PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 29, 2021

Published on September 29, 2021 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


El Paso Chihuahuas (3-2/49-76) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (3-2/64-60)

Game #125 of 129/Home #60 of 64/Final Stretch #6 of 10

Pitching Probables: ELP-RHP Jesse Scholtens (3-9, 5.28) vs. OKC-RHP Aaron Wilkerson (7-5, 4.11)

Wednesday, September 29, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open their final home series of the 2021 season and continue the Triple-A Final Stretch at 7:05 p.m. against the El Paso Chihuahuas at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers enter the series with back-to-back losses after posting wins in four straight games and in five of the previous six games.

Last Game: The Las Vegas Aviators built a seven-run lead through three innings and were able to hang on for an 11-9 win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers Monday night at Las Vegas Ballpark. The Aviators jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Zach Reks got the Dodgers on the board in the second inning, connecting on his 19th home run of the season. Las Vegas piled up another four-run inning in the third to build the lead to 8-1. Matt Davidson homered in the fourth inning before the Dodgers rallied for five runs in the fifth inning. Davidson and Reks each contributed two-run singles, and Steven Souza Jr. added a RBI double, as the Dodgers pulled back within 8-7. Las Vegas added to the lead in the seventh inning, scoring three runs with two outs. Sheldon Neuse knocked a RBI single in the eighth inning to cut the lead to 11-8. Souza punished a homer in the ninth inning, and the Dodgers put the tying runs on base before the Aviators recorded the final out of the night.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Aaron Wilkerson (7-5) heads to the hill, looking to keep his recent roll going...Wilkerson most recently made a start Sept. 23 in Las Vegas, pitching 5.0 scoreless innings. He allowed five hits and one walk with six strikeouts as he picked up his seventh win of the season, but first since July 23...Thursday's game was his fifth scoreless outing of at least 5.0 innings this season, as well as his second in a row. On Sept. 17 against Round Rock at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, he piggybacked Austin Bibens-Dirkx and also ended up throwing 5.0 scoreless innings, retiring 15 of 16 batters faced, including the final 14 in a row...Following a stint on the IL, Wilkerson returned to game action Sept. 6 against Albuquerque in OKC, and in his first four games back, he's thrown 14.0 scoreless innings with 18 strikeouts and one walk. He's allowed eight hits and has only had two runners advance into scoring position...Wilkerson paces Triple-A West with a 4.11 ERA, 118 strikeouts and a .240 opponent average this season. His 1.12 WHIP is second in the league, while his 105.0 innings pitched are seventh...Wilkerson has faced the Chihuahuas three previous times this season, going 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA (8 ER/16.0 IP).

Against the Chihuahuas: 2021: 11-7 2019: 2-2 All-time: 25-17 At OKC: 10-8 The Dodgers and Chihuahuas wrap up the 2021 season and Triple-A Final Stretch with a five-game series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, marking their fourth series of the season and second in OKC...The teams most recently met July 8-13 in El Paso with the Dodgers winning the series, 4-2, as OKC won four of the final five games...The teams split their last series in OKC June 10-15, with the Dodgers winning the first two games and the series finale, but El Paso winning three straight meetings in between...Entering the current series, Matt Davidson and Zach Reks pace the Dodgers with 18 hits apiece in the season series, while Davidson and Luke Raley each have a team-leading 16 RBI in the series with the Chihuahuas. Davidson and Keibert Ruiz hit six homers each through the first 18 games...OKC has outscored El Paso, 128-95, and outhit the Chihuahuas, 191-171, and have hit 33 homers compared to El Paso's 16 homers...Outside of the 2018, OKC has won or split each season series against the Chihuahuas since Tucson's franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season.

The Final Frontier: Oklahoma City opened the Triple-A Final Stretch in Las Vegas Thursday and went 3-2 during the road series. 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...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 through the originally scheduled 120-game championship season...At 3-2, the Dodgers are tied with El Paso and Round Rock for the third-best record in Triple-A West, while Albuquerque and Salt Lake top the league at 4-1. Two teams in Triple-A East - Durham and Nashville - are off to 5-0 starts.

Road Sweet Road: Although the Dodgers lost their final two games in Las Vegas, they finished with a 37-28 road record this season. It's just the third time in the last 13 seasons the team notched a winning road record and will end up as the third-highest road winning percentage over 23 seasons during the franchise's Bricktown era (since 1998). The Dodgers won the series in Las Vegas, 3-2, and went 7-1-1 over their final nine road series of the season...On the other hand, the Dodgers enter their final home series with a 27-32 record and would have to sweep all five games against El Paso to finish at .500. If the Dodgers drop as many as one game during this series, they'll finish with a losing record at home for a second consecutive season after it happened just twice over the first 21 seasons in Bricktown (2003, 2007)...The Dodgers did win their previous home game Sept. 21 against Round Rock, but the team is 5-13 when following their last 18 home wins.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson notched his fifth straight multi-hit game Monday, going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, marking his team-leading 24th multi-RBI game of the season. During his five-game multi-hit streak, Davidson is 10-for-21 two homers, two doubles and seven RBI...He has eight multi-hit outings in his last 11 games, connecting on a combined 18 hits, including five homers and two doubles, with 13 RBI and 10 runs scored, batting .400 (18x45)...In 24 games since returning from the Injured List Aug. 28, Davidson has hit 10 homers, collected 16 extra-base hits and tallied 32 RBI. During that time, he leads the Minors in RBI and his home run total is tied for the most...For the season, Davidson leads Triple-A West with a .644 SLG and his 1.015 OPS is second. His 28 homers are tied for second-most in the league, while his 81 RBI are fourth, his 195 total bases are seventh and his 48 extra-base hits are tied for eighth and his .300 AVG is ninth.

The Souz is Loose: Steven Souza Jr. went 3-for-5 Monday with a home run and double, posting his second consecutive three-hit game. During the series in Las Vegas, Souza went 9-for-20 with three extra-base hits, eight runs scored and four RBI...He has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games with an at-bat, going 17-for-40 (.425), with five doubles, a triple and two homers, as well as nine RBI and scoring 13 runs during the stretch...Souza is on a season-best five-game hit streak, going 10-for-24 (.417).

Young Sheldon: Sheldon Neuse reached base three times Monday in Las Vegas, with two singles and a hit by pitch. He's now 18-for-51 (.353) over his last 13 games and has hit safely in 17 of his last 21 games, going 30-for-89 (.337) with 10 multi-hit games, 21 RBI and 20 runs scored. Neuse went 7-for-18 during the series in Las Vegas...Overall this season, Neuse's 91 hits in 76 games are tied for second most among Dodgers players, although Neuse didn't play his first game with OKC until May 31.

Dinger Details: On Monday night, the Dodgers hit three home runs, resulting in $150 more donated toward Cleats for Kids in Oklahoma City as part of Minor League Baseball's "Homers That Help." So far the Dodgers have hit seven home runs during the Final Stretch, equaling $350 toward C4K...The Dodgers' three-homer night Monday followed a two-game stretch without a dinger, marking the eighth time this season they failed to go deep in back-to-back games. OKC had also been held without a homer in four of their previous six games entering Monday...OKC did not allow a home run Monday, marking the third time in four games they kept their opponent inside the park. It's the first time they have not allowed a home run within three of four games since a three-game streak July 20-23 at home against Reno and Sugar Land.

Reks in Effect: On Monday, Zach Reks tied for the team high with three hits and three RBI, including a home run. It was his second three-hit, three-RBI game over his last four contests after he collected four hits Sept. 23 in Las Vegas...Reks paces the Dodgers with 69 runs scored this season, 46 walks and 24 doubles. His 67 RBI are second-most among OKC players...His .943 OPS is third in Triple-A West, while his .390 OBP is fifth-highest in the league and his .553 SLG is sixth. Along with Reno's Drew Ellis, he is the only player in the league to rank in the top is six in each of OBP, SLG and OPS.

Crooked Numbers: The Dodgers scored five runs in the fifth inning Monday, marking the fifth time in the last five games with at least four runs scored in one inning. They've scored at least four runs in an inning in 12 of the last 22 games for a total of 15 frames of four-plus runs, including 13 in last 19 games...However, the Dodgers allowed four runs in two separate innings Monday (first and third). It's the first time they've allowed multiple innings of four or more runs in one game since July 9 at El Paso and it was the highest-scoring first inning by an opponent since July 8 at El Paso. It was the fourth time this season they've allowed four-plus runs in the first inning - all on the road.

Like He Drew it Up: Drew Avans went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk in Monday's road finale, hitting safely in a season-best fifth straight game. He went 7-for-18 in Las Vegas with three doubles, a triple, two RBI and seven runs scored...It's the third time this month he's hit safely in four or more straight games, and he is batting .324 in September with 22 hits in 22 games, including seven doubles, a triple, homer, 12 RBI and a team-leading 19 runs scored. He's posted a .403 OBP this month as well.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers enter tonight having lost seven of the last 10 series openers as well as eight of the last 12. They've dropped three straight home series openers...Cristian Santana has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games with an at-bat, going 25-for-63 (.397) with two homers, five doubles, 16 RBI and nine runs scored. Since July 23, Santana's 70 hits rank second in the league and his .355 AVG is third...Over his last 12 appearances, Andrew Schwaab has thrown 9.2 scoreless innings while holding opponents 3-for-32 with 11 strikeouts...Monday marked the fourth time this season the Dodgers scored at least nine runs but lost...The Dodgers tallied five more extra-base hits Monday and have 96 extra-base hits so far in September for their highest monthly total of the season...Today is the only time in 2021 OKC will play on Wednesday.

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