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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 8, 2022

September 8, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (62-69) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (73-58)

Game #132 of 150/Home #69 of 75

Pitching Probables: TAC-LHP Tommy Milone (3-1, 2.16) vs. OKC-RHP Jon Duplantier (4-3, 4.93)

Thursday, September 8, 2022 | 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 and Tacoma Rainiers continue their series at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark during ¡Celebración Cielo Azul!...The Dodgers lead the PCL East Division with a 73-58 record and are hanging on to a 1.0-game lead ahead of both Round Rock and El Paso, which are currently tied for second place with 19 games remaining in the regular season. The Dodgers have seven home games remaining at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers were held scoreless through six innings and to one run overall in a 6-1 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers Wednesday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tacoma scored four runs in the third inning starting with back-to-back doubles from Josh Morgan and Marcus Wilson. The Rainiers scored another run on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead before loading the bases and bringing in two more runs on a single by Luis Torrens immediately following an error by OKC third baseman Edwin Ríos. The Dodgers did not score until Jake Amaya connected on a RBI double in the seventh inning. Tacoma then added two runs in the ninth inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Jon Duplantier (4-3) is scheduled to make his 11th start of the season...He most recently pitched 5.0 scoreless innings Sept. 3 in Round Rock, allowing one hit and a season-high five walks with five strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC's 8-7 loss in 11 innings. The walk total tied his career high and was his first game with five walks since 2017 when the was in High-A. He held the Express 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left the game with a 2-0 lead...Over his last three starts, Duplantier has allowed one run and 10 hits over 14.0 innings, holding opponents 10-for-50 with one extra-base hit (double). The recent stretch began Aug. 21 at Sugar Land when he notched nine strikeouts over five scoreless innings, tying his career high in strikeouts...Duplantier moved into the starting rotation in mid-June. He is 0-2 with a 3.69 as a starter (39.0 IP) with 22 walks and 49 strikeouts. As a reliever, he is 4-1 with a 6.35 ERA (34.0 IP) with 23 walks and 33 strikeouts...Right-handed batters are hitting .205, but lefties are hitting .301...Duplantier was selected by the Dodgers from the Giants in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft Dec. 8, 2021 after he had signed with the Giants just four days prior as a minor league free agent...He was selected in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft by Arizona out of Rice University...Tonight is Duplantier's second start of the season against the Rainiers. July 13 in Tacoma, he pitched 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk with three strikeouts in a no decision. He worked in the front half of a tandem with Beau Burrows to help lead OKC to an 8-1 win.

Against the Rainiers: 2022: 3-5 2021: N/A All-time: 54-55 At OKC: 32-21 The Dodgers and Rainiers meet for the second of their two series of 2022...The teams are playing for the first time at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark since the 2019 season, as they did not play each other in 2021 and played their most recent series in Tacoma in July...The teams split their July 12-17 series in Tacoma, 3-3, with the Dodgers winning the first two games before settling for a series split. OKC scored eight or more runs in each of their three wins and outscored Tacoma, 42-30...Drew Avans has 14 hits in eight games, while Jason Martin has nine RBI and two home runs...Tacoma was the only Triple-A West foe the Dodgers did not play during the 2021 season. The teams were originally scheduled to play in April 2021, but the games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rainiers went on to win the league title...When the teams last met as part of the 2019 schedule, the Dodgers swept a three-game set at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, outscoring the Rainiers, 23-9...OKC is 2-0-3 against the Rainiers in the last five season series and has not lost a series to Tacoma since the 2014 season (0-4 in Tacoma)...Tacoma manager Tim Federowicz played in 25 games with the OKC Dodgers last season while splitting time playing for the U.S. Olympic Team...Entering today, Tacoma has won three straight games against the Dodgers as well as five of the last six meetings between the teams. Tuesday night snapped a five-game losing streak for the Rainiers in Bricktown, winning their first game in OKC since 2017.

Stumbling Down the Stretch: The Dodgers have lost six of their last seven games and now just 1.0 game separates the top three teams in the PCL East Division with 19 games remaining. The Dodgers had a 5.0-game lead in the East Division standings entering Aug. 31 but have seen that advantage evaporate to 1.0 game after going 1-6 while Round Rock has gone 5-2 and El Paso has gone 6-2 during the same period...The Dodgers have been in first place or tied for first place in the division since June 2. They have held sole possession of first place in the division since July 22...The Dodgers are still tied with West Division leader Reno for the best record in the league at 73-58 and the Dodgers have a league-leading 40-28 home record for their most home wins in a season since 2018 when they finished 41-29 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Sore Since Salt Lake: Following a 13-0 drubbing of Salt Lake Aug. 5, the Dodgers were a season-best 21 games above .500 at 62-41. The next night Salt Lake won, 4-3, on a walk-off home run by Jake Gatewood that has seemingly sent the Dodgers into a tailspin they cannot get out of. Beginning with that defeat Aug. 6, the Dodgers are 11-17 over their last 28 games, and the only team in the league with a worse record during that time is last-place Albuquerque at 9-17. The OKC pitching staff has posted a 5.63 ERA over the 28 games and allowed a total of 177 runs (6.32 per game). Nine of their 17 losses have occurred in games the Dodgers led in the sixth inning or later, and team's 13 blown saves are most in the Minors and nearly double the next-highest total in the league (seven). The Dodgers have also committed the most errors in the PCL since Aug. 6 (27) and allowed the most unearned runs (25).

Offensive Remarks: The Dodgers were held to one run yesterday, marking the second time in the last six games they have scored one run or less, the third time in the last six games they have scored two runs or less and fourth time in the last six games they have been held to three runs or less. Over the six-game stretch, the Dodgers have scored 18 total runs and have batted .232 (45x194) with 12 extra-base hits and two home runs - both solo homers - and the Dodgers have not homered in three straight games...The Dodgers' 18 runs so far in September are the fewest in the PCL and tied for the second-fewest among the 30 Triple-A teams, however despite the recent slowdown, the Dodgers' 818 runs scored this season are second-most in Triple-A. It's the third time during the team's Bricktown era they have scored at least 800 runs in one season and the first time since 2005...Over the last 16 innings the Dodgers have scored one run, and going back to Sunday, they have not scored in 22 of the last 24 innings (four runs total). Over those 24 innings they have batted .209 (18x86).

Amayazing: Jake Amaya connected on a RBI double to plate OKC's lone run of the game Wednesday. He has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 14-for-36 (.389) with three doubles, a triple, two homers, seven RBI and 12 runs scored...Since his first game with OKC June 14, he leads the Dodgers and is second in the PCL with 42 walks. He has a combined 74 walks between OKC and Double-A Tulsa and his walk total ranks tied for fourth among Dodgers minor leaguers this season...In eight games against Tacoma this season, Amaya is 12-for-29 (.414).

J-Mart Special: Jason Martin reached base in all four of his plate appearances yesterday, going 2-for-2 with a double, two walks, a stolen base and a run scored. Martin recorded OKC's lone multi-hit game and his 35th of the season. He leads the PCL with 30 home runs and 102 RBI. He is now just one of four players during OKC's Bricktown Era (since 1998) with at least 30 home runs in one season and just one of three players to ever collect at least 100 RBI in a single season. However, he is the first player to reach both 30 homers and 100 RBI in the same season...He is tied for the second-most RBI in a single season by an OKC player (since 1998) and has the most RBI since Nate Gold compiled a team record 103 RBI in 2007. Martin has the most home runs by an OKC player since Edwin Ríos had 31 during the 2019 season...In addition to home runs and RBI, Martin also leads the PCL with 246 total bases and 58 extra-base hits. His 94 runs scored are second-most in the league, while his .947 OPS ranks third, his .571 SLG 123 hits are fourth and his 64 walks are fifth...Martin is one of 13 players in the Minors with 30 homers this season and currently ranks tied for sixth overall in RBI. However, Martin has not hit a home run or recorded a RBI yet in the month of September (six games). He last recorded three RBI and a homer Aug. 31 in Round Rock.

Drew Point: On Wednesday, Drew Avans went 1-for-4 with a stolen base. His 32 stolen bases this season are fifth-most in the league and the most stolen bases in a season by a Dodgers player since Darnell Sweeney also recorded 32 stolen bases during the 2015 season. The last OKC player with more than 32 stolen bases in a season was Esteban German, who had 35 during the 2009 season...He leads the league with 10 triples and also ranks among league leaders with a .379 on-base percentage (T-7th) and with 74 runs (9th). Avans put together the league's longest on-base streak since 2018, reaching base in 50 straight games June 11-Aug. 14 before sustaining an injury Aug. 16 at Sugar Land.

Big Game James: James Outman doubled Wednesday to extend his on-base streak to 11 games - the longest active streak by an OKC player and his second on-base streak of the season of 11 or more games. Over his last 14 games, Outman is 23-for-51 (.451) with 15 extra-base hits and 23 RBI, including two games where he hit for the cycle (Aug. 26 vs. El Paso and Aug. 30 at Round Rock)...Outman's 23 RBI, .941 SLG, 1.432 OPS, 15 extra-base hits and four triples lead all of the Minors since Aug. 23.

Walking Papers: The Dodgers drew four walks yesterday as OKC leads all of Triple-A this season with a team-record 648 walks during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and the total ranks tied for third in the Minors overall. As a result, OKC also leads all Triple-A teams with a .368 OBP - third among full-season teams in the Minors...The Dodgers have drawn 224 walks in the 41 games following the All-Star Break for an average of 5.5 per game, including 14 games with seven or more walks...The last PCL team with at least 648 walks in a season was Las Vegas with 650 walks in 2014 (144 games)...On the other hand, the Dodgers pitching staff allowed three walks yesterday and just seven walks over the last three games combined. However, OKC has allowed a team-record 629 walks this season - most in Triple-A. The previous record was 591, set in 2000.

Rehab Report: Victor González continued his Major League Rehab Assignment with a scoreless fifth inning Wednesday, facing four batters and allowing one hit. He threw 17 pitches (10 strikes) in his sixth appearance with OKC. He underwent arthroscopic debridement surgery on his left elbow in May...Tommy Kahnle also continued his rehab assignment yesterday and retired all three batters he faced in the sixth inning, including two strikeouts. Kahnle has appeared in each of the last two games, retiring all six batters faced on just 18 pitches. He's been on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List since May 14 due to right forearm inflammation.

M.V.P. = Miguel Vargas' Presence: In the 18 games Miguel Vargas has not played with OKC this season, the Dodgers are 6-12 and have batted .229 (137x598) with 79 runs scored (4.4 pg). That includes a 1-6 clip since he most recently left for Los Angeles and 1-8 over the last nine games he has not been in the OKC lineup. In the 113 games Vargas has played with OKC this season, the team is 67-46 and has batted .276 with an average of 6.5 runs per game.

Around the Horn: The Dodgers are 0-2 to open the current series and are looking to avoid starting a series 0-3 for the third time this season after losing the first four games against Round Rock Aug. 9-12 in OKC and the first three games in El Paso April 12-14...The Dodgers are 17-27 at home against West Division opponents over the last two seasons, including 9-11 in 2022...Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Michael Busch ranks second among all players in the Minors this season with 102 runs scored, while his 246 total bases are tied for seventh.

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