PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 16, 2021

September 16, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (57-56) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (59-54)

Game #114 of 129/Home #54 of 64

Pitching Probables: RR-LHP Jake Latz (1-0, 3.32) vs. OKC-RHP Yefry Ramírez (5-3, 5.22)

Thursday, September 16, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open their final home series of the regular season at 7:05 p.m. against the Round Rock Express in the Red Dirt Rumble rivalry at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers will take the field this series as Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City and Round Rock will play as Los Chupacabras de Round Rock throughout ¡Celebración Cielo Azul!, presented by OG&E.-

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers hit a trio of two-run homers and scored double-digit runs again to defeat the Salt Lake Bees, 11-7, Tuesday night at Smith's Ballpark. For the second straight game, the Dodgers homered in the first inning. Matt Davidson connected on an opposite-field, two-run blast to right field to give OKC an early 2-0 lead. The Dodgers added four more runs in the second inning when Sheldon Neuse smoked a triple with the bases loaded and Luke Raley followed with a RBI single. Matt Thaiss got the Bees on the board with a homer in the bottom of the second inning. Each team hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, with Raley providing a tape-measure shot to center field. Anthony Bemboom then went deep in the fifth inning, and his two-run homer pushed the lead to 10-3. Omar Estévez added a RBI single in the seventh inning. Trailing 11-4, the Bees rallied for three runs in the ninth inning and brought they tying run to the plate before closer Kevin Quackenbush recorded a game-ending strikeout.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Yefry Ramírez (5-3) makes his team-leading 19th start of the season...Ramírez last pitched Sept. 10 in Salt Lake, holding the Bees to one run on four hits over 4.0 innings with two walks and five strikeouts. After pitching the first two innings, he remained in the game to throw two more innings after a 50-minute rain delay. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's 4-3 win...Ramírez's 95 strikeouts are tied for third-most in Triple-A West, while his .260 BAA is fourth, his 18 starts are tied for fifth, his 5.22 ERA is sixth, his 1.49 WHIP is sixth and his 91.1 innings pitched are ninth...Entering tonight, the Dodgers have won seven of his last eight starts overall and eight of his last nine home starts, with wins in five straight...Ramírez made his Los Angeles Dodgers debut Aug. 1 at Arizona and pitched 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings with two K's and one walk to close out a 13-0 win. Ramírez was optioned to OKC Aug. 2, designated for assignment and subsequently outrighted to OKC Aug. 7...Ramírez was named Triple-A West Pitcher of the Month for June after going 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in five starts. He allowed 20 hits and struck out 27 over 26.0 IP while holding opponents to a .213 average. Ramírez led the league in ERA and opponent average while he tied for the best WHIP (1.12). He also ranked third in strikeouts and innings...Ramírez signed with the Dodgers as a free agent March 25. He is in his 10th pro season, originally signing with Arizona as an international free agent in 2011...Against the Express this season, Ramírez is 1-1 with a 6.16 ERA, allowing a total of 15 runs (13 ER) and 15 hits over 19.0 innings with 12 walks and 19 strikeouts. After a rough first outing, he's posted a 3.00 ERA (5 ER/15.0 IP) over the last three meetings with the Express, holding Round Rock 8-for-50 (.160) during that time.

Against the Express: 2021: 14-9 2019: 6-10 All-time: 144-117 At OKC: 67-57 The Oklahoma City Dodgers and Round Rock Express close out the regular season with a Red Dirt Rumble rivalry series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams last met for a rain-shortened five-game series in OKC Aug. 12-17, with OKC winning the set, 4-1...The first 18 games of the season between the teams were played at Dell Diamond in Round Rock...OKC has won 14 of the last 19 meetings after opening the season with four consecutive losses to the Express in May and are 13-4 over the last three series...The Dodgers enter the series with a 122-107 advantage in runs this season, while Round Rock has outhit OKC, 193-185, with 34 homers compared to OKC's 31. The Express have homered at least once in 20 of the first 23 games...OKC has won seven of the last eight games between the teams entering tonight...Only 371 miles separate Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark from Dell Diamond, making it the shortest distance between the Dodgers and any of their Triple-A opponents, as well as a perfect set-up for a rivalry as the teams meet 30 times this season...The Dodgers need to win only one game this series to win the inaugural Red Dirt Rumble.

Es Divertido Ser Un Fan: Throughout this series, OKC and Round Rock will take the field with their MiLB "Es Divertido Ser Un Fan™" ("It's Fun to Be a Fan™") identities - Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City and Los Chupacabras de Round Rock. In addition to players and coaches wearing Cielo Azul jerseys and hats during the series, the gameday environment during ¡Celebración Cielo Azul! will include Latin music, colorful and festive concourse decorations, specialty concessions, unique entertainment, live performances and a Spanish-speaking public address announcer for select games...The name Cielo Azul - translated to "Blue Sky" - was established in 2018 and derived from three key factors: Incorporating the color blue, which is a key component of the Dodgers organization; the vibrancy of Oklahoma's blue skies, and the breadth of the diversity of Hispanic and Latino culture that resides under those skies; and as a tribute to Dodgers legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who looked up at the sky during his windup.

Trending Up: The Dodgers have opened the month of September with a 9-3 record - their best start to a month this season. The Dodgers have won seven of their last eight games, as well as nine of their last 11 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...The Dodgers have won back-to-back series and won five of six games in Salt Lake, marking the third time this season they won five games in a series.

Batting Around: After piling up 19 hits Monday, the Dodgers tallied 14 more hits Tuesday. The two-game total of 33 hits is the team's second-highest this season, only behind the 35 hits they accumulated May 29-30 in El Paso. Matt Davidson led the way with three hits, and Sheldon Neuse, Luke Raley, Cristian Santana and Anthony Bemboom finished with two hits each Tuesday night...Five of the team's hits went for extra bases Tuesday and the Dodgers have 41 extra-base hits over the last eight games. The team's 58 extra-base hits since Sept. 1 are second-most in Triple-A West, trailing only Reno's 59 XBH...The Dodgers hit three more home runs Tuesday and have hit 17 homers over the last eight games after being held to four homers in the six games prior. OKC has homered in eight straight games and has 20 homers so far in September - second-most in Triple-A West, also behind Reno (26). The Dodgers have hit at least two homers in six of the last eight games, including five of the last six and three straight.

On the Run: The Dodgers scored at least 11 runs for a second straight game and third time in the six-game series Tuesday in Salt Lake. They also reached at least 11 runs for the fourth time in the last eight games, and have scored at least eight runs in seven of the last 10 games (82 R)...Over the last eight games, OKC has scored 72 runs and has 41 extra-base hits (17 HR), batting .320 (98x306) as a team overall and .381 (32x84) with runners in scoring position. Including Tuesday's four-run second inning, the Dodgers have scored at least four runs in an inning in eight of the last 11 games for a total of nine separate frames of four-plus runs, including seven in the last eight games...The Dodgers' 93 runs so far in September are second-most in Triple-A West behind Reno's 96 runs scored.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson hit his team-leading 24th home run of the season with a two-run shot in the first inning Tuesday and finished with a team-high three hits. Davidson has hit safely in six of his last eight games, going 13-for-35 (.371) with seven extra-base hits. In his 14 games since returning from the Injured List Aug. 28, Davidson has totaled 21 RBI to go along with 10 extra-base hits (6 HR)...Tuesday marked his third three-hit game within his last eight games, and he recorded his 20th multi-hit game of the season as well as team-leading 20th multi-RBI game of the season.

Young Sheldon: Sheldon Neuse collected a second consecutive multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a three-run triple in the Salt Lake finale. He's 5-for-11 over the last two games and went 11-for-30 with six extra-base hits and 11 RBI during the series in Salt Lake...Since his return off the Injured List Sept. 7, Neuse is 13-for-34 (.382) with seven extra-base hits. He hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games overall with OKC, going 19-for-53 (.358) with six multi-hit games, 17 RBI and 13 runs scored.

Cool Hand Luke: On Tuesday, Luke Raley homered and recorded at least three for a second straight game. Over the last two games, he's 5-for-9 with two homers and seven RBI. He's now homered four times in the last five games and has totaled 11 RBI during that time, with three games of three-plus RBI...Raley has played in 19 games with OKC since Aug. 7 and is batting .338 (27x80) with eight homers, five doubles, 21 RBI and 19 runs scored as well as nine multi-hit games.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana tallied a fourth straight multi-hit game Tuesday, going 2-for-5. He's 9-for-19 over the last four games, and during his current seven-game hitting streak, Santana is 14-for-29 with two homers, three doubles, eight RBI and eight runs scored...Santana has collected six multi-hit games in his last eight starts and leads OKC with 27 multi-hit games this season. The reigning Triple-A West Player of the Week paces the Dodgers with 90 hits in 78 games this season...Since Aug. 1, Santana has 48 hits in 36 games - tied for fourth-most in Triple-A West during the span, while his .348 batting average in the same time period ranks third-best in the league.

Around the Horn: The OKC pitching staff recorded 14 strikeouts for their fourth straight double-digit strikeout game Tuesday. It was the team's 57th double-digit strikeout game of the season and their 1,090 strikeouts are second-most in Triple-A West...Kevin Quackenbush moved back into a tie for the Triple-A West lead with his 19th save Tuesday. He was summoned after the tying run moved on deck in the ninth inning, and after a walk to the first batter he faced, he struck out Mitch Walding to end the game...Tuesday marked Darien Núñez's sixth straight scoreless outing with the OKC Dodgers. Since Aug. 31, he has allowed two hits and one walk over 7.1 innings, holding opponents 2-for-23. He has struck out 13 of the 24 batters he's faced...Since Aug. 9 (19 games), Drew Avans is batting .346 (18x52) with a .460 OBP (OB 29/63 PA). During that time he has 17 runs and 10 RBI, with 10 walks against five strikeouts...OKC is 8-11 in series openers this season, including 5-4 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and 2-2 against Round Rock. The Dodgers have dopped three of the last four and six of the last eight series openers.

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