PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 21, 2023

Published on September 21, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (39-32/89-55) at Albuquerque Isotopes (38-33/65-81)

Game #145 of 148/Second Half #72 of 75/Road #72 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Mike Montgomery (4-4, 5.38) vs. ABQ-RHP Karl Kauffmann (3-5, 6.78)

Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park | Albuquerque, N.M. | 12:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers have won back-to-back games and try for a third straight victory to open their road series while also seeking their 90th win of the season overall at 12:05 p.m. CT at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park...The Dodgers have won their last four road games, as well as six of their last seven road games, and are a Triple-A-best 47-24 on the road this season...This the Dodgers' first 2-0 series lead since July 25-26 in Reno.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored in six straight innings as they defeated the Albuquerque Isotopes, 13-8, Wednesday night at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. The Dodgers took an early 1-0 lead with a RBI double from Michael Busch in the third inning before a grand slam by Óscar Mercado stretched the lead to 5-0. Miguel Vargas clubbed a two-run homer in the fourth inning to make it 7-0. The Isotopes answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the Dodgers' lead to four runs. Ryan Ward responded with a RBI triple in the top of the fifth inning and later scored on a fielding error to make it 9-3. Busch blasted a solo home run in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 10-3. Vargas notched a RBI single in the seventh inning, and Jake Marisnick and David Freitas each drove in the runs in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers a 10-run lead. Albuquerque rallied for five runs in the ninth inning on a bases-loaded walk followed by a grand slam by Coco Montes.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Mike Montgomery (4-4) is scheduled to make his 16th start of the season today...He last pitched Sept. 16 in OKC against Tacoma and allowed five runs (four earned) and four hits, including a home run, along with four walks and three strikeouts over 5.0 innings. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's 11-10 defeat...Montgomery pitched in the series finale in Sugar Land Sept. 10 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 that Sept. 10 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 third start of the season against the Isotopes. He has allowed a combined six runs and 10 hits over 11.2 innings with seven walks and eight strikeouts.

Against the Isotopes: 2023: 9-11 2022: 12-6 All-time: 137-116 At ABQ:60-65

The Dodgers and Isotopes close out the regular season against one another, meeting for their fourth series of the season and second at Isotopes Park...Albuquerque won five of six games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Aug. 22-27 after the teams split their first 12 meetings of the season. The Dodgers closed out that August series with a 14-0 win, tying for the team's largest shutout win ever at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and tied for the second-largest shutout win in the Bricktown era overall (also April 25, 1998 vs. Nashville)...The teams also played a six-game series in OKC July 4-9, which the Isotopes won, 4-2, with OKC winning the series opener and series finale. It was Albuquerque's first series win in Bricktown since 2016 and the Isotopes won four straight games against the Dodgers within the same series since Aug. 8-11, 2008 in Albuquerque...The Dodgers won the first series between the teams April 18-23 in Albuquerque, 4-2, taking four of the final five games of the set...The Dodgers have not lost a season series to Albuquerque since 2017, going a combined 6-0 against the Isotopes in 2018 and 2019, 9-9 in 2021 and 12-6 last season...The Isotopes won nine games in OKC this season. Previously, the Isotopes' most wins in Bricktown in one season was five in 2009...After OKC started the season 5-2 against the Isotopes, Albuquerque won nine of the next 10 games before the Dodgers have now won three straight...The road team is 15-5 during this year's season series, with wins in seven of the last eight games as well as 11 of the last 13 games.

Down the Stretch: The Dodgers have won back-to-back games, have won four of the last six games and are now 14-7 in their last 21 games. Today the Dodgers look to extend to a three-game winning streak for just the second time since Aug. 2-4. They have lost in five of the last instances after winning back-to-back games...Oklahoma City's 14 wins in the last 21 games are tied with Reno 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: The Dodgers won their 89th game of the season Wednesday, adding to the team's single-season Bricktown era record (since 1998) as they improved to 89-55. They have now recorded the second-most wins during OKC's Triple-A history, surpassing the 1964 Oklahoma City 89ers (88-70). Only the 1965 89ers recorded more wins in one season, going 91-54...The last PCL team with at least 89 wins in a season was the 2017 Memphis Redbirds who went 91-50 - tied for the most wins by a PCL team since 2005 with Tucson, which went 91-53 in 2006...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...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 144 games was in 2015 when the Dodgers went 86-58...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.

Road Dogs: The Dodgers added to their single-season Bricktown-era record for road wins with last night's victory as they are now 47-24 on the road this season with four road games remaining this week in Albuquerque. The Dodgers own the most road wins in the Minors this season and are just the fourth OKC team to reach at least 40 road wins in a season since 1998, surpassing the 2015 Dodgers who went 44-28 on the road...The last PCL team with at least 47 road wins in a season was the 2016 Nashville Sounds, who went 47-23 on the road. Sacramento also won 47 road games in 2011 (47-25), but no PCL team since at least 2005 has recorded more than 47 road wins in a season...Earlier this season, the Dodgers set a Bricktown-era (since 1998) record with 12 consecutive road victories from June 29-July 28 between series in Sugar Land, Sacramento and Reno.

Dinger Details: OKC hit three home runs Wednesday for a third straight multi-homer game and the team has now hit eight homers during that time. Last night, Óscar Mercado hit Oklahoma City's eighth grand slam of the season and the team's first since Ryan Ward hit one Aug. 25 against Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Michael Busch (solo) and Miguel Vargas (two-run) also homered for OKC last night...OKC had hit just one homer in their previous six games before hitting three homers Sunday and adding two more Tuesday night. Before Sunday, Oklahoma City had gone 11 straight games with one or no home runs (4 HR)...On the other hand, OKC allowed a grand slam in the ninth inning last night for the sixth grand slam allowed by OKC this season and second allowed by the team in the last seven games. OKC had allowed one grand slam each month this season before allowing two so far in September. The 11 homers allowed by OKC so far in September (17 G) are fewest in the PCL...Seven of the of last 15 homers allowed by the Dodgers have been a grand slam or three-run homer, and 10 of the last 15 have been hit with at least one runner on base.

Buschwacked: Michael Busch extended his hitting streak to seven games last night, going 2-for-6 with a double and a home run. He is 10-for-27 (.370) with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBI during the streak. He has homered in each of the last two games, marking his fourth instance this season of going deep in back-to-back games this season. He leads OKC with 26 homers this season...Busch leads qualified PCL players with a .613 SLG and 1.039 OPS. He also ranks among the top-five PCL leaders in AVG (2nd, .322), homers (4th, 26), OBP (5th, .426) and extra-base hits (5th, 56)...Baseball America named Busch the 2023 Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year earlier this week.

On the Mend: Michael Grove continued his Major League Rehab Assignment and faced five batters Wednesday, with four strikeouts and one popout. Over his three rehab appearances with OKC, Grove has struck out eight batters in 3.1 innings...Jake Marisnick also continued his rehab assignment last night, recording a RBI single as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and then remaining in the game to play left field. Over his six appearances with OKC, Marisnick is 6-for-19 with three doubles, a homer and six RBI. He was placed on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List July 19 with a left hamstring strain.

Around the Horn: Last night, Óscar Mercado went 3-for-5 with four RBI, a double and a grand slam. He has hit safely in four straight games, going 7-for-17 (.412) with six RBI and six runs scored. He last hit a grand slam April 10, 2022 for the Cleveland Guardians at Kansas City...Miguel Vargas recorded a second straight multi-hit game yesterday, going 2-for-6 with three RBI and a home run - his ninth with OKC...Ryan Ward recorded his team-leading sixth triple of the season, going 2-for-3 Wednesday with his team-high 92nd RBI. He is the 10th player during the team's Bricktown era with at least 92 RBI in a single season...Hunter Feduccia did not play Wednesday, but has homered in back-to-back games and is now up to 11 home runs on the season - tied for third-most on the team. Feduccia has now hit three homers over his last eight games after going deep just once in his previous 30 games. He has also hit safely in five straight games, going 7-for-20 with eight RBI, tallying at least one RBI in all five games...Last night marked the most runs allowed in a win since a 16-15 victory over Reno July 30 in 11 innings. Prior to last night, the Dodgers were 1-16 in their last 17 games allowing at least six runs...The Dodgers have notched at least four extra-base hits in six of their last seven games (28 XBH)...OKC is just 1-4 in field trip games this season.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 21, 2023


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