third-lowest in Double-A Central, while his .201 opponent average and 1.04 WHIP both led the league...Jackson was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of the University of Utah, where he primarily played as an outfielder. Tonight is a bit of a homecoming for Jackson, as the Utes also use Smith's Ballpark as their home field.

Against the Bees: 2021: 6-5 2019: 2-1 All-time: 58-55 At SL: 27-29 The Dodgers and Bees are meeting for their second of two series in 2021 and their lone series at Smith's Ballpark...The Bees won the first series between the teams, 4-2, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark July 1-6, winning four of the final five games of the series after the Dodgers won the series opener. Keibert Ruiz led OKC with six hits during the series, including two homers, while Matt Davidson paced OKC with six RBI and two homers. The Bees outscored OKC, 34-25, and outhit the Dodgers, 54-48, as they won their first series against OKC since 2013. Over the final five games of the series, the Dodgers were held to a total of 14 runs and batted .230 (38x165) with two home runs, scoring one or two runs in three of the five contests...The teams last played at Smith's Ballpark for a three-game series in 2019. OKC won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 14-8 before the Bees won the series finale, 14-4. Edwin Ríos homered twice and had six RBI...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 19-10 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series, including a 12-4 record at Smith's Ballpark...So far in the 2021 season series, the road team is 8-3.

Trending Up: The Dodgers have opened the month of September with an 8-3 record - tying their best start to a month this season after also opening August at 8-3. The Dodgers have won six of their last seven games, as well as eight of their last 10 games...The recent success follows a stretch in which the Dodgers lost 11 of 13 games, sending the Dodgers from a season-best seven games above .500 (48-41) to two games below .500 (50-52). Prior to Aug. 31, the team had not been below .500 since they were 20-21 entering play June 22...Tonight the Dodgers will win a second straight series, as well as their ninth series of the season. This marks the fifth time this season the Dodgers have won four of the first five games in a series, and with a victory in tonight's game, the Dodgers will win five games in a series for the third time this season (June 17-22 at Round Rock; June 24-29 at Sugar Land).

Batting Around: OKC tallied 19 hits yesterday for the team's second-highest hit total in a game this season and one shy of their season-high mark of 20 hits May 30 in El Paso. Seven players collected multi-hit games, with Luke Raley, Sheldon Neuse, Calos Asuaje and Elliot Soto notching three hits apiece. Three players also finished with multi-RBI games...Although only four of OKC's hits went for extra bases Monday, OKC has now totaled 36 extra-base hits over its last seven games. The team's 53 extra-base hits since Sept. 1 lead Triple-A West (11 games)...The Dodgers hit two more home runs yesterday and have hit 14 homers over the last seven games after being held to four homers in the six games prior. OKC has 17 homers so far in September - second-most in Triple-A West behind Reno's 23 homers.

On the Run: Last night was the second time this series and third time in the last seven games the Dodgers scored 12 runs in a game. OKC has now scored five or more runs in nine of their last 11 games and have also scored at least eight runs in six of their last nine games...Over the last seven games, OKC has scored 61 runs and has 36 extra-base hits (14 HR), batting .317 (84x265) as a team overall and .368 (28x76) with runners in scoring position...The Dodgers' 82 runs so far in September are second-most in Triple-A West behind Reno's 88 runs scored...Including last night's five-run eighth inning, the Dodgers have scored at least four runs in an inning in seven of the last 10 games for a total of eight separate frames of four-plus runs, including six in the last seven games.

Cool Hand Luke: Luke Raley reached base five times Monday night, going 3-for-4 with a walk, hit by pitch and four RBI. It's his second four-RBI output and three-hit outing over the last four games. He's now homered three times in the last four games, and his leadoff homer was the team's fifth of the season and his second leadoff homer of 2021 (Aug. 17 vs. Round Rock)...Last night was Raley's sixth game of the season with three or more hits and his fifth game of the season with four or more RBI - tied for most among OKC players with Matt Davidson...Raley has played in 18 games with OKC since Aug. 7 and is batting .333 (25x75) with seven homers, five doubles, 18 RBI and 18 runs scored as well as eight multi-hit games...Raley paces the Dodgers on the road this season with 54 hits, 15 homers, 49 RBI and 40 runs scored in only 34 games, with a slash line of .333/.432/.691 away from OKC.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Reigning Triple-A West Player of the Week Cristian Santana went 2-for-6 with two RBI last night in Salt Lake, collecting his third straight multi-hit game. During his current six-game hitting streak, Santana is 12-for-24 with two homers, three doubles, eight RBI and seven runs scored...In his last seven starts, Santana is 14-for-31 (.452) with three homers, four doubles, 12 RBI and five multi-hit games, including three games with three hits...He paces the Dodgers with 88 hits in 77 games this season as well as 26 multi-hit games...Since Aug. 1, Santana has 46 hits in 35 games - fifth-most in Triple-A West during the span, while his .346 batting average in the same time period ranks third-best in the league...On Monday, Santana won his third career weekly award and first since Aug. 19, 2018 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga. He's also the third OKC position player this season to take home Triple-A West Player of the Week honors, joining Luke Raley (May 24-30) and Keibert Ruiz (July 19-25).

Young Sheldon: Last night Sheldon Neuse went 3-for-6 with a RBI. Since his return off the Injured List, Neuse is now 11-for-29 (.379) with six extra-base hits, including three home runs, and four multi-hit efforts over six games...He has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games overall with OKC, going 17-for-48 (.354) with five multi-hit games and games with both four and five RBI. He has 14 RBI as well as 11 runs scored over the last 10 games.

Pitching Prowess: For the third time in four games, the OKC pitching staff allowed two or fewer earned runs. After Salt Lake started the game 4-for-5 with a hit batter, the Dodgers held the Bees 3-for-29 for the remainder of the game. Only one runner reached scoring position after the first inning, and none advanced to third base...Last night marked the third straight game in which OKC's pitching staff recorded at least 10 strikeouts and fourth time in the last six games. Last night was also the 56th time this season OKC pitchers recorded a double-digit strikeout game. Their 1,076 K's this season are second most in Triple-A West...After walking 21 batters over the first four games of the series, the Dodgers did not allow a walk last night for the fifth time this season...The pitching staff retired the leadoff batter in each of the final eight innings last night and has now retired the leadoff batter 24 of the last 27 innings pitched.

Around the Horn: Following a stint on the Injured List, Carlos Asuaje returned the lineup last night for the first time since Aug. 27 and tied his season high with three hits, including two doubles. Asuaje also walked, scored twice and stole a base. Going back to before he went on the IL, Asuaje now has three straight multi-hit games, going 7-for-14...Elliot Soto set season highs with three hits and two runs, going 3-for-5 with a RBI last night. He had been 4-for-27 over the first nine games since his return off the Injured List...Monday's game marked the fifth time this season Oklahoma City won a game by at least 10 runs and first since an 11-1 win against Round Rock Aug. 12 in OKC...The Dodgers were hit by a pitch three times last night and have been plunked seven times in the last three games and nine times in the last five games. Their 65 HBP's are second-most in Triple-A West...Since Aug. 9 (18 games), Drew Avans is batting .347 (17x49) with a .458 OBP (OB 27/59 PA). During that time he has 15 runs and 10 RBI, with nine walks against four strikeouts.

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