PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 22, 2023

Published on September 22, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (40-32/90-55) at Albuquerque Isotopes (38-34/65-82)

Game #146 of 148/Second Half #73 of 75/Road #73 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Kendall Williams (NR, -.--) vs. ABQ-RHP Tanner Gordon (0-1, 5.55)

Friday, September 22, 2023 | Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park | Albuquerque, N.M. | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers have won three consecutive games and will try to extend to their longest winning streak since July 22-28 when they continue their road series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 7:35 p.m. CT at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park...The Dodgers have won 90 games overall this season and a win tonight would put the Dodgers into a tie for the most wins by an Oklahoma City team in its Triple-A franchise history, last achieved in 1965...The Dodgers are also a Triple-A-best 48-24 on the road this season, as they have won five straight road games.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers pieced together a seven-run seventh inning to key an 8-5 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes Thursday afternoon at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. Trailing, 2-1, after six innings, the Dodgers busted out for seven runs to take an 8-2 lead, collecting five hits, along with four walks and one hit batter throughout the seventh-inning rally. Justin Yurchak provided a two-run double to put the Dodgers ahead. Later in the inning, Miguel Vargas drilled a three-run homer to center field. Yonny Hernández capped the big inning with a two-run single. The Isotopes quickly responded with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to narrow the gap to 8-5. The Dodgers pitching staff regrouped and retired eight of the game's final 10 baters. OKC scored a run in the first inning on a RBI single by Jonny DeLuca. Albuquerque went in front with two runs in the third inning, as the score remained at 2-1 until the seventh inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Kendall Williams is slated to make his Triple-A debut tonight...Williams has split his season between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa and most recently pitched Sept. 16 for Tulsa against Corpus Christi, earning the win after allowing two runs and three hits over 5.0 innings with four walks and four strikeouts...In eight starts with the Drillers, Williams posted a 3.92 ERA and 3-3 record over 39.0 IP with 23 walks and 33 strikeouts...Williams made his Double-A debut Aug. 5 at Wichita after making seven starts for Great Lakes. In High-A this season, Williams posted a 1.99 ERA, going 1-2 over 31.2 innings with 10 walks and 27 strikeouts. Williams was named Midwest League Pitcher of the Month for July, posting a 1.90 ERA with 23 strikeouts over five starts...Williams did not see game action this season until early June when he was assigned to the ACL Dodgers for a game before joining Great Lakes in mid-June...Williams started the 2022 season with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, making four starts, before advancing to Great Lakes were he made 23 appearances (20 starts) His 110.1 combined innings in 2022 were a career high, along with his 96 combined K's...Williams was acquired by the Dodgers from Toronto as one of two players to be named later in exchange for Ross Stripling Aug. 31, 2020...Toronto originally selected Williams in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla...Earlier today, it was announced Williams will play in the Arizona Fall League this year with the Glendale Desert Dogs.

Against the Isotopes: 2023: 10-11 2022: 12-6 All-time: 138-116 At ABQ:61-65

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. 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...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 four straight...The road team is 16-5 during this year's season series, with wins in eight of the last nine games as well as 12 of the last 14 games...In four of the last nine games and five of the last 14 games between the two, a team trailing in the seventh inning or later has won.

Down the Stretch: The Dodgers have won three straight games, as well as five of their last seven games and eight of their last 11, and are 15-7 in their last 22 games. Tonight, the Dodgers will try for their first four-game winning streak since July 22-28 when the Dodgers won six consecutive games. This is the team's third three-game winning streak since and the Dodgers have lost their previous two chances for a fourth consecutive win...The Dodgers own their first 3-0 start to a series since opening a road series in Reno 4-0 July 25-28 during their last six-game winning streak...Oklahoma City's 15 wins in the last 22 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 90th game of the season Thursday, adding to the team's single-season Bricktown era record (since 1998). They have recorded the second-most wins during OKC's Triple-A history and are now one win shy of matching the 1965 Oklahoma City 89ers (91-54) for the most wins OKC's Triple-A history, which began in 1962...The Dodgers also became just the second PCL team since 2006 to notch at least 90 wins, joining the 2017 Memphis Redbirds, who finished 91-50. They are also just the fourth PCL team over the last 23 seasons to reach 90 wins. In addition to Memphis in 2017, the feat was also accomplished by Tucson in 2006 and Sacramento in 2003...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. With yesterday's win, OKC has ensured they will finish with the best overall record in the PCL this season, marking the fourth time that has happened during the team's Bricktown era (also 2005, 2013 and 2015)...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, 85 and 90 wins was also the 2017 Memphis Redbirds, who reached the 80-win milestone in 121 games (80-41), the 85-win mark in 133 games (85-48) and the 90-win mark in 140 games (90-50)...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 Thursday's victory as they are now 48-24 on the road this season with three 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...Their 48 road wins are the most by any PCL team since 2005, as data from 2004 and earlier is not available. In fact, the Dodgers are the first team in all of the Minors to win at least 48 road games in one season since High-A Lake Elsinore in 2010 (48-22)....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.

Award Tour: The Los Angeles Dodgers named Michael Busch the 2023 Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year and Kyle Hurt the 2023 Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year Thursday. In 96 games with OKC, Busch has batted .322 with 26 home runs, 26 doubles, four triples and 89 RBI. His 26 homers lead all Dodgers minor leaguers as do his 56 extra-base hits. Busch has also made 27 appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers, collecting 12 hits and seven RBI. Baseball America named Busch the 2023 Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year earlier this week...Hurt began the season with Double-A Tulsa before getting promoted to Oklahoma City Aug. 2. On the season, he leads the farm system with 152 strikeouts in 92.0 innings with a .205 batting average against. He made his MLB debut Sept. 12 and retired all six batters he faced...Both Busch and Hurt will be honored during a pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium tonight prior to the Dodgers' game against San Francisco.

Getting Offensive: Yesterday, the Dodgers scored seven runs in the seventh inning marking the sixth time this season the Dodgers scored at least seven runs in one inning, last accomplished Aug. 27 at home against Albuquerque. It's also tied for their highest-scoring inning on the road this season (June 11 at El Paso)...Overall, the Dodgers have scored at least eight runs in each of the first three games of the current series (29 runs total) and have scored at least six runs in six consecutive games for the first time this season (51 R)...In the last four meetings with the Isotopes, the Dodgers have scored 43 runs, with at least eight in each contest, winning all four games...Going back to the start of the seventh inning Sept. 12, the Dodgers are 91-for-303 (.300) with 67 runs over the last 75 innings...On the other hand, the Dodgers have allowed at least five runs in four of the last five games, including eight or more runs three times and 11 runs twice during the span (38 runs total).

Getting Miggy With It: Miguel Vargas homered in a second straight game yesterday, with both home runs hit out to center field. Vargas also recorded a third straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with three RBI. Over the last three games, Vargas is 6-for-15 with three extra-base hits and seven RBI and has hit safely in four straight games overall, going 7-for-20. This is his longest hitting streak since a seven-game streak with OKC Aug. 17-24 (12-for-27)...Vargas leads OKC with 20 hits, four homers, 19 RBI, 15 walks and 15 runs scored in September.

Dinger Details: The Dodgers have homered in four straight games (9 HR) for the first time since Aug. 31-Sept. 3 (6 HR), including three multi-homer games. Prior to Sunday, Oklahoma City had gone 11 straight games with one or no home runs (4 HR)..Yesterday the Dodgers held Albuquerque without a homer for the second time in three games to start the series and have allowed one home run in three games at hitter-friendly Isotopes Park. The 11 homers allowed by OKC so far in September (18 G) are fewest in the PCL.

Around the Horn: For the second time in three games, the Dodgers won Thursday after trailing in the seventh inning or later. Yesterday was the team's 22nd win of the season when trailing after six innings...Yonny Hernández went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk Thursday. He's now 10-for-25 (.400) over his last seven games and has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 12-for-32 (.375)...Óscar Mercado did not play Thursday but went 3-for-5 with a double and a grand slam Wednesday. He has hit safely in four straight games, going 7-for-17 (.412) with six RBI and six runs scored...Yesterday Jonny DeLuca went 2-for-5 with a double and RBI and is 8-for-his-last-20 with four extra-base hits...The Dodgers have batted .377 (20x53) with runners in scoring position over the last six games...Including openers, Kendall Williams will become the 30th different pitcher to start a game for OKC this season.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 22, 2023


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