OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 20, 2024
September 20, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Oklahoma City Baseball Club (37-35/77-70)
at Salt Lake Bees (34-38/66-80)
Game #148 of 150/Second Half #73 of 75/Road #73 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Jerming Rosario (NR, -.--) vs. SL-RHP Victor Mederos (0-0, 1.50)
Friday, September 20, 2024 | Smith's Ballpark | Salt Lake City, Utah | 7:35 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv, Bally Live
Today's Game : The Oklahoma City Baseball Club leads its final series of the season, 2-1, and continues the road series against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:35 p.m. CT at Smith's Ballpark...OKC enters tonight having won four of the last five games overall and is 6-3 in the last nine games. The team has also won five of the last six road games and is 12-4 in its last 16 road games.
Last Game : The Oklahoma City Baseball Club offense stayed hot and the pitching staff turned in a solid all-around performance during a 9-3 win over the Salt Lake Bees Thursday night at Smith's Ballpark. Oklahoma City broke a scoreless tie in the third inning with three runs. Alex Freeland led off with a homer, and Austin Gauthier and Ryan Ward each added RBI singles. After Salt Lake scored once in the bottom of the inning, OKC responded with four runs in the fourth inning. Freeland knocked a RBI single, Gauthier provided a two-run single, and Drew Avans collected a RBI knock as well. Leading, 7-3, in the eighth inning, James Outman picked up a RBI double before Freeland tallied his third hit and RBI of the night with a single. Five Oklahoma City relievers combined to pitch the final 5.1 innings, allowing one run and three hits with seven strikeouts.
Today's Probable Pitcher : Jerming Rosario is slated to start tonight for OKC and make his Triple-A debut...Rosario has split the 2024 season between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa before joining OKC, going 5-5 with a 4.34 ERA over 26 games (22 starts). This season he has set career highs with 103.2 IP and 115 strikeouts (9.98 K/9 inn.). Opponents have batted .199 but he has walked 67 batters (5.8 BB/9 inn.)...Among LAD minor leaguers, he ranks fifth with 103.2 IP and sixth with 115 K, but also leads the system in walks. Among LAD minor leaguers with at least 100.0 IP, he ranks first in opponent average and second in strikeouts per nine innings...He most recently pitched Sept. 14 for Tulsa at Wichita, allowing two runs and three hits over 4.1 innings with four walks and three strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision of Tulsa's 3-2 win...Over 16 starts with Tulsa, Rosario went 3-5 with a 4.70 ERA over 67.0 innings, notching 77 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .200 batting average...Rosario started the season with Great Lakes and made 10 appearances (six starts), posting a 2-0 record and 3.68 ERA over 36.2 innings with 38 strikeouts...He tossed a season-high and career-high 6.0 innings June 6 against Cedar Rapids and recorded a season-high eight strikeouts four times, including most recently against Midland Aug. 16 in Tulsa. He recorded his first career save May 7 against Lansing, not allowing a run or hit over the final three innings of Great Lakes' 2-0 win...Rosario split the 2023 season between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Great Lakes, starting the season by making six starts with Rancho Cucamonga before joining Great Lakes and making 19 appearances (nine starts)...He was named a Baseball America Dominican Summer League All-Star in 2019 after posting a 0.79 ERA with 43 strikeouts across 13 relief appearances...Rosario originally signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent in July 2018 out of the Dominican Republic...Tonight Rosario will be the 32nd different starting pitcher used by OKC this season and the fourth pitcher to make his Triple-A debut within the last two series.
Against the Bees : 2024: 6-3 2023: 4-7 All-time: 77-69 At SL: 35-37
OKC and the Bees are finishing the season against one another for the second time in three seasons...The teams have not played each other since April 30-May 5 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with OKC winning four of the final five games...OKC hit six homers in the first series and did not allow one by the Bees as OKC outscored Salt Lake, 25-17, over the six games. Andre Lipcius led OKC with seven hits, while three players finished with four RBI, including Ryan Ward, who also homered twice in the series. The Bees never exceeded four runs and were held to three runs or less in four of six games...Salt Lake won last season's series between the teams, 7-4, including four of six games at Smith's Ballpark. It marked the first time since 2013 that OKC lost a season series to the Bees, as OKC had gone 7-0-1 in season series against Salt Lake during that time. Scoring in the season series ended up fairly even in 2023, with the Bees finishing with a 69-67 advantage in runs...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers in 2015, the team owns a 38-24 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series...This is also the final series to be played at Smith's Ballpark as the Bees will play at the new Daybreak Field in 2025...Going back to 2022, OKC is 4-7 in the last 11 games in Salt Lake as well as 5-8 over the last 13 games.
Winning Tradition : OKC has clinched a winning overall record for the 20th time in 26 seasons during the Bricktown era, including 11 of the last 12 seasons, eight of nine seasons as a Dodgers affiliate and for a fourth consecutive season...OKC is 38-34 on the road and has clinched a winning road record for a fourth straight year. OKC's 38 road wins are second-most in the league this season.
Getting Offensive: Oklahoma City finished Thursday night's game with nine runs and 13 hits and going 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Over the past two games at Salt Lake, OKC's offense has scored 29 runs while amassing 36 hits and going 17-for-29 (.586) with runners in scoring position...OKC's 36 hits over the last two nights are the most for OKC since a two-game span in Albuquerque May 31 and June 1 when OKC also had 36 hits. OKC's 29 runs Wednesday and Thursday marked the highest two-game run total for the team since May 8-9 in Sugar Land when OKC scored 30 runs over two games...On Wednesday, OKC reached at least 20 runs for the third time this season - the most games in which OKC scored 20 or more runs in a single season during the Bricktown era. OKC also scored 22 runs May 9 in Sugar Land and 21 runs April 25 in Albuquerque. OKC has scored 20 or more runs in a game 11 times during the Bricktown era (since 1998), including the three times this season...Additionally, OKC set a season high with 23 hits Wednesday, marking just the eighth game in the Bricktown Era in which OKC had 23 or more hits and the first time it occurred since Sept. 1, 2007 at Albuquerque...OKC has now scored nine or more runs in three of the last five games and at least seven runs in five of the last nine games. OKC's 67 runs scored over the last nine games are second-most in the league, along with the team's 106 hits during the span. Only Las Vegas has had more runs (77 R) and hits (115 H) in the PCL since Sept. 10.
The Rest is History: Drew Avans continued his recent tear Thursday night and picked up three more hits, reaching base four times by going 3-for-4 with a walk and a RBI. He now has eight hits and six RBI in his last two games as he tallied the first five-hit game of his career Wednesday and set a season high and tied a career high with his five RBI...Avans has recorded seven straight multi-hit games, going 18-for-35 (.514) with five extra-base hits and nine RBI. He also has hit safely in eight straight games, going 19-for-38 (.500). Since Sept. 10 when the multi-hit game streak began, Avans leads the PCL in batting average and ranks second in hits, although he has played one fewer game than Las Vegas' Yohel Pozo, who has 19 hits in that span...On Tuesday, Avans surpassed Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) as OKC's all-time Bricktown-era career hits leader and now has 458 career hits in four seasons with OKC (since 2021). In addition to hits, Avans has established new Bricktown era career records for runs scored (344), walks (259) and triples (26). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 469 career games and 116 stolen bases, while ranking third in doubles (85)...With his four runs scored Wednesday, he set a new OKC single-season Bricktown-era single-season record for 104 runs, passing Esteban Germán's 103 runs scored in 2005...Avans now has 143 hits this season, setting a new career high...He leads the PCL in runs and ranks second with 78 walks, tied for second with eight triples, third in hits and seventh in stolen bases (34).
Free Range: Alex Freeland went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI Thursday, collecting his first three-hit game and second three-RBI game with Oklahoma City (36 G). Freeland has now homered in consecutive games and during his current five-game hitting streak is 9-for-20 (.450) with two home runs, a double, seven RBI and nine runs scored...The boost comes after Freeland was held 4-for-33 (.121) over the first 10 games of September...He previously homered in consecutive games earlier this season with Double-A Tulsa May 19 and 21 at Springfield.
Out of Sight: James Outman went 1-for-3 with a RBI double, walk and two runs last night. He is 9-for-17 (.529) with six extra-base hits and nine RBI over his last four games and is 14-for-38 (.368) over his last nine games with eight extra-base hits and 12 RBI. He has hit four home runs over his last six games...In September, Outman paces OKC with 16 RBI, five home runs and 14 runs over 16 games. His 21 hits so far this month are second on the team...His 42 total bases in September are fifth-most in the league, his five homers and 14 runs scored are tied for fifth-most, while his 16 RBI are sixth and his 10 extra-base hits are tied for seventh.
Dinger Details : With Alex Freeland's solo home run in the third inning last night, Oklahoma City has now hit 14 homers over the last eight games -the most homers by the team over an eight-game span since Aug. 13-21 (18 HR) and tied for the second-most home runs by a PCL team since Sept. 11...Overall this season, OKC has hit 179 home runs, surpassing last season's total of 171 homers. OKC last finished with more than 179 homers in a season in 2022 (201 HR)...On the other hand, OKC has not allowed a home run in five consecutive games and has allowed just two homers over the last nine games as well as four homers over the last 12 games. OKC's seven homers allowed since Sept. 1 are fewest in the PCL. Overall this season, OKC's 126 home runs allowed are fewest among all 30 Triple-A teams. OKC last allowed fewer than 126 home runs in a PCL season in 2018 when OKC allowed 104 homers over 140 games.
Lip Service : Andre Lipcius' seven-game hitting streak came to an end Thursday as he was held 0-for-5. During the streak, Lipcius batted .387 (12x31)...Lipcius leads the PCL with 151 total hits and his 256 total bases are second-most. His 89 RBI are tied for fifth, while his 25 home runs are sixth, his 85 runs are eighth and his 53 extra-base hits are tied for eighth...His 25 home runs in 2024 have nearly doubled his previous career high of 13 home runs set last season...He has played in a league-leading 137 games this year.
The Warden : Ryan Ward notched his 98th RBI of the season last night, which ranks third in the PCL. He is also now fifth on OKC's single-season RBI list during the Bricktown era (since 1998)...Ward leads the PCL with 31 homers this season, which is tied for fourth-most in a season during the Bricktown era.
Around the Horn: OKC is 25-15 over the last 40 games - best in the PCL beginning Aug. 4...Austin Gauthier tied his season high with three RBI last night and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Over his last five games, Gauthier is 7-for-19 (.368) with eight runs scored, six RBI and three multi-hit games. His has seven hits over the last five games after tallying just five hits over his previous 17 games...Alan Trejo picked up a hit and scored a run Thursday. He has now hit safely in nine of his last 10 games (12x40).
Pacific Coast League Stories from September 20, 2024
- September 20 Game Notes: Tacoma Rainiers vs. Round Rock Express - Tacoma Rainiers
- Aviators Announce Season Awards for 2024 Campaign - Las Vegas Aviators
- OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 20, 2024 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Bastidas' Two Home Runs Lead Sugar Land to Close Victory - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Tacoma Beats Round Rock 11-7 on Thursday Night - Round Rock Express
- Rainiers Earn 80th Win - Tacoma Rainiers
- Extra Innings again Favor Chihuahuas - El Paso Chihuahuas
- Battenfield Dynamic, But Isotopes Drop Preantipenultimate Contest - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Reno Sits Down Albuquerque 5-3 in Late Comeback - Reno Aces
- OKC Triples up Salt Lake Thursday, 9-3 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Bees Drop Second Straight to Oklahoma City on Thursday - Salt Lake Bees
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