OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 2, 2022
September 2, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (72-54) at Round Rock Express (69-57)
Game #127 of 150/Road #61 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Aaron Ochsenbein (1-1, 13.50) vs. RR-RHP Zak Kent (NR, -.–)
Friday, September 2, 2022 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 6:35 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers will try to even their series with the Round Rock Express tonight following back-to-back losses when the teams meet at 6:35 p.m. at Dell Diamond…The Dodgers lead the PCL East Division with a 72-54 record and have a 3.0-game lead ahead of second-place Round Rock and a 4.5-game lead ahead of third-place El Paso in the division standings with 24 games remaining in the regular season.
Last Game: Starting pitcher Bobby Miller notched a career-high 14 strikeouts over six strong innings, but a combination of a quiet offense and inclement weather led to a 2-0 loss in seven innings against Round Rock Thursday night at Dell Diamond. Sandro Fabian connected on a two-run homer with two outs in the second inning to put the Express ahead, 2-0. Following the home run, Miller retired the next 13 consecutive batters, including 11 via strikeout. The Dodgers were still trailing, 2-0, in the sixth inning with a runner at second base and one out. James Outman lined a single to left-center field, but Fabian threw out Michael Busch at home plate to keep the Dodgers off the board. The Dodgers had runners at second and third base with two outs in the seventh inning when heavy rain began to fall, forcing a stoppage in the game. After a delay of 1 hour, 17 minutes, the game was called due to unplayable field conditions.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Aaron Ochsenbein (1-1) is slated to start what is expected to be a bullpen game for the OKC Dodgers tonight…He most recently pitched Tuesday night in the series opener against the Express, allowing one hit over a scoreless fifth inning with one strikeout. He was credited with the win in the Dodgers’ 17-8 victory…Tonight will be the second start of his pro career and he last started a game June 3, 2021 for Double-A Tulsa at Northwest Arkansas when he threw 1.2 scoreless innings with one walk and one strikeout…In eight total appearances with OKC, Ochsenbein has a 13.50 ERA in 8.0 IP with nine walks and five strikeouts…He was placed on the Injured List July 6 (retroactive to July 5) through Aug. 16, and following the IL stint, he’s notched four scoreless outings totaling 2.1 IP…He started the season with Double-A Tulsa where he went 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA and 12 K’s over 13 relief appearances (14.0 IP) and kept opponents scoreless in 11 of 13 games…He spent his entire 2021 season with Double-A Tulsa, posting a 3-2 record with a 3.32 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 38 appearances (one start), spanning 57.0 innings. He led the Drillers with eight saves and finished tied for second with 38 appearances…Ochsenbein began his pro career after being selected by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Eastern Kentucky University…In two outings against Round Rock this season, Ochsenbein is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA, allowing a combined two runs and four hits over 3.1 innings with three walks and two strikeouts.
Against the Express: 2022: 15-12 2021: 16-13 All-time: 161-133 At RR: 86-66 The Dodgers and Express meet for their fifth and final series this season and first in Round Rock since early June…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 has hit six 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 have won seven of the last 11 games and are 6-3 in the last nine meetings…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…This the first time in the last five series in Round Rock the Dodgers have lost consecutive games.
Miller Time: Starting pitcher Bobby Miller struck out 14 batters over six innings last night, becoming just the third pitcher in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown era to record a game with 14 or more strikeouts. The others are Chuck Smith, who had 14 strikeouts June 23, 1999 at Memphis and Wilmer Font, who set the team record with 15 strikeouts May 15, 2017 against Sacramento. Miller’s previous career high was 11 strikeouts, done twice previously and most recently Aug. 9 with Double-A Tulsa against Midland. He struck out 10 of the last 11 batters he faced, including the final eight in a row. The 14 strikeouts are also tied for the most by a pitcher in a PCL game this season, along with Salt Lake’s Reid Detmers – Miller’s college teammate at the University of Louisville – who did it at Tacoma June 29…Overall, Miller allowed two runs and two hits with one walk to go along with the 14 strikeouts. Following a two-run homer by Sandro Fabian in the second inning, he retired the final 13 batters he faced, including 11 via strikeout. Due to the game being completed early, Miller was credited with his first career complete game.
Big Game James: James Outman finished with the Dodgers’ lone multi-hit game last night, going 2-for-3. Over the last nine games, Outman is 18-for-31 with 13 extra-base hits and 20 RBI. And over the last six games, he is 15-for-23 with 10 extra-base hits and 13 RBI. He has reached base in 13 of his last 18 plate appearances…On Tuesday, the reigning PCL Player of the Week went 4-for-4 with five RBI, two walks and three runs scored as he hit for the cycle for the second time in four games and reached base in all six of his plate appearances. Last 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…He now has five games with five or more RBI in just 34 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 eight games and has 46 RBI since June 30 (34 games) with OKC…Outman’s 20 RBI, .581 AVG, 1.323 SLG, 1.934 OPS, 13 extra-base hits, four triples and 41 total bases since Aug. 23 lead all of the Minors, while his 18 hits are tied for most in the Minors.
Amayazing: Jake Amaya went 1-for-3 Thursday, extending his current hitting streak to five games, going 7-for-18. Over the last four games, Amaya is 6-for-14 with four extra-base hits, four RBI and five runs scored…Since his first game with OKC June 14, he leads the Dodgers and is second in the PCL with 41 walks…Amaya has hit two home runs in his last four games and is up to 14 homers between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, setting a career high.
Zero Hour: The Dodgers were shut out for the fifth time this season, for the first time since July 30 against Sugar Land and for the third time against the Express in 2022. The Dodgers were shut out just once during the 2021 season and nine times in 2019…All seven of OKC’s hits last night were singles, marking the fourth time this season the Dodgers did not register an extra-base hit and the first time since Aug. 7 in Salt Lake. The Dodgers entered Thursday’s game having scored 52 runs with 31 extra-base hits and 12 home runs over the previous five games, scoring at least six runs in each contest…Last night also snapped a stretch of five straight games with a home run for OKC after the team compiled 12 home runs over the previous five games, including at least two home runs in three straight games and six homers Sunday.
The Rundown: Despite last night’s shutout, OKC still ranks second among all 30 Triple-A teams and fifth overall in the Minors with 800 runs scored this season. It’s the third time in the team’s 24 seasons during the Bricktown era to score at least 800 runs and the first time it’s happened since 2005 (893 R)…Over the last 11 games, the Dodgers are 6-5. 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 five losses, they have combined for 16 runs and 33 hits over while batting .209 (33×158), including 8-for-42 (.190) with runners in scoring position…On the other hand, the Dodgers allowed just two runs and two hits last night and Thursday marked just the third time this season the Dodgers lost a game when allowing two or fewer runs and are now 30-3 in such games. The previous loss was also at the hands of Round Rock in a 1-0 defeat at home June 22.
Walking Papers: For the first time all season, the Dodgers did not draw a walk Thursday night. The Dodgers lead all of Triple-A this season with a team record 629 walks during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and the total ranks third in the Minors overall. They entered Thursday’s game having drawn at least five walks in 10 straight games, totaling 63 walks during that time…Even with last night’s goose egg, OKC has drawn 205 walks in the 36 games following the All-Star Break for an average of 5.69 per game, including 14 games with seven or more walks…The last PCL team with at least 629 walks in a season was Salt Lake (637) during the 140-game 2019 season…As a result, OKC also leads all Triple-A teams with a .371 OBP – tied for second among full-season teams in the Minors…On the other hand, the Dodgers pitching staff allowed just one walk last night, marking the ninth time this season they allowed one or no walks in a game. OKC has allowed a team-record 608 walks – most in Triple-A this season. The previous record was 591, set in 2000.
J-Mart Special: Jason Martin was held 0-for-3 last night ending his season-best on-base streak at 21 games and his hitting streak at eight games. The on-base streak was the second-longest of the season by a Dodgers player and his hitting streak was his third of the season of eight games or longer. During the hitting streak, Martin went 11-for-36 with six extra-base hits and 12 RBI…Last night also ended a stretch in which Martin hit a home run and collected at least three RBI in three straight games, going 5-for-14 with 11 RBI…Martin 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 241 total bases and 57 extra-base hits. His 92 runs scored are tied for second, while his .579 SLG and .956 OPS rank third and his 119 hits are fourth-most in the league this season…Martin is one of 10 players in the Minors with 30 homers this season and currently ranks tied for fourth overall in RBI.
Rain, Rain Go Away: Each of the Dodgers’ last four games have included a weather delay, totaling 3 hours, 59 minutes worth of delays. Last night’s game was the longest delay of the four, clocking in at 1 hour, 17 minutes before the game was called…Two of the four games have been completed early (Sunday, Thursday) and two have had delayed starts (Tuesday, Wednesday).
Loose Grip: The Dodgers have lost six times within the last 21 games when leading in the seventh inning or later, with three of those defeats against second-place Round Rock. In the last 15 games, they’ve fell four times when leading in the eighth inning or later, including in three of the team’s last eight road games…The team’s 10 blown saves since Aug. 6 are second-most across the Minors and opponents have notched six last at-bat wins during those 23 games.
Around the Horn: Tomás Telis has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 12-for-43 and including a season-best 10-game hitting streak…Devin Mann has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 9-for-24 with seven RBI…In games without Miguel Vargas this season, OKC is 5-8 and has batted .230 (99×430) with 61 runs scored (4.7 rpg).
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