PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 16, 2022

September 16, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (76-62) at Albuquerque Isotopes (59-77)

Game #139 of 150/Road #67 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Jon Duplantier (4-3, 4.92) vs. ABQ-RHP Karl Kauffmann (3-3, 6.39)

Friday, September 16, 2022 | Rio Grande Credit Union Field | Albuquerque, N.M. | 8:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers look to even their road series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 8:05 p.m. CT at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park...The Dodgers enter tonight's game in second place and 1.0 game behind first-place El Paso in the PCL East Division, while third-place Round Rock trails El Paso by 2.0 games. The Dodgers have 12 games remaining on their 2022 schedule.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers piled up 13 hits, including home runs by James Outman and Ryan Noda, and received five scoreless innings from starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot to lead to a 6-2 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes Thursday night at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. The game was scoreless until Outman launched a two-run homer to right field in the fourth inning to the put the Dodgers in front, 2-0. The Isotopes had runners at second and third base with one out in the bottom of the inning, but Pepiot struck out the next two batters to end the inning. In the top of the seventh, Jake Amaya hit a two-run double to make it 4-0. Albuquerque scored one run in the bottom of the inning on a RBI single by Wynton Bernard before Dodgers pitcher Beau Burrows induced an inning-ending groundout to strand the bases loaded. Noda led off the eighth inning with a homer, and later with two outs, Tomás Telis added a RBI double. Sam Hilliard homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth inning before Burrows retired the final six batters of the game.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Jon Duplantier (4-3) makes his first appearance against the Isotopes since the first series of the season and makes his 12th start overall tonight...Duplantier last started Sept. 8 against Tacoma in OKC. He allowed three runs and four hits along with three walks and five strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of the Dodgers' 5-4 win in 10 innings...Over last his four starts, Duplantier has allowed four runs and 14 hits across 19.2 innings, including two scoreless starts of 5.0 innings each. Opponents have gone 14-for-71 (.197) with 23 strikeouts and two extra-base hits (both doubles), and he's held opponents 3-for-22 with runners in scoring position. However, he does not have a winning decision due to OKC losing a lead after his exit in three of the four games...The stretch began Aug. 21 at Sugar Land when he notched nine strikeouts over five scoreless innings, tying his career high in strikeouts...Four of his last five starts have been in games that eventually went to extra innings...Duplantier moved into the starting rotation in mid-June. He is 0-2 with a 3.83 as a starter (44.2 IP) with 25 walks and 54 strikeouts. As a reliever, he is 4-1 with a 6.35 ERA (34.0 IP) with 23 walks and 33 strikeouts...Right-handed batters are hitting just .192, but lefties are hitting .309...Duplantier was selected by the Dodgers from the Giants in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft Dec. 8, 2021 after he had signed with the Giants just four days prior as a minor league free agent...He was selected in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft by Arizona out of Rice University...Tonight is Duplantier's third appearance and first start of the season against the Isotopes. He made two relief appearances April 6 and April 9, going 1-0 and pitching 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings with one walk and four strikeouts.

Against the Isotopes: 2022: 9-6 2021: 9-9 All-time: 125-105 At ABQ: 51-63 The Dodgers and Isotopes meet for their third and final series of the season but the first since May 3-8. The teams played two series within the first five weeks of the season, but have not faced each other since...The teams split their last series in Oklahoma City, 3-3, with the Dodgers winning three of the final four games...The teams opened the season against one another April 5-10, with the Dodgers winning the series, 5-1, including closing the series with four consecutive wins. Through the first two series, the Dodgers outscored the Isotopes, 85-55, and outhit them, 123-88, while hitting 16 home runs through the first 12 meetings...The teams split their 2021 season series, 9-9. The Isotopes won seven of the first 12 games before OKC won the final series, 4-2. The Dodgers went 5-7 at Isotopes Park...The Dodgers have not lost a season series to Albuquerque since 2017, going a combined 6-0 against the Isotopes in 2018 and 2019 prior to last season's split...During the previous series, Albuquerque secured its first back-to-back wins in OKC since 2016...Six of this season's 15 games have been decided by one run, and going back to last season, 14 of the 33 games between the teams have been settled by one run.

Final Dozen: Including last night's win, the Dodgers are 4-10 over the last 14 games, including 3-6 in the last nine games overall and 2-6 in the last eight road games. Tonight they seek their first back-to-back wins since a four-game winning streak Aug. 26-30. The Dodgers had a 5.0-game lead ahead of Round Rock and 5.5-game lead ahead of El Paso in the East Division standings entering Aug. 31 but have seen that advantage evaporate after going 4-10 while El Paso has gone 11-4 during the same period, leading to a 6.5-game swing. The Dodgers' four wins in September (4-9) are the fewest in the league and tied for second-fewest in Triple-A...Following a loss Friday night, the Dodgers dropped into a tie for first place, marking the first time since July 17 they did not have sole possession of first place. After a loss Saturday night, the Dodgers fell out of first place entirely - the first time since June 1 the Dodgers had not held at least a share of first place. Currently, the Dodgers are 1.0 game back...El Paso and Round Rock are meeting head-to-head for six games this week in El Paso and the Chihuahuas have won two of the first three meetings, as well as 10 of their last 12 games overall.

Gearing Up: One day after totaling three runs and nine hits across a doubleheader Wednesday, the Dodgers finished Thursday's game with six runs and 13 hits. They notched six extra-base hits after collecting just two the day prior, including home runs by James Outman and Ryan Noda for just the second multi-homer game of September (13 games)...Over their first 13 games of September, the Dodgers have been held to three or fewer runs eight times. They have also been held without a home run in eight of their 13 games this month and their 10 homers so far in September are tied for fewest in the league. From Sept. 4-10, the Dodgers were held without a homer in six consecutive games for the team's longest stretch without a home run during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015) and longest since a six-game stretch in 2014...Outside of Sunday's offensive barrage during which OKC scored 20 runs on 18 hits, including five homers, the Dodgers have scored 38 runs total over their other 12 games in September and have batted .250 (96x384) with 25 extra-base hits, including five home runs - four of which were solo homers...In the last nine games, the Dodgers are 3-6. They have scored three or fewer runs in each of the six losses, while scoring at least five runs in each of the three wins.

Outstanding: James Outman went 2-for-4 Thursday night with a two-run homer, and he now has 11 home runs with Oklahoma City and 27 overall this season in the Minors. Yesterday he homered for the second time in his last four games and collected his third multi-hit game in his last five games...He leads all Dodgers minor leaguers with a .576 SLG, and is tied for first with 62 extra-base hits, while his 247 total bases and .964 OPS are third and his 97 RBI are tied for third in the Dodgers system...Since playing his first game with OKC June 30, Outman leads the Dodgers with a .613 SLG and .992 OPS, while his 28 extra-base hits are tied for first, 52 RBI and five triples are second and his 11 homers are tied for second on the team...Over his last 21 games (since Aug. 23), Outman is slashing .372/.425/.782 with 18 extra-base hits and 26 RBI. During that time, he leads the PCL with 61 total bases and 26 RBI.

The Take on Jake: Jake Amaya delivered a two-run double as part of a 1-for-4 performance last night. Amaya has now hit safely 14 of his last 16 games, going 22-for-56 (.393) with five doubles, a triple, three homers, 13 RBI and 16 runs scored. Over his last eight games, Amaya is 11-for-27 (.407) with four extra-base hits and seven RBI...He is tied with Michael Busch with a team-leading 16 hits so far in September and is tied with Edwin Ríos with a team-high eight RBI this month...On Sunday, Amaya became the first OKC player this season to hit multiple grand slams, finishing the game against Tacoma 3-for-4 with a career-high four runs scored, a double, homer, four RBI and a walk.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch tallied a game high three hits Thursday, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. He has hit safely in 10 of his 13 games in September, going 16-for-47 (.340). He has hit safely in four of his last five games, going 8-for-19 (.421) with three extra-base hits, four RBI and a pair of three-hit games...Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Busch ranks second overall in the Minors this season with 109 runs scored and fifth with 261 total bases. He leads the Dodgers farm system with 141 total hits, while he's second with 29 homers and 98 RBI...He is tied with Jake Amaya with a team-leading 16 hits this month, while his 10 runs scored in September lead OKC.

Drew Point: Drew Avans went 2-for-5 Thursday and picked up his 11th triple of 2022 to set a single-season team record during the Bricktown era (since 1998). He had been previously tied with Joaquin Arias, who hit 10 triples in 2006. Avans' 11 triples this season lead all of Triple-A and rank tied for second in the Minors overall...Avans also ranks among PCL leaders with 32 stolen bases (5th), 78 runs scored (T-8th) and a .374 OBP (10th). His 32 stolen bases are the most by a Dodgers player since Darnell Sweeney also recorded 32 stolen bases during the 2015 season. The last OKC player with more than 32 stolen bases in a season was Esteban German, who had 35 during the 2009 season..Avans put together the league's longest on-base streak since 2018, reaching base in 50 straight games June 11-Aug. 14 before sustaining an injury Aug. 16 at Sugar Land.

The Runaround: The Dodgers have held opponents to four runs or less in eight of their 13 games so far this month and to three or fewer runs five times, including last night. They have allowed a total of eight runs through the first three games of the series in Albuquerque - their lowest run total allowed over a three-game span since July 31-Aug. 3 during which OKC allowed six runs...The Dodgers have allowed four or fewer runs in four of their last five games, but they have lost three of the four contests...OKC's .224 opponent batting average so far in September ranks second in the league, while their 56 runs allowed are tied for second-fewest in the league so far this month.

Winding Road: Last night the Dodgers picked up just their second win in their last eight road games and third win in their last 10 road games. Of their seven defeats during that span, all have been by one or two runs, with five one-run losses. Over the last 17 road games, the Dodgers are 6-11 with six walk-off losses and eight last at-bat losses, including Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader...The Dodgers were 28-21 on the road until this recent rough patch...The Dodgers are 1-2 to start the current road series and last won a road series June 14-19 in Reno, 4-2. The Dodgers have gone 0-2-3 in their five road series since.

Noda-ry Public: Ryan Noda homered and drew a walk last night and his 79 walks this season with OKC rank second-most in the PCL, while his .387 OBP is fourth and his 79 RBI are sixth. He is one RBI shy of tying his career-high after he had 80 RBI with Low-A Lansing during the 2018 season...Noda has 21 homers and 19 steals this season, putting him one stolen base from recording OKC's first 20/20 season since Nelson Cruz tallied 37 homers and 24 steals in 2008.

Around the Horn: With five scoreless innings last night, Ryan Pepiot turned in his 10th outing with OKC this season in which he allowed one or no runs. OKC is now 17-1 in the 18 games he's pitched for the team this season...Beau Burrows recorded the final eight outs Thursday to earn the first save of his career. Burrows allowed one run and two hits over 2.2 innings, with one walk and two strikeouts. He retired the game's final six batters as well as seven of the final eight...Tomás Telis went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored yesterday. Over his last three games with an at-bat, Telis has two multi-hit games and is 5-for-11...Tony Wolters reached base in all three of his plate appearances in Game 2 Wednesday, collecting a RBI bunt single and two walks. He has hit safely in five of his last six games, going 8-for-21. And in his last six plate appearances, Wolters has collected four hits and two walks with four RBI...Over his first four Triple-A appearances with OKC, Nick Robertson has not allowed a run over 6.1 innings, with three hits, three walks and eight strikeouts.

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