Sports stats

PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 26, 2021

September 26, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (3-0/64-58) at Las Vegas Aviators (0-3/62-61)

Game #123 of 129/Road #64 of 65/Final Stretch #4 of 10

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Andre Jackson (2-2, 4.98)/RHP Nick Tropeano (1-0, 5.56) vs. LV-RHP Brian Howard (6-4, 6.11)

Sunday, September 26, 2021 | Las Vegas Ballpark | Las Vegas, Nev. | 2:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue the Triple-A Final Stretch and their final road series of the season against the Las Vegas Aviators with a Sunday matinee at 2:05 p.m. CT at Las Vegas Ballpark. The Dodgers have won four straight games, as well as five of their last six games overall and eight of their last nine games on the road.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers took a quick lead Saturday night and led the rest of the way in a 5-2 win against the Las Vegas Aviators at Las Vegas Ballpark during the Triple-A Final Stretch. The Dodgers scored two runs in the first inning as they went on to record a fourth straight win and take a 3-0 lead in their road series. The first three batters of the game reached base for OKC, including Matt Davidson who lined a RBI single into left field. The Dodgers later loaded the bases and a RBI groundout by Anthony Bemboom pushed OKC's early lead to 2-0. OKC loaded the bases again in the third inning and brought in another run when Andy Burns grounded into a double play. Unearned runs by the Aviators in the fourth and fifth innings, trimmed the Dodgers' lead to 3-2. OKC got some breathing room on the scoreboard in the seventh inning. Drew Avans hit a one-out triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sheldon Neuse. Steven Souza Jr. followed with a single before Davidson connected on a RBI double into right field for a 5-2 Dodgers lead. OKC pitchers Vidal Nuño (6-1) and Kevin Quackenbush (S, 21) held Las Vegas scoreless over the final four innings.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Andre Jackson (2-2) is set to make his fifth start and sixth appearance with OKC...He last pitched Sept. 20 against Round Rock in OKC. He made the start and tied his longest outing with OKC this season, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing two runs and eight hits with one walk and four strikeouts. He was charged with the loss in OKC's 10-1 home defeat... Sept. 14 in Salt Lake, he made the start and allowed three runs and four hits, including two homers, over 4.0 innings with one walk and six strikeouts in a no decision. The six K's were his highest total since being promoted from Double-A Tulsa...Jackson has been recalled by Los Angeles three times since mid-August and has appeared in two games with LAD, allowing just one run and six hits over 8.2 innings. He made his ML debut Aug. 16 against Pittsburgh, pitching 4.0 scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and four walks with five strikeouts at Dodger Stadium...Jackson was promoted to OKC from Double-A Tulsa July 31. Prior to his promotion, Jackson pitched a team-leading 63.1 innings for the Drillers, making 15 appearances (13 starts). He posted 75 strikeouts (second-most on the team) against 20 walks - fewest among Drillers starting pitchers. He went 3-2 with a 3.27 ERA - third-lowest in Double-A Central, while his .201 opponent average and 1.04 WHIP both led the league...Jackson was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of the University of Utah, where he primarily played as an outfielder...Tonight is Jackson's first career appearance against Las Vegas.

Nick Tropeano (1-0) is scheduled to piggyback Jackson and make his ninth appearance of the season with OKC...Tropeano last pitched Sept. 20 against Round Rock in OKC, also working in a tandem with Jackson. He allowed four runs and two hits over one-third of an inning with two walks and one strikeout...He signed as a free agent Aug. 6 and has played in the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets organizations this season...Tropeano played for the OKC RedHawks in 2014, pacing the Pacific Coast League with a 3.03 ERA...Tonight is his third appearance of the season against the Aviators and second with OKC in 2021.

Against the Aviators: 2021: 4-5 2019: 1-3 All-time: 52-59 At LV: 28-31 (4-3 @ LVB)

Oklahoma City and Las Vegas are opening the Triple-A Final Stretch with their second series of 2021. With Saturday's win, OKC now has a 3-0 lead in the current five-game series and has already clinched a series win. This marks the first time OKC will win a series against Las Vegas since 2015 when they went 3-1 on the road...The teams last met during a six-game series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Aug. 26-31, with the Aviators winning the series, 5-1. Las Vegas outscored the Dodgers, 36-24, and outhit OKC, 56-50. The Aviators hit 12 homers in the series, while OKC hit seven. Las Vegas opened the series, 3-0...Matt Davidson had a team-high six RBI and Deacon Liput homered three times...The teams last met in Las Vegas during a four-game series Aug. 2-5, 2019. The Aviators won the series, 3-1, and scored 10 runs in each of their three wins during the series, outscoring the Dodgers, 36-29, as the Aviators batted .342. Twice in their three wins, the Aviators trailed in their final at-bat, only to rally and walk off with a win...After dropping 10 of the previous 12 games, the Dodgers have won three straight against Las Vegas for the first time since 2015...So far in the 2021 season series, the road team is 8-1.

The Final Frontier: Oklahoma City opened the Triple-A Final Stretch in Las Vegas Thursday. All 30 Triple-A teams will play five road games and five home games during the new postseason tournament format. A single 2021 Triple-A Final Stretch Winner will be crowned based on the highest overall winning percentage among all 30 teams during the final 10 games. During the Final Stretch, the OKC Dodgers are set to play five games in Las Vegas and will then host El Paso for five games Sept. 29-Oct. 3 to wrap up the season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...All team and individual stats accumulated during the Final Stretch will still be counted toward 2021 season stats, but wins and losses will not affect league standings outside of the 10 games. A champion was named for both the Triple-A West (Tacoma) and Triple-A East (Durham) leagues for the 2021 regular season based on overall winning percentage through the originally scheduled 120-game championship season.

Homers That Help: Each home run hit by the Oklahoma City Dodgers during Triple-A's Final Stretch will benefit Cleats for Kids in Oklahoma City as part of "Homers That Help." For each home run hit by Triple-A teams during the Final Stretch, Minor League Baseball will donate $50 per home run to a local 501(c)3 charity selected by the team. The team with the most home runs hit during the 10-game span will generate an extra $5,000 donation for its charity. The OKC Dodgers chose to benefit Cleats for Kids (C4K), which provides new and used sports equipment free of charge to youth in need, gathering equipment through community drives and drop-off donation sites...So far the Dodgers have hit four home runs during the Final Stretch, equaling $200 toward C4K.

Steadfast Steven: Steven Souza Jr. tied for a game-high three hits Saturday and scored a game-high and season-high three runs, going 3-for-5 as OKC's designated hitter and recording his fourth three-hit game of the season with OKC. So far in the current Las Vegas series, Souza is 6-for-15 with a triple, walk, six runs scored and two RBI...He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games with an at-bat, going 14-for-35 (.400), with four doubles, a triple and homer, as well as seven RBI and scoring 11 runs during the stretch.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson went 2-for-2 Saturday with a double, two walks and a game-high two RBI as he recorded his fourth straight multi-hit game (8x16) and his team-leading 23rd multi-RBI game of the season. He has seven multi-hit outings in his last 10 games, connecting on a combined 16 hits, including four homers and two doubles, with 10 RBI and nine runs scored...In 23 games since returning from the Injured List Aug. 28, Davidson has hit nine homers, collected 15 extra-base hits and tallied 29 RBI...His .638 SLG leads Triple-A West, while his 1.008 OPS is second, his 27 homers rank third, his 78 RBI are fifth and his 47 extra-base hits are eighth.

Road Sweet Road: The Dodgers have won eight of their last nine road games and have won five straight away from OKC for the first time this season and first time since recording a team-record nine consecutive road wins May 29-June 15, 2019... During the current road winning streak, the Dodgers have scored at least 11 runs four times and notched at least 14 hits four times and have outscored opponents, 53-20. They're batting .360 (72x200) with 24 extra-base hits, nine home runs and are 24-for-67 (.358) with runners in scoring position...The Dodgers are now 35-17 in their last 52 road games and 37-26 overall on the road, owning the league's second-best road record (Reno, 39-24).

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana picked up his team-leading 101st hit of the season Saturday with a single in the third inning. On Friday, he collected a career-high five hits, recording the first five-hit game for an OKC player this season and first since Gavin Lux went 5-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored July 18, 2019 at Iowa. Santana is also just the sixth player during OKC's Dodgers affiliation (since 2015) to accumulate five or more hits in a game, following Corey Seager (6 H, 2015), Austin Barnes (5 H, 2015), Bobby Wilson (5 H, 2017), Henry Ramos (5 H, 2018) and Lux (5 H, 2019)...He has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games with an at-bat, going 25-for-60 (.417) with two homers, five doubles, 15 RBI and nine runs scored...Since July 23, Santana's 70 hits and .361 AVG both rank second in Triple-A West, while his 36 RBI are tied for ninth.

Full House: Omar Estévez hit the Dodgers' ninth grand slam of the season Friday night. OKC's nine grand slams are tied with the 2005 and 1998 squads for the most grand slams in a single season during the franchise's Bricktown era (since 1998)...The Dodgers have had the most at-bats in the league with the bases loaded this season (149) and have tallied the most extra-base hits (20). They are batting .282 with the bags full and have also drawn a league-high 16 walks (tied with Las Vegas).

Extra Credit: The Dodgers have 15 extra-base hits through their first three games in Las Vegas and 90 total extra-base hits so far in September with four games left this month. The most extra-base hits the Dodgers have compiled in a month this season was 92 in July...The Dodgers have hit at least one triple in a season-best four straight games (5 total triples) and have hit 10 of their 23 total triples in September.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers' defense turned three double plays last night, tying their season-high mark last set Sept. 9 at Salt Lake. They've turned 10 double plays in the last five games, with at least two double plays in four of the five contests...Drew Avans tripled and scored a run Saturday and is batting .323 in September with 20 hits in 20 games, including six doubles, a triple, homer, 12 RBI and a team-leading 18 runs scored...Sheldon Neuse has 20 RBI and 19 runs scored in his last 19 games...Zach McKinstry had last night off, but has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 11-for-38 with four homers, three doubles, eight RBI and nine runs scored...OKC is looking to start a series 4-0 for just the second time this season. OKC won the first four games in Round Rock June 17-20.




Pacific Coast League Stories from September 26, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Oklahoma City Comets Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central