OKC Dodgers Game Notes – August 31, 2022
August 31, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (72-52) at Round Rock Express (67-57)
Game #125 of 150/Road #59 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (0-0, 0.00) vs. RR-RHP Yerry Rodriguez (4-1, 4.96)
Wednesday, August 31, 2022 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 6:35 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv/MLB.tv
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers have won four straight games and five of their last six games as they continue a key road series against the Round Rock Express at 6:35 p.m. at Dell Diamond. The Dodgers lead the PCL with a 72-52 record and have a 5.0-game lead ahead of second-place Round Rock and a 5.5-game lead ahead of third-place El Paso with 26 games remaining in the regular season…Tonight’s game is scheduled to be streamed for free on MLB.com and MLB.TV.
Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers scored six runs before making an out and James Outman hit for the cycle for the second time in four games as the Dodgers won their series opener over the Round Rock Express, 17-8, Tuesday night at Dell Diamond. In the first inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases with none out before Michael Busch hit a two-run single, and after the bases were reloaded two batters later, Jason Martin hit a grand slam to make it 6-0. Four more runs scored in the second inning with a RBI single by Busch and three-run homer by Outman. A Devin Mann RBI single pushed the lead to 11-0 in the third inning. The Express hit two homers in the bottom of the third inning to cut the lead to 11-4. Outman tripled and scored on a Martin single in the sixth inning before Josh Smith hit a three-run homer for Round Rock to make it 12-7. The Dodgers scored on RBI hits by Mann and Edwin Ríos in the seventh inning. Leading, 14-8, the Dodgers scored three more times in the ninth inning, including a two-run single by Outman to complete the cycle.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone (0-0) is scheduled to make his second Triple-A start…He made his Triple-A debut in Game 1 of a doubleheader in Sugar Land Aug. 19 and did not allow a run or hit over 4.0 innings. He recorded four strikeouts and retired 11 of 15 batters overall with two walks and two hit batters…The Dodgers’ No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline was promoted from Double-A Tulsa in mid-August…Between his time with Tulsa, High-A Great Lakes and OKC, Stone currently ranks first overall among qualified pitchers in the full-season Minors with a 1.50 ERA. He also currently ranks second among Dodgers minor leaguers in strikeouts (139), WHIP (1.13) and BAA (.207)…Stone made 14 appearances (13 starts) with the Drillers, leading the team’s starters in ERA (1.60) and ranking second in strikeouts (107) – tied for sixth in the Texas League at the time of his promotion. He went 6-4 with 107 strikeouts against 30 walks over 73.1 IP…He’s struck out at least 11 batters four times this season, including a career-high 13 K’s June 7 in a win against Northwest Arkansas that included 6.0 shutout innings…He started his second professional baseball season with High-A Great Lakes where he appeared in six games, going 1-1 with a 1.44 ERA over 25.0 IP with six walks and 28 K’s…He pitched the majority of his first pro season with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2021, being named Low-A West Pitcher of the Week twice, before a promotion to Great Lakes in August…Stone was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft from the University of Central Arkansas, becoming the program’s highest-drafted pitcher.
Against the Express: 2022: 15-10 2021: 16-13 All-time: 161-131 At RR: 86-64 The Dodgers and Express meet for their fifth and final series this season and first in Round Rock since early June…The Dodgers have now won three consecutive games against the Express, but Round Rock won the most recent series between the teams Aug. 9-14 in OKC, 4-2, after the Dodgers took each of the first three series by 4-2 margins…The Dodgers won the finale of the last series between the teams, 20-3, scoring 20 runs for the sixth time in team’s Bricktown era (since 1998) and for the first time since a 20-9 win at El Paso May 30, 2021. It was the most runs scored by the team at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark since tying the team record with 24 runs Aug. 3, 2013 against Colorado Springs…Miguel Vargas leads OKC with 32 hits and 22 RBI during the season series while Jason Martin and Ryan Noda have hit five homers…The teams had a wild first series in Round Rock May 10-15, which OKC won, 4-2. OKC recorded its largest shutout win in the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998) with a 19-0 victory May 12 and Yefry Ramírez became the first OKC Dodger and first pitcher throughout the entire PCL to throw a nine-inning shutout since 2018. Six different players homered in that same game for the first time in the team’s Bricktown era. In the series finale May 15, OKC lost a game when scoring at least 13 runs for the first time since 2007, as Round Rock won, 14-13…After the Dodgers started the season 11-5 against Round Rock, the Express won five of six before the Dodgers have won the last three in a row…Last series, Round Rock won four straight games within the same series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the first time since April 19-22, 2011.
Spin Cycle: James Outman hit for the cycle for the second time in four games last night. He went 4-for-4 with two walks, reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. Outman walked in the first inning, hit a three-run homer in the second inning, doubled in the fourth inning and tripled in the sixth inning. He drew another walk in the eighth inning and was due up seventh entering the ninth inning. The Express committed an error to begin the ninth inning and with two outs, Michael Busch walked to give Outman one more chance. Outman lined a two-run single to left field on the first pitch to complete the cycle…On Friday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, Outman completed OKC’s first cycle since 2011 with a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and collected two triples. He went 5-for-5, tallying a career-high five hits and tied his career high with six RBI…Outman is the first player in the Minors to hit for the cycle twice in one season since Las Vegas’ Jarrett Hoffpauir did it April 25, 2010 vs. Sacramento and May 28, 2010 vs. Tacoma…For further context, the shortest time between individual cycles in MLB’s modern era is 11 days, done by Arizona’s Aaron Hill in June 2012, per Baseball-Reference.
Big Game James: James Outman continued his scorching hot run at the plate, going 4-for-4 with five RBI, two walks and three runs scored Tuesday. Over his last seven games, Outman is 16-for-25 (.640) with 13 extra-base hits – six doubles, four triples and three homers – and 19 RBI while raising his batting average with OKC by 93 points over the last week. The reigning PCL Player of the Week has collected 10 extra-base hits in his last 19 plate appearances, and starting with his first cycle Aug. 26, Outman is 13-for-17 with 10 extra-base hits, 12 RBI, eight runs scored and three walks over his last four games….He now has five games with five or more RBI in just 32 games since joining OKC and is the first OKC player with multiple six-plus RBI games in one season since Victor Diaz in 2007. He has tallied at least five RBI three times in his last six games and has 45 RBI since June 30 (32 games) with OKC…Outman’s 19 RBI, 16 hits, 1.560 SLG, 2.215 OPS, four triples, 13 extra-base hits and 39 total bases since Aug. 23 lead all of the Minors…In his 10 games with OKC in August, Outman is batting .486 (17×35) and 14 of his 17 hits have gone for extra bases. He has 21 RBI during the 10 games…Entering tonight he has reached base in eight straight plate appearances and in 10 of his last 11 plate appearances which have gone as follows: double, home run, flyout, walk, single, walk, home run, double, triple, walk, single.
J-Mart Special: Jason Martin connected on a grand slam in the first inning and finished Tuesday’s game 2-for-6 with five RBI, tying his season high (May 24 vs. Reno). Martin moved into the league lead with both 29 home runs and 99 RBI as he hit his first grand slam of the season and OKC’s sixth grand slam of 2022. He also extended his season-best on-base streak to 20 games – the third-longest active on-base streak in the league and second-longest by an OKC player this season…He is now just one of five players during OKC’s Bricktown Era (since 1998) with at least 29 home runs in one season and just one of four players to ever collect at least 99 RBI. His 29 homers are the most by an OKC player since Edwin Ríos had 31 homers in 2019 and his 99 RBI are the most by an OKC player since Nelson Cruz compiled 99 RBI in 2008. Only three OKC players have hit at least 30 homers in a season and only two have reached 100 RBI, with the record at 103 by Nate Gold in 2007…He has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games, going 23-for-77 (.299) with five homers, three doubles, 19 RBI and 14 runs scored. His 26 hits this month lead the Dodgers in August, which includes 11 extra-base hits and a team-leading seven homers and 23 RBI…In addition to home runs and RBI, Martin also leads the PCL with 235 total bases and ranks among league leaders in extra-base hits (2nd, 55), runs (3rd, 91), SLG (3rd, .575), OPS (3rd, .953), hits (4th, 117), walks (5th, 62) and OBP (7th, .378).
The Rundown: The Dodgers scored at least 13 runs for a second straight game last night and have totaled 30 runs over the last two games against two different opponents. They also reached at least 13 runs for the third time in six games (62 R) and fourth time in nine games (82 R) and have scored at least seven runs in four straight games (46 R). The Dodgers scored at least 17 runs for the third time this season with all three instances against Round Rock. They scored 19 runs May 12 at Dell Diamond and 20 runs Aug. 14 at home…The Dodgers have scored 172 runs through 25 games in August for their second-highest scoring month of the season, trailing only the 191 runs the Dodgers scored in 26 May games…OKC is currently second among Triple-A teams and fourth overall in the Minors with 794 runs scored this season…The six runs scored by the Dodgers in the first inning last night marked the fifth time in the last six games and sixth time in the last nine games the Dodgers’ offense had an inning with five or more runs. It marked the team’s highest scoring first inning since June 15, 2019 at El Paso when they also plated six runs…Over the last nine games, the Dodgers are 6-3. In the six wins, they’ve scored 68 runs on 81 hits, batting .367 (81×221) overall and .435 (37×85) with runners in scoring position. In the three losses, they have combined for 10 runs and 19 hits over 29 innings while batting .192 (19×99), including 5-for-30 with runners in scoring position…The Dodgers notched 17 hits Tuesday, collecting at least 16 hits for the third time in nine games and at least 17 hits for the sixth time this season. Seven of the 17 hits went for extra bases, and the Dodgers now have 15 extra-base hits over the last two games and 27 extra-base hits over the last four games, including 10 homers…Seven players finished with multi-hit games and five players had multi-RBI games last night.
Gettin’ Miggy With It: Miguel Vargas walked in his two plate appearances before exiting the game in the second inning, scoring one run. His current hitting streak remains at 14 games – the longest active hitting streak in the PCL – and during the streak, Vargas is 20-for-46 (.435) with 10 RBI, nine extra-base hits, 16 walks and 16 runs scored. His 14-game streak ties his season-long streak and also the longest hitting streak by an OKC player this season…Over his last 11 games, Vargas is 16-for-31 with eight extra-base hits, 11 walks and two HBP, resulting in a .659 OBP (29/44)…Vargas leads the PCL with 100 runs scored this season and the total ranks third on OKC’s all-time list for most runs scored in a single season during the Bricktown era (since 1998). He has scored the most runs by an OKC player since Esteban German scored a team-record 103 runs and Ian Kinsler had 102 runs both during the 2005 season…Vargas leads the Dodgers with 32 doubles for the most doubles by an OKC player in a season since Brandon Laird hit 33 in 2013…In addition to leading the league in runs scored, Vargas leads the PCL with 133 hits and is tied for first with 32 doubles, while his .304 AVG, 71 walks, .404 OBP and 224 total bases are third, his 83 RBI are tied for third, his 53 extra-base hits are fourth, his .915 OPS is fifth and his .511 SLG is 10th.
Walking Papers: The Dodgers drew seven more walks last night to add to the team’s single-season record. They pace all Triple-A teams in walks this season and rank third overall in the Minors with a team-record 623 walks during the Bricktown era (since 1998). The team has drawn 199 walks in the 34 games following the All-Star Break for an average of 5.85 per game, including 14 games with seven or more walks…Entering tonight, OKC has drawn at least five walks in nine straight games (57 BB)…The last PCL teams with at least 623 walks in a season were Salt Lake (637) and Round Rock (623) during the 140-game 2019 season…As a result, OKC also leads all Triple-A teams with a .371 OBP – second among full-season teams in the Minors…On the other hand, the Dodgers pitching staff allowed five walks Tuesday, bringing up their total to a team-record 600 walks. The previous record was 591, set in 2000.
Around the Horn: With a win tonight, the Dodgers would tie their longest winning streak of the season at five games, achieved twice previously and most recently July 22-27. The team is 2-4 this season when attempting to extend to a five-game win streak…Devin Mann entered yesterday’s game as a pinch runner for Miguel Vargas in the second inning and played the remainder of the game, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored. He is currently on a six-game hitting streak, going 8-for-17 with three extra-base hits and seven RBI. It was hit first multi-hit game with OKC and first three-hit game since May 26 with Double-A Tulsa against Springfield…Tomás Telis did not play Tuesday but is on a season-best hitting streak of 10 games. He is 11-for-37 during the streak and owns one of 10 hitting streaks of 10 games or longer by an OKC player this season.
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