OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 17, 2022
September 17, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (77-62) at Albuquerque Isotopes (59-78)
Game #140 of 150/Road #68 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Robbie Erlin (5-3, 6.75) vs. ABQ-LHP Logan Allen (0-1, 4.50)
Saturday, September 17, 2022 | Rio Grande Credit Union Field | Albuquerque, N.M. | 1:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers try to take the lead in their six-game road series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 1:05 p.m. CT at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. The series is tied, 2-2, as the Dodgers have won back-to-back games to even the series…The Dodgers enter today’s game in second place in the PCL East Division, 1.0 game behind first-place El Paso, while third-place Round Rock trails El Paso by 3.0 games and OKC by 2.0 games. The Dodgers have 11 games remaining on their 2022 schedule.
Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers swatted four home runs over four innings and outslugged the Albuquerque Isotopes during a 12-9 win Friday night at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. The Dodgers trailed on three occasions through the first four innings and were down, 4-2, entering the fifth inning. With two runners on base and two outs, Edwin Ríos hit a three-run homer to give the Dodgers their first lead of the night. Devin Mann blasted a two-run homer to center field with two outs in the sixth inning to push the lead to 7-4. Again with two runners on and two outs in the seventh inning, Jake Amaya hit a line-drive home run to left field. The Dodgers hit their fourth homer of the night when Ryan Noda teed off on a two-run shot in the eighth inning, giving the Dodgers a 12-4 lead. The Isotopes battled back in the final two innings. Wynton Bernard hit a grand slam in the eighth inning, cutting the Dodgers’ lead in half. Albuquerque scored once more in the ninth inning before OKC wrapped up the win.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Robbie Erlin (5-3) is scheduled to make his 13th start of the season and second appearance of September…Erlin started Sept. 11 in OKC against Tacoma and allowed one run and one hit with one walk and five strikeouts over 2.0 innings and did not factor into OKC’s 20-5 victory…It was his first appearance in nearly one month, although he remained on the active roster. Prior to Sunday, Erlin previously 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 during a no decision…Erlin has split time as a starter and bulk reliever this season while with OKC. In his 12 starts, Erlin is 1-3 with a 6.19 ERA and the Dodgers as a team have gone 7-5. He’s tended to perform better at home than on the road, with a 4.50 ERA and .219 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.)…Erlin has made one previous start against the Isotopes this season, pitching 3.2 innings in his first appearance of the season April 6 in OKC, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits with three walks and one strikeout. He did not receive a decision in OKC’s 6-5 loss.
Against the Isotopes: 2022: 10-6 2021: 9-9 All-time: 126-105 At ABQ: 52-63 The Dodgers and Isotopes meet for their third and final series of the season, but the first since May 3-8. The teams played two series within the first five weeks of the season, but have not faced each other since…The teams split their last series in Oklahoma City, 3-3, with the Dodgers winning three of the final four games…The teams opened the season against one another April 5-10, with the Dodgers winning the series, 5-1, including closing the series with four consecutive wins. Through the first two series, the Dodgers outscored the Isotopes, 85-55, and outhit them, 123-88, while hitting 16 home runs through the first 12 meetings…The teams split their 2021 season series, 9-9. The Isotopes won seven of the first 12 games before OKC won the final series, 4-2. The Dodgers went 5-7 at Isotopes Park…The Dodgers have not lost a season series to Albuquerque since 2017, going a combined 6-0 against the Isotopes in 2018 and 2019 prior to last season’s split…During the previous series, Albuquerque secured its first back-to-back wins in OKC since 2016…Six of this season’s 16 games have been decided by one run, and going back to last season, 14 of the 34 games between the teams have been settled by one run.
Ensuing Eleven: With 11 games remaining in the season, the Dodgers have won back-to-back games, but are 5-10 over the last 15 games, including 4-6 in the last 10 games and 3-6 in the last nine road games. These are the Dodgers’ first back-to-back wins since a four-game winning streak Aug. 26-30 and first back-to-back road wins since Aug. 17-19 (G1) in Sugar Land. The Dodgers had a 5.0-game lead ahead of Round Rock and 5.5-game lead ahead of El Paso in the East Division standings entering Aug. 31 but have seen that advantage evaporate after going 5-10 while El Paso has gone 12-4 during the same period, leading to a 6.5-game swing. The Dodgers’ five wins in September (5-9) are tied for the fewest in the league…Following a loss Sept. 9, the Dodgers dropped into a tie for first place, marking the first time since July 17 they did not have sole possession of first place. After a loss Sept. 10, the Dodgers fell out of first place entirely – the first time since June 1 the Dodgers had not held at least a share of first place. Currently, the Dodgers are 1.0 game back…El Paso and Round Rock are meeting head-to-head for six games this week in El Paso and the Chihuahuas have won three of the first four meetings, as well as 11 of their last 13 games overall.
Gearing Up: The Dodgers racked up 12 runs on 12 hits Friday night, including four home runs, and over the last two wins Thursday and Friday have scored 18 runs on 25 hits, including 10 extra-base hits, batting .338 (25×74)…Over the first two games of the series in Albuquerque – a Wednesday doubleheader – the Dodgers batted .180 (9×50) with three runs and nine hits, and over the team’s first 14 games of September, the Dodgers had been held to three or fewer runs eight times…In the last 11 games, the Dodgers are 5-6. They have scored three or fewer runs in each of the six losses, while scoring at least five runs in each of the five wins, including two games with at least 12 runs. Narrowing it down further, over the last seven games, the Dodgers have scored 38 runs in their three wins while batting .368 (43×117), including 11 home runs. In the four losses, they’ve only totaled nine runs while batting .231 (27×117), including one home run.
Dinger Details: The Dodgers have back-to-back multi-homer games for the first time this month and have hit six homers over the last two nights and 12 homers over the last five games after hitting just two homers through the first nine games of September. Prior to Thursday, OKC had been held without a home run in eight of their first 12 games this month, and from Sept. 4-10, the Dodgers were held without a homer in six consecutive games for the team’s longest stretch without a home run during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015) and longest since a six-game stretch in 2014…The Dodgers’ four homers Friday marked the eighth time this season the Dodgers have hit four or more homers in a game, and the four dingers accounted for 10 runs, as all four were hit with at least one runner on base…Friday’s game featured a combined seven home runs for the highest home run total in a game the Dodgers have played in this season. Six of the seven homers were hit with at least one runner on base. Albuquerque hit its 14th grand slam of the season, setting a new Minor League single-season record. It was the fourth grand slam allowed by the Dodgers this year, with two of them by the Isotopes.
The Take on Jake: Jake Amaya went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, two runs scored and a walk last night, reaching base four times. He has now hit safely 15 of his last 17 games, going 25-for-60 (.417) with five doubles, a triple, four homers, 16 RBI and 18 runs scored. Over his last nine games, Amaya is 14-for-31 (.452) with five extra-base hits and 10 RBI…He leads the Dodgers with 19 hits in 13 September games and is tied with Edwin Ríos with a team-high 11 RBI this month…Between June 18-Aug. 19, Amaya did not hit a home run over 50 games, but since Aug. 20, he has gone deep five times in 23 games. His 16 home runs between OKC and Double-A Tulsa this season have set a career high (previously 12).
Phys. Ed: Edwin Ríos went 3-for-5 Friday with a home run, three RBI and a season-high three runs scored. His three RBI and three hits both tied his season-high marks and his three-run homer in the fifth inning put the Dodgers in the lead for good. Over his last six games, Ríos is 9-for-24. He has also hit safely in eight of his last 11 games, going 13-for-43 (.302) with three doubles, three homers, 11 RBI and four runs scored…His three homers this month lead the Dodgers and his 11 RBI are tied for the team lead with Jake Amaya…Ríos hit the 57th home run of his Oklahoma City career Friday, moving him into a tie for second place on OKC’s career home run list during the Bricktown era (since 1998) with Scott Sheldon (1998-99). He now trails only Jason Hart’s 60 home runs (2002-03; 2006) on OKC’s career list. Ríos has the most home runs by an OKC player during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015).
Outstanding: James Outman went 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored Friday for his fourth multi-hit outing in his last six games (8×24)…He leads all Dodgers minor leaguers with a .575 SLG, and is tied for first with 62 extra-base hits, while his 249 total bases and .965 OPS are third and his 97 RBI are tied for third…Since playing his first game with OKC June 30, Outman leads the team with a .610 SLG and .994 OPS, while his 28 extra-base hits are tied for first, his .291 AVG, 52 RBI and five triples are second and his 11 homers and 105 total bases are third on the team…Over his last 22 games (since Aug. 23), Outman is slashing .378/.435/.768 with 18 extra-base hits and 26 RBI. During that time, he leads the PCL with 26 RBI and 18 extra-base hits.
Noda-ry Public: Ryan Noda homered in a second consecutive game last night, marking the second time he’s gone deep in back-to-back games and the first time since April 10-12. He has set a career high with 81 RBI, surpassing his previous high of 80 RBI with Low-A Lansing during the 2018 season…Noda ranks second in the PCL this season with 79 walks, while his .385 OBP is fourth, his 81 RBI are sixth, his 201 total bases are ninth, his 22 homers are tied for ninth and his 78 runs scored are 10th in the league…Noda has 22 homers and 19 steals this season, putting him one stolen base from recording OKC’s first 20/20 season since Nelson Cruz tallied 37 homers and 24 steals in 2008.
Buschwacked: Michael Busch picked up a hit, walk and scored two runs last night. He has hit safely in 11 of his 14 games in September, going 17-for-51 (.333) and has hit safely in five of his last six games, going 9-for-23 (.391) with three extra-base hits, four RBI and a pair of three-hit games…Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Busch ranks second overall in the Minors this season with 111 runs scored and fifth with 262 total bases. He leads the Dodgers farm system with 142 total hits, including 33 doubles, and 262 total bases, while he is tied for first with 62 extra-base hits, and second with 29 homers and 98 RBI…His 12 runs scored in September lead OKC.
Winding Road: Last night the Dodgers picked up just their third win in their last nine road games and fourth win in their last 11 road games. Of their seven defeats during that span, all have been by one or two runs, with five one-run losses. Over the last 18 road games, the Dodgers are 7-11 with six walk-off losses and eight last at-bat losses, including Game 2 of Wednesday’s doubleheader…The Dodgers were 28-21 on the road until this recent rough patch…The Dodgers are 2-2 to start the current road series and last won a road series June 14-19 in Reno, 4-2. The Dodgers have gone 0-2-3 in their five road series since. OKC has not won three straight road games since taking four in a row June 15-18 at Reno.
Around the Horn: Over the last five games, the Dodgers are batting .375 (21×56) with two outs, including an incredible 11-for-21 with runners in scoring position…Devin Mann went 1-for-3 Friday with a two-run homer and a walk. Mann is 5-for-9 with two homers, a triple, six RBI and six runs scored over his last three starts…Starting pitcher Jon Duplantier tossed a season-high 6.0 innings to earn the win Friday. He allowed four runs and seven hits, with two walks and eight strikeouts. Duplantier (5-3) retired seven of the final nine batters he faced and capped his outing with three consecutive strikeouts…The Dodgers are 12-12 in day games this season, including 2-1 so far in September… Tomás Telis recorded a hit last night and over his last four games with an at-bat has two multi-hit games and is 6-for-16…Over his first four Triple-A appearances with OKC, Nick Robertson has not allowed a run over 6.1 innings, with three hits, three walks and eight strikeouts.
• Discuss this story on the Pacific Coast League message board…
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
