OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 11, 2022
September 11, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Tacoma Rainiers (64-70) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (74-60)
Game #135 of 150/Home #72 of 75
Pitching Probables: TAC-RHP Darren McCaughan (8-7, 4.35) vs. OKC-LHP Robbie Erlin (5-3, 6.95)
Saturday, September 11, 2022 | 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 and Tacoma Rainiers wrap up their current and season series at 2:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark…After an OKC loss Saturday and wins by El Paso and Round Rock, the Dodgers fell out of first place in the PCL East Division. El Paso now leads the division by one game ahead of OKC and Round Rock with 16 games to play. The Dodgers have only four home games remaining in 2022.
Last Game: Michael Busch collected a game-high three hits, but the Oklahoma City Dodgers were held to three runs for the fourth time in the last five games in a 4-3 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers Saturday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tacoma grabbed a quick lead when Kyle Lewis hit a solo home run out to right-center field in the first inning. The Dodgers answered in the bottom of the inning with a RBI single by Edwin Ríos to tie the score, 1-1. The Rainiers added two runs in the fifth inning via a RBI groundout and RBI single by Forrest Wall for a 3-1 advantage. Wall added another RBI single in the seventh inning for a 4-1 Tacoma lead. Busch’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning trimmed the deficit to two runs. In the eighth inning, James Outman connected on a one-out double before scoring on a RBI single by Jason Martin to cut Tacoma’s lead to 4-3. Rainiers pitchers then retired the final five Dodgers batters of the game as Tacoma took a 4-1 lead in the six-game series.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Robbie Erlin (5-3) is scheduled to make his 12th start of the season and first appearance in nearly one month…Although he’s remained on the active roster, Erlin last pitched Aug. 13 against Round Rock in Oklahoma City, allowing three runs and five hits over 5.0 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision of OKC’s 9-5 win…Erlin has split time as a starter and bulk reliever this season while with OKC. In his 11 starts, Erlin is 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA and the Dodgers as a team have gone 6-5. He’s tended to perform better at home than on the road, with a 4.78 ERA and .223 opponent average in OKC compared to an 8.84 ERA and .333 BAA on the road…The lefty has also made two appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season in early May…Erlin has appeared in 117 games (43 starts) in the Majors, primarily with San Diego, and was selected by Texas in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft from Scotts Valley High School (Calif.)…Today marks his second appearance of the season against the Rainiers. He piggybacked Andre Jackson July 16 in Tacoma and was credited with the win in OKC’s 8-4 road victory. He pitched 3.1 innings of relief, allowing two runs and five hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Against the Rainiers: 2022: 4-7 2021: N/A All-time: 55-57 At OKC: 33-23 The Dodgers and Rainiers meet for the second of their two series of 2022 and close out their season series today… Tacoma clinched a win in the current series as well as the season series against Oklahoma City with Saturday’s victory as they lead the series, 4-1. The Rainiers also have a 7-4 lead in the season series with one meeting remaining between the teams. OKC will lose its first season series to Tacoma since the 2014 season when the team went 0-4 in Tacoma. OKC went 2-0-3 against the Rainiers over the last five season series…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 at Cheney Stadium, 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 17 hits in 11 games, while Jason Martin has 10 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…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 seven of the last nine meetings between the teams. They have won four of five games in OKC after losing their previous five contests in Bricktown.
Stumbling Down the Stretch: With Saturday’s loss, the Dodgers have now lost back-to-back games, four of the last five games and eight of the last 10 games. They entered Saturday’s contest in a first-place tie with El Paso atop the PCL East Division, but following OKC’s loss, along with El Paso’s 10-9 win against Albuquerque and Round Rock’s 6-3 win against Sugar Land, the Dodgers are now tied for second place with Round Rock in the division standings, one game behind El Paso. This is the first time since June 1 the Dodgers have not held at least a share of first place…The Dodgers had a 5.0-game lead in the East Division standings entering Aug. 31 but have seen that advantage evaporate after going 2-8 while El Paso has gone 9-2 and Round Rock has gone 7-3 during the same period.
Offensive Remarks: The Dodgers were held to three runs in Saturday’s loss, marking the fourth time in the last five games and sixth time in the last nine games they have scored three runs or less. Over the last nine games, the Dodgers have scored a total of 29 runs – fewest in the league so far in September and tied for the fewest in all of Triple-A this month. In eight of the nine games, they have not exceeded four runs within nine innings and their maximum runs scored within nine innings is five. Over the last nine games, OKC has batted .249 (74×297) with just 17 extra-base hits, including two solo home runs. The team’s .319 SLG ranks last out of the 30 Triple-A teams since Sept. 1…Over the last 44 innings, the Dodgers have scored 12 runs and scored in only nine of the 44 frames. Going back to last Sunday, they have not scored in 42 of the last 52 innings (15 runs total)…The slow September start follows a strong August in which the Dodgers scored 178 runs over 26 games (6.8 rpg), posting the second-highest run total in the league…The Dodgers’ 829 runs scored this season are still 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.
Power Outage: Oklahoma City has not hit a home run in six straight games – the team’s longest stretch without a homer during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015) and longest since a six-game stretch July 27-Aug. 1, 2014. Their two home runs so far in September (nine games) are fewest among the 30 Triple-A teams, and OKC is one of seven teams in the Minors with two homers or less this month. The last time OKC went seven consecutive games without leaving the yard was April 14-20, 2013…On the other hand, the Dodgers have allowed just two home runs over the last four games (both solo homers) and just seven homers over the last 10 games. There have been only three total home runs over five games this series.
Buschwacked: Michael Busch went 3-for-5 with a RBI Saturday, finishing with a game-high three hits. It was his eighth game with OKC this season he recorded three-plus hits, which is second-most on the team. He has hit safely in seven of his nine games in September, going 11-for-33…Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Busch ranks tied for second overall in the Minors this season with 103 runs scored and seventh with 251 total bases. He leads the Dodgers farm system with 136 total hits, while he’s tied for second with 28 homers and third with 95 RBI.
Burn Notice: Andy Burns picked up a hit and drew a walk last night and has hit safely in all five of his games so far in the month of September, going 8-for-20 (.400) with a double and three RBI. He has already exceeded his August hit output when he went 7-for-32 (.219) in 15 games with two doubles and one RBI…This marks Burns’ longest hitting streak since hitting safely in six straight games April 16-23.
Martin’s Sheen: Jason Martin went 1-for-3 with his league-leading 103rd RBI of the season Saturday. He moved into a tie with Nate Gold for the Oklahoma City team record for RBI in a season during the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998), with Gold tallying 103 RBI in 2007. Martin has hit a league-leading 30 home runs and 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…In addition to home runs and RBI, Martin also leads the PCL with 247 total bases and 58 extra-base hits. His 94 runs scored are second-most in the league, while his .936 OPS ranks third, his 65 walks are tied for fourth, while his .563 SLG and 124 hits are both fifth…Martin is one of 13 players in the Minors with 30 homers this season and currently ranks sixth overall in RBI…Like the rest of the OKC lineup, Martin has been quiet in September. He is 5-for-26 with no home runs and one RBI. Last night Martin ended an eight-game drought without a RBI. His previous longest stretch this season was five games, May 29-June 4.
Walking Papers: The Dodgers drew two walks Saturday for the second straight game and have been held to two walks or less in four games already in September. The Dodgers drew more than two walks in all but one August game and were last held to two or fewer walks four times in a month during July when they also posted four games with two walks or less…OKC leads all of Triple-A this season with a team-record 656 walks during the Bricktown era (since 1998), which currently ranks fifth in the Minors overall. As a result, OKC also leads all Triple-A teams with a .368 OBP – tied for third among full-season teams in the Minors…The last PCL team with at least 656 walks in a season was Sacramento in 2012 with 657 walks (144 games)…On the other hand, the Dodgers pitching staff allowed just one walk last night for the team’s lowest walk total in a nine-inning game since Aug. 14 against Round Rock in OKC (1 BB). OKC has allowed a team-record 642 walks this season – most in Triple-A and sixth-most in the Minors overall. The previous team record was 591, set in 2000. It’s the most walks allowed by any Triple-A team since the 1992 Tacoma Tigers issued 696 walks over 143 games. OKC is currently on pace for 685 walks through 143 games.
Stuck 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. Beginning with that defeat Aug. 6, the Dodgers are 12-19 over their last 31 games, and the only team in the league with a worse record during that time is last-place Albuquerque at 9-20. The OKC pitching staff has posted a 5.51 ERA over the 31 games and allowed a total of 191 runs (6.2 per game). Nine of their 19 losses have occurred in games the Dodgers led in the sixth inning or later, and team’s 14 blown saves are most in the Minors during the span. In 10 of the 31 games the Dodgers have let a lead in the sixth inning or later slip away and they have lost a lead of at least two runs in 10 games as well. Since Aug. 6, the Dodgers have also committed the most errors in the PCL (27), allowed the most unearned runs (25) and grounded into the most double plays (35).
Western Woes: The Dodgers are now 18-29 at home against West Division opponents over the last two seasons, with a 10-13 mark this season. Of their five home series against West Division opponents so far this season including
the current one, the Dodgers have lost three of the five sets. They are 31-17 against East Division teams at home with one series loss.
Around the Horn: During the current series, Tacoma has led for 28 of 46 innings. The Dodgers have led in just seven of the 46 innings, and there has yet to be a lead change through five games…Jake Amaya did not play Saturday, but has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 16-for-42 (.381) with three doubles, a triple, two homers, seven RBI and 12 runs scored. In nine games against Tacoma this season, Amaya is 14-for-35 (.400)…Hunter Feduccia went 1-for-4 with a double yesterday and is now 6-for-15 over his last four games…In the 21 games Miguel Vargas has not played with OKC this season, the Dodgers are 7-14 and have batted .237 (166×701) with 90 runs scored (4.29 rpg). That includes a 2-8 clip since he most recently left for Los Angeles and 2-10 over the last 12 games he has not been in the OKC lineup…The Dodgers have won four straight home series finales as well as seven of the last eight.
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