PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 16, 2023

September 16, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (36-31/73-69) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (37-30/87-53)

Game #141 of 148/Second Half #68 of 75/Home #72 of 73

Pitching Probables: TAC-LHP Tommy Milone (6-3, 4.94) vs. OKC-LHP Mike Montgomery (4-4, 5.24)

Saturday, September 16, 2023 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: 94.7 FM The Ref, 947theref.com, iHeartRadio; Video: Bally Live, MiLB.tv

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers set a new Bricktown-era team record for wins in a season last night and continue their series against the Tacoma Rainiers at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark seeking a third straight win. OKC leads the current series. 3-1...¡Celebración Cielo Azul! continues tonight as the Dodgers will take the field as Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City. Fans are also encouraged to help "Pack the Park Blue" for prostate cancer awareness with OU Health.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers defeated the Tacoma Rainiers, 6-2, Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as they secured their 87th win and set a new Bricktown-era team record for wins in a season. The Dodgers shut out Tacoma for eight innings as they built a 6-0 lead. Oklahoma City took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Michael Busch hit a RBI double down the right field line. It remained a one-run game until the Dodgers scored five runs on six hits in the eighth inning. With one out and Busch on first base, Jonny DeLuca hit a RBI double off the wall in right-center field. Ryan Ward followed with a RBI single into right field. Hunter Feduccia later connected on a two-run single before Justin Yurchak added a two-out RBI single for a 6-0 advantage. Tacoma ended the shutout bid in the ninth inning with a two-run home run by Taylor Trammell.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Mike Montgomery (4-4) seeks wins in back-to-back starts...Montgomery pitched in Sunday's series finale in Sugar Land and earned the win, tossing a season-high six scoreless innings, with two hits, two walks and six strikeouts. He retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced and completed each of his final four innings on nine or fewer pitches...Montgomery emerged from a recent rut with Sunday's performance. Over his previous five outings between Aug. 8-Sept. 5, he allowed 27 runs and 36 hits over 21.1 IP (11.39 ERA), along with 21 walks (2.67 WHIP), while opponents batted .375 (36x96). During that time, his season ERA jumped from 2.72 to 5.75....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, but was released before appearing in a game...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 second start of the season against the Rainiers. On Aug. 8 in Tacoma, Montgomery was charged with the loss, allowing a season-high eight runs and eight hits over 2.1 innings with three walks, a home run and one strikeout.

Against the Rainiers: 2023: 6-7 2022: 5-7 All-time: 62-64 At OKC: 39-25

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...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 9-14 in their last 23 games against the Rainiers. Tonight the Dodgers look to win three straight games against Tacoma for the first time since 2019...Four of the last five games between the teams have been decided by one or two runs.

Down the Stretch: The Dodgers have back-to-back games and tonight try for their second three-game winning streak in the last seven games after not winning three straight since Aug. 2-4. The Dodgers have won five of the last six games, seven of the last nine games, nine of the last 12 games, 11 of the last 15 games and 12 of the last 17 games...Oklahoma City's 12 wins in the last 17 games are the most in the PCL since Aug. 27...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: With last night's victory, the Dodgers improved to 87-53 overall, setting a new Bricktown-era (since 1998) record for wins in a season. The previous Bricktown-era team record was held by the 2015 Dodgers who finished the season 86-58. Going back further, the 87 wins by the 2023 Dodgers are the third-most in Oklahoma City's Triple-A history and most by any team since 1965 when the Oklahoma City 89ers went 91-54...The Dodgers own the most wins in the Minors and are one of only two teams this season to surpass 85 wins with Triple-A Norfolk at 86-55. Including OKC and Norfolk, only six teams in the Minors have 80 or more wins in 2023...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. They currently lead the overall Pacific Coast League standings by 4.5 games ahead of second-place Round Rock...The Dodgers own a 37-30 record in the PCL second half standings and are in a tie with Reno for third place, trailing first-place Las Vegas (40-27) by 3.0 games...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 140 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 85-55...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.

Mound Matters: Six Oklahoma City pitchers combined to hold Tacoma scoreless through eight innings last night and to two runs overall. The Dodgers have now held the Rainiers to two runs in back-to-back games and have kept opponents to two runs or less in five of the last eight games and nine times in the last 17 games. They have also allowed four runs or less seven times in the last eight games (25 R) and 13 times in the last 17 games. The 58 runs allowed by the Dodgers over the last 17 games are fewest in the PCL and the team has posted a 3.12 ERA over that time frame. For comparison, El Paso has allowed a league-high 136 runs over the same span and no other PCL team has allowed fewer than 68 runs...Last night was the second time in the last eight games that the Dodgers allowed a home run and they have allowed four homers during the stretch. Their seven homers allowed over the last 17 games are fewest in Triple-A. The homer last night was the only extra-base hit allowed by OKC over the last two games and the only base hit by Tacoma over the last 21 innings...Tacoma went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position yesterday and opponents are now 6-for-48 (.125) with RISP over the last six games. Last night was the fourth time this season an opponent had just one at-bat with a runner in scoring position...Friday was the third time in as many weeks the Dodgers had to employ a bullpen game. Across those three games, the pitching staff has allowed just four runs and 17 hits while going 3-0. The team is also now 7-2 in true bullpen games this season. Between the last seven games, the bullpen has had to cover 41.1 innings while allowing just eight runs (6 ER) and 20 hits, holding the opposition 20-for-137 (.146)...Over the last 22 games, the Dodgers are 12-10. They have allowed 25 runs total over the 12 wins, but have allowed 73 runs in the 10 losses, with at least eight runs in six of the 10 defeats.

Better Call Dahl: David Dahl is on a season-best hitting streak of 11 games, going 13-for-43 (.302) with seven extra-base hits and eight RBI. It is the longest active streak by an OKC player, the fourth-longest hitting streak by an OKC player this season overall and is the third-longest active streak in the PCL...Dahl's 21 doubles since joining OKC June 20 lead the league and his 26 doubles overall this season are his most in a season since 2019 with the Colorado Rockies (28)...Following a 3-for-40 start after joining the Dodgers, Dahl has batted .335 (56x167).

Getting Offensive: The Dodgers have recorded four extra-base hits in three straight games against the Rainiers after being held to one extra-base hit in the previous two games and to five total over the previous four games combined. On Friday night, Jonny DeLuca went 2-for-3 with two doubles, Michael Busch recorded a double and Bryson Brigman had his third triple of the season...The Dodgers scored five of their six runs in the eighth inning Friday night for their highest scoring inning since Aug. 30 against Round Rock when they scored six runs in the sixth inning of a 6-3 home win...However, the Dodgers have not hit home run in three straight games, marking the first time that has happened since May 27-30. The Dodgers have hit only one home run over the last five games, two home runs in the last seven games and have recorded 10 straight games with one or no home runs, for a total of four dingers in that span.

On the Mend: Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Jake Marisnick made the second appearance of his Major League Rehab Assignment with OKC Thursday night and went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a RBI and run scored. He also played seven innings in left field. He opened his rehab assignment Tuesday after being placed on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List July 19 with a left hamstring strain.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers have won five of their last six home games and are 8-3 over the last 11 games in Bricktown. The team has won three straight home games within the same series just once since May 19 (Aug. 2-4 vs. Round Rock)...Ryan Ward has recorded a RBI in back-to-back games and he is the 11th OKC player during the Bricktown era to notch at least 91 RBI in a season. He leads the team and ranks fourth in the league in RBI. His previous career high was 84 RBI set in 2021 with High-A Great Lakes...Michael Busch has hit safely in three straight games, going 4-for-9 (.444) with a double, RBI and two runs scored. He has reached base safely in 45 of his last 47 games with OKC and currently leads PCL qualified hitters with a .605 SLG and 1.035 OPS...Over his last nine games, John Rooney has allowed one run and four hits across 14.1 IP, holding opponents 4-for-46 (.087).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 16, 2023


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