PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 5, 2021

September 5, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Albuquerque Isotopes (45-59) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (52-52)

Game #105 of 130/Home #51 of 65

Pitching Probables: ABQ-RHP Frank Duncan (3-2, 4.59) vs. OKC-RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (9-4, 4.67)

Sunday, September 5, 2021 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 2:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers seek a third straight win when they continue their series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 2:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers have won back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 17 to climb back to a .500 record overall and lead the current series, 2-1...OKC last won three consecutive games Aug. 10-13.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored in each of the first four innings Saturday night as they defeated the Albuquerque Isotopes, 9-4, in a rain-shortened game at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Matt Davidson sent a two-run homer into the Dodgers' bullpen in left-center field for an early 2-0 OKC lead in the first inning. The Dodgers added four more runs in the second inning, including a two-run double by Cristian Santana. Steven Souza Jr.'s RBI double in the third inning and a two-run homer by Santana in the fourth inning boosted the Dodgers' lead to 9-0. Albuquerque scored four runs in the fifth inning, including a three-run homer by Alan Trejo to trim OKC's lead to 9-4. Neither team scored from the sixth through eighth innings before heavy rain started falling in Bricktown. Following a 35-minute rain delay, the game was called.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Austin Bibens-Dirkx (9-4) makes his fourth attempt to capture his 10th win of the season...After going 9-1 through his first 17 appearances of the season with OKC, Bibens-Dirkx has been charged with three straight losses. During that time he's allowed 20 hits and 17 runs (12 ER) over 12.2 IP...He last pitched Aug. 30 against Las Vegas at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. He allowed four runs (two earned) and six hits over 4.2 innings, with two walks and two strikeouts. He was saddled with the loss in OKC's 6-4 defeat...Prior to the recent stretch, Bibens-Dirkx went 14 straight outings (eight starts) without taking a loss...Bibens-Dirkx leads all Triple-A West pitchers with nine wins, while his 94.1 innings pitched are second, his 4.67 ERA ranks third, his 1.41 WHIP is fourth and his .283 AVG is sixth...Bibens-Dirkx last recorded nine wins in a season in 2013 when he finished a combined 12-9 in the Blue Jays organization, including nine wins with High-A Dunedin and three wins with Double-A New Hampshire...He has performed well at home this season, posting a 3.24 ERA and .269 BAA over nine games (four starts) along with a 3-1 record...Bibens-Dirkx signed with the Dodgers May 4 after he did not see any formal game action in 2020. He was with the Texas Rangers during Spring Training in 2020 and was released June 1...Tonight is his third outing of the season against the Isotopes. He last pitched against Albuquerque Aug. 7 at Isotopes Park, allowing three runs and four hits over 4.0 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's 6-4 loss.

Against the Isotopes: 2021: 7-8 2019: 3-0 All-time: 114-98 At OKC: 64-37 The Dodgers and Isotopes are meeting for their third and final series of 2021, but first of the season at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, as the first 12 games of 2021 between the teams all were played in Albuquerque...The teams most recently matched up Aug. 5-10. The Isotopes built a 2-0 lead in the series before OKC won the next two games and the teams split the final two meetings. OKC scored 15 runs in a 15-10 win Aug. 8, tying their total for the second-most runs scored in a game by the team this season. The Isotopes tallied at least 10 runs in each of the final three meetings of the series. The Dodgers racked up 12 homers during the previous set as well as 33 total extra-base hits...The Isotopes took four of six games, May 20-25, including three of the final four. The Dodgers scored 10 or more runs three times during the series and shut out the Isotopes 12-0 in the series finale...The teams last met in OKC in 2018 when the Dodgers swept a three-game set. Thursday night's win was Albuquerque's first in Bricktown since the 2016 season...Six of the 15 games in the season's series have been decided by one run, with the Isotopes going 5-1 in those games...This is only the second time this season the Dodgers have won consecutive games against Albuquerque, and today they will attempt to win three straight for the first time in 2021.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana had a season-high and game-high four RBI last night, going 3-for-4 with a double and homer. The outing followed a 2-for-21 stretch over his previous five games and marked his first four-RBI game since June 15, 2019 with Double-A Tulsa. It was also his first game this season with multiple extra-base hits...Santana tied his season-high with three hits and leads OKC with 22 multi-hit games this season...Santana entered this homestand having hit safely in 23 consecutive starts. In the eight games he's started during homestand, he's gone hitless in five games, but recorded multi-hit games in the other three contests.

Matt the Bat: Matt Davidson hit his team-leading 22nd homer of the season in the first inning Saturday. He went 3-for-4 with three RBI, a double, homer, walk and three runs scored as he reached base four times. Over the first three games of the current series, Davidson has two homers, a double, six RBI, four walks, four hits and four runs scored. Against Albuquerque pitching overall this season, he is 12-for-28 (.429) with eight extra-base hits and 12 RBI over eight games...Since returning from a two-week stint on the Injured List, Davidson is 7-for-23 with four homers and 12 RBI over seven games...Davidson leads the Dodgers with 61 RBI and 22 homers this season, and his home run total ranks tied for fifth in Triple-A West...Since June 29, Davidson ranks second in Triple-A West with 18 homers and third with 50 RBI. During that time he's slashed .315/.410/.758 over 41 games. His SLG paces the league within that span...He has hit at least 20 homers for the ninth time in his 11 full pro seasons

Take the Bait: Matt Beaty went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a RBI, walk and three runs scored last night, reaching base four times. In his last two starts, Beaty has recorded back-to-back three-hit games, going 6-for-8 with three doubles and reaching base eight of 10 plate appearances...Through his first five games with OKC, Beaty is 8-for-17 with three doubles, four runs, three RBI and one walk.

The Runaround Turnaround?: The six total runs allowed by the Dodgers Friday and Saturday combined marked the lowest two-day total for runs allowed by OKC since the Dodgers held Round Rock to one combined run Aug. 12-13 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. It's also the first time the Dodgers have allowed four or fewer runs in consecutive games since the same two-game stretch against Round Rock. They've held the Isotopes scoreless in 12 of the last 13 innings as well as 14 of the last 16 innings...The Dodgers have allowed at least five runs in each of their last 11 losses, and over the last 15 games, the pitching staff has allowed a total of 100 runs (6.7 rpg) and posted a 6.14 ERA (88 ER/129.0 IP). Opponents have batted .284 (151x531) with a total of 60 extra-base hits, including 27 home runs over the last 15 games and have homered at least once in 13 of the games...Since this spell began Aug. 19, the Dodgers have allowed the third-most runs in Triple-A - trailing current opponent Albuquerque by seven runs and Lehigh Valley by one run. The 27 home runs allowed by OKC during the stretch are tied for third-most allowed in the Minors.

The Winning (and Losing) Formula: In the Dodgers' last 15 wins, they have allowed a total of 57 runs (3.8 rpg), with four or fewer runs allowed in 13 of the 15 games. In the team's last 16 losses, they've allowed 121 runs (7.6 rpg), with at least seven runs allowed in nine of the 16 games, including Thursday night's series opener.

Kings of K's: OKC's pitching staff recorded nine more strikeouts last night for the team's third straight strikeout total under double digits, but the Dodgers still rank second in Triple-A West in K's this season. OKC's 1,003 K's only trail Sugar Land's 1,017 strikeouts, but the Skeeters have played one more game than the Dodgers. OKC has at least nine K's in six of the last eight games and at least 10 K's in four of the last eight games. The Dodgers have 52 double-digit strikeout games this season...OKC is aiming to lead the league in strikeouts for the fourth time in the last five seasons (2016, 2017, 2019).

Getting Offensive: OKC has scored at least five runs in each of the first three games of the current series with the Isotopes, marking just the second time this season they've scored at least five runs in three straight home games and for the first time since June 3-6 vs. Sugar Land...The Dodgers' 13 hits Saturday marked the team's highest hit total since racking up 14 hits in a 12-7 loss at Sugar Land Aug. 20. Seven of OKC's 13 total hits Saturday went for extra bases - the team's most extra-base hits in a single game since recording 10 in a 15-10 win Aug. 8 at Albuquerque...The Dodgers went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position last night and are now 7-for-19 with RISP over the last two games, following a four-game stretch in which they went 6-for-44.

Quack Attack: Kevin Quackenbush pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning Friday night, earning his 16th save in 17 chances this season. He's now tied for second in Triple-A West in saves, just one behind Sugar Land's Ronel Blanco. With 27 saves over the 2019 and 2021 seasons with OKC, he's second all-time on the team's career saves list during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998)...Among all Triple-A relievers with at least 35 appearances this season, Quackenbush's 1.05 ERA is over a half-run lower than the next best ERA, and he has allowed two fewer runs than the next closest reliever.

What's that Thing in the Sky?: The Dodgers are playing their first day game since June 13 vs. El Paso. Only five of the team's first 104 games have been day games, and the Dodgers are 2-3 under the sun, including 1-1 against Albuquerque.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers are seeking three straight home wins for just the second time all season (June 8-11). They have won consecutive home games three other times since then but have not been able to make it three in a row in any instance...Tony Wolters went 2-for-3 with a walk last night, and going back to Monday, he is 6-for-his-last-10 with a home run and a double...The Dodgers drew five more walks last night and rank second in the league in walks this season (437), four behind Tacoma for the league lead...The Dodgers have gone back-to-back games without committing an error for the first time since a three-game error-free stretch Aug. 1-3 at Round Rock. OKC leads Triple-A West with 89 total errors this season and ranks third in all of Triple-A.

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