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OKC Dodgers Game Notes - September 9, 2021

September 9, 2021 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (54-53) at Salt Lake Bees (46-61)

Game #108 of 130/Road #55 of 65

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Nick Tropeano (0-0, 4.32) vs. SL-LHP Ryan Smith (NR, -.--)

Thursday, September 9, 2021 | Smith's Ballpark | Salt Lake City, Utah | 7:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: After closing out a 12-game homestand Tuesday and following a league-wide day off Wednesday, the Oklahoma City Dodgers open a six-game road series against the Salt Lake Bees at 7:35 p.m. CT at Smith's Ballpark...The Dodgers have won back-to-back games, as well as four of their last five games, and their overall record is back above the .500 mark for the first time since Aug. 29 (50-49).

Last Game: Clayton Kershaw pitched 3.0 innings as part of a Major League Rehab Assignment and the Oklahoma City Dodgers scored seven runs in the fourth inning of an 8-7 win against the Albuquerque Isotopes Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Kershaw started on the mound for the Dodgers, allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks. The Isotopes grabbed the first lead of the night with a two-run homer from Brian Serven in the second inning. The Dodgers took the lead for good in the fourth inning, scoring seven runs with two outs, including a two-run single by Gavin Lux, a RBI ground-rule double by Sheldon Neuse and capped with a grand slam by Matt Davidson. The Isotopes scored two runs in the sixth inning before OKC answered with a run in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly by Neuse. The Isotopes scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut OKC's lead to 8-7, but OKC relievers Andrew Schwaab, James Pazos and Kevin Quackenbush combined to retire the final eight batters of the game to seal the victory.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Nick Tropeano (0-0) makes his fifth start with the OKC Dodgers in tonight's series opener...Tropeano last pitched Sept. 3 against Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, pitching in the first part of tandem with Edwin Uceta. He allowed one run and three hits over 3.0 innings, with no walks and one strikeout. He did not factor into the decision of OKC's 5-2 victory...Tropeano has appeared in five games with OKC since joining the team in August and his last outing marked his third with OKC allowing one earned run or less. Since moving into a starter's role, Tropeano has a 3.60 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP, with opponents batting .259. He has 13 strikeouts against one walk and the Dodgers are 3-1 when he has started...Tropeano signed as a free agent with the Dodgers Aug. 6. He has also played in the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets organizations this season, spending time in the Majors and at Triple-A with both clubs...In 2020 with Pittsburgh, he went 1-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 19 K's over 15.2 IP...Tropeano spent the 2015-19 seasons in the Los Angeles Angels organization. He underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2016, sat out 2017, then returned with a career-high 14 MLB starts in 2018...Tropeano played for the OKC RedHawks in 2014, pacing the Pacific Coast League with a 3.03 ERA. His nine wins and 120 strikeouts led the team...Tonight is his first appearance against Salt Lake since 2014, but Tropeano spent parts of four seasons with the Bees from 2015-19 while playing in the Angels organization. In his Bees career, Tropeano went 8-12 with a 5.11 ERA over 35 games (33 starts).

Against the Bees: 2021: 2-4 2019: 2-1 All-time: 54-54 At SL: 23-28 The Dodgers and Bees are meeting for their second of two series in 2021 and their lone series at Smith's Ballpark...The Bees won the first series between the teams, 4-2, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark July 1-6, winning four of the final five games of the series after the Dodgers won the series opener. Keibert Ruiz led OKC with six hits during the series, including two homers, while Matt Davidson paced OKC with six RBI and two homers. The Bees outscored OKC, 34-25, and outhit the Dodgers, 54-48, as they won their first series against OKC since 2013. Over the final five games of the series, the Dodgers were held to a total of 14 runs and batted .230 (38x165) with two home runs, scoring one or two runs in three of the five contests...The teams last played at Smith's Ballpark for a three-game series in 2019. OKC won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 14-8 before the Bees won the series finale, 14-4. Edwin Ríos homered twice and had six RBI...Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 15-9 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series, including an 8-3 record at Smith's Ballpark.

Kershaw Day, Part III: Clayton Kershaw pitched 3.0 innings for the OKC Dodgers Tuesday in his first game action since July 3 with the Los Angeles Dodgers due to left elbow inflammation. He allowed two runs on four hits, including a two-run homer to Brian Serven in the second inning. He did not issue a walk and recorded three strikeouts, throwing 49 pitches, including 34 strikes...The eight-time MLB All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award-winner, 2014 National League Most Valuable Player and 2020 World Series champion suited up for OKC on rehab assignment for the third time in his career, and Tuesday was the first time the OKC Dodgers won one of his starts...Kershaw was the 10th Los Angeles Dodgers player to join the Oklahoma City Dodgers while on a Major League Rehab Assignment this season, joining LHP Scott Alexander, OF Cody Bellinger, LHP Garrett Cleavinger, RHP Tony Gonsolin, RHP Brusdar Graterol, RHP Corey Knebel, IF Gavin Lux, IF/OF Zach McKinstry and OF Yoshi Tsutsugo.

Trending Up: The Dodgers have won back-to-back games, as well as four of their last five games following a stretch in which they lost 11 of 13 games. OKC's overall record this season is back above .500 (54-53) after dipping below .500 four times in the previous six days. Prior to Aug. 31, the team had not been below .500 since they were 20-21 entering play June 22...Before the slide began Aug. 19, the Dodgers were a season-best seven games above .500 (48-41) and stood only 1.0 game out of first place. But since then, the Dodgers have gone 6-12, finding themselves 8.5 games out of first place and tied for second place with Round Rock in the Triple-A West East Division.

DeLUXe: Gavin Lux went 3-for-5 Tuesday with a double, two RBI and a run scored. In his last two games, Lux is a combined 6-for-9 with three runs scored, two doubles, a homer, two walks and five RBI. Tuesday was his third three-hit game of the season overall including his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he has back-to-back three-hit games for the first time since Aug. 5, 2019 at Las Vegas and Aug. 7, 2019 against Tacoma with the OKC Dodgers...Prior to Monday, Lux was 1-for-14 in the series with Albuquerque and 6-for-32 (.188) since he was optioned to OKC Aug. 26.

Winning Innings: OKC scored seven runs in the fourth inning Tuesday - all with two outs. It was the fourth time this season the team collected seven or more runs in an inning and was also the team's second-highest scoring inning at home this season, following a 10-run sixth inning in an 11-8 win July 1 against Salt Lake...The Dodgers have scored at least four runs in an inning in four of the last five games, for a total of five separate frames of four-plus runs, including three in their last two games. In three of the five considerable rallies, the damage took place in the fourth inning, including Tuesday's seven-run outburst and a four-spot in Monday's fourth inning.

Matt the Bat: On Tuesday, Matt Davidson hit his second grand slam of the season and second of the recently completed homestand (also Aug. 28). His grand slam out to right-center field came on the first pitch of his at-bat in the fourth inning and capped OKC's seven-run fourth inning. It was also OKC's seventh grand slam overall this season...Davidson's team-leading 23 homers are tied for fourth in Triple-A West this season, while his team-leading 65 RBI are ninth-most in the league...Since returning from the Injured List Aug. 28, Davidson has gone 9-for-33 (.273) while cranking five homers and collecting 16 RBI over nine games...Davidson has recorded at least three RBI six times in his last 14 games, including three times in his last five games...Since June 29, Davidson is slashing .308/.399/.742 with 19 homers and 54 RBI in 43 games. During that time he ranks both second in Triple-A West in homers and RBI while topping the circuit in SLG and ranking third in OPS (1.141).

Peaks and Valleys: Over the last 13 innings, the Dodgers have collectively gone 25-for-63 (.397) with 10 extra-base hits, five homers and 20 runs scored. But in the preceding 16 innings, the Dodgers scored one run and went 6-for-53 (.113). And in the four innings before that, the team was 13-for-24 with nine runs...The Dodgers have scored eight or more runs in consecutive games for the first time since a three-game streak July 8-10 at El Paso, as well as in three of the last four games.

Santana's Greatest Hits: Cristian Santana singled in his only at-bat Tuesday night. He also went 3-for-5 Monday with a double, homer and three runs scored, marking his second three-hit outing in the last three starts and fourth multi-hit outing in his last nine starts...He paces the Dodgers with 80 hits in 73 games this season and since Aug. 1, has 38 hits in 31 games - tied for fifth-most hits in Triple-A West during the span. He also leads the team with 23 multi-hit games this season.

Knowing the Zone: The Dodgers drew five more walks Tuesday and have drawn at least five walks in seven of the last nine games for a total of 53 walks during that time. The OKC offense ranks second in the league this season with 449 walks, which is three behind Tacoma, but the Rainiers have played one more game than the Dodgers...On the other hand, the OKC pitching staff has walked two or fewer batters in five straight games, for a total of six walks during that time. They've also issued two or fewer walks in eight of the last 10 games, totaling only 19 free passes.

Around the Horn: OKC is 7-11 in series openers this season, including 2-7 on the road. Entering tonight they have lost three straight, six of the last seven and seven of the last nine series openers. They have also dropped the last four straight road series openers...Matt Beaty went 0-for-3 Tuesday, but reached base two more times with a walk and HBP. Through his first eight games with OKC, he is batting .347 (10x28) with three doubles, four RBI and five runs scored while posting a .471 OBP...After the bullpen had allowed three runs (two earned) and 11 hits over 20.2 innings in the previous five games, it was nicked for five runs and seven hits over 6.0 innings Tuesday...OKC's pitching staff recorded its 53rd double-digit strikeout game of the season Tuesday with 11 K's. OKC ranks second in Triple-A West with 1,029 K's...In his first game since Aug. 23 following a stint on the Injured List, Sheldon Neuse went 2-for-4 with a double, run and two RBI Tuesday. He has now hit safely in his last five games with OKC, going 8-for-23 with five runs scored, a double, homer, walk and six RBI...Kevin Quackenbush retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning Tuesday for his 17th save of the season. He ranks second in Triple-A West in saves, trailing league-leader Ronel Blanco of Sugar Land by one.

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