OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 20, 2022
September 20, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (79-62) at El Paso Chihuahuas (80-61)
Game #142 of 150/Road #70 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (0-1, 1.59) vs. ELP-RHP Matt Waldron (3-7, 7.76)
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 | Southwest University Park | El Paso, Texas | 7:35 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open a six-game road series at 7:35 p.m. CT against the El Paso Chihuahuas at Southwest University Park as the top two teams in PCL East Division meet in a series that can determine the division champion. The Dodgers enter the pivotal series in second place in the PCL East Division standings, 1.0 behind first-place El Paso, with nine games remaining on the 2022 schedule, including six head-to-head meetings between the teams this week.
Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers hit three home runs on the way to a fourth straight victory and 11-7 win against the Albuquerque Isotopes Sunday afternoon at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. The Dodgers overcame an early deficit as they went on to post a double-digit run total for a third straight game. The Isotopes took the game’s first lead when D.J. Peterson swatted a three-run homer in the first inning. Oklahoma City answered with three runs in the third inning, including a two-run home run by Drew Avans followed by a solo homer by Ryan Noda. Albuquerque went back in front, 4-3, on a RBI single in the bottom of the inning. A three-run homer by Michael Busch with two outs in the fifth inning put the Dodgers in front for good. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the sixth inning and Devin Mann drew a walk to bring in OKC’s seventh run, and Avans later connected on a two-run single for a 9-4 advantage. Albuquerque scored on an OKC error in the bottom of the inning before a RBI single by Tomás Telis gave the Dodgers a 10-5 lead in the seventh inning. The Isotopes scored twice more in the eighth inning via a RBI single coupled with another OKC error to trim the lead to three runs, but Telis added another RBI single in the ninth to extend OKC to an 11-7 lead.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone (0-1) opens the series with his fifth Triple-A start, fourth on the road and first career appearance against El Paso…Stone most recently pitched Sept. 14 in Albuquerque in Game 1 of a doubleheader. His start was cut short after facing two batters due to a rain delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes. He allowed one walk and threw 13 total pitches…Stone’s last uninterrupted start was Sept. 7 against Tacoma. He allowed his first runs with OKC since his promotion from Double-A Tulsa in mid-August, allowing four runs (two earned) and six hits over 4.0 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. All four runs scored in the third inning when the Rainiers collected four hits, a walk and benefited from a two-out error. The run total tied his overall season high and marked just the third time all season he surrendered as many as six hits…Between his time with High-A Great Lakes, Double-A Tulsa and OKC, Stone owns a 1.56 ERA. He ranks second among Dodgers minor leaguers with 150 strikeouts and tied for fourth with 109.2 IP innings. Among minor league pitchers with at least 109.0 IP, Stone’s 1.56 ERA is the best…Stone made 14 appearances (13 starts) with Tulsa, 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…Stone was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft from the University of Central Arkansas. He is currently ranked as the Dodgers’ No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
Against the Chihuahuas: 2022: 11-10 2021: 14-9 All-time: 39-29 At ELP: 20-16 The top two teams in the PCL East Division meet for the fifth and final series this season and for the third time Southwest University Park…The teams most recently met for six games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Aug. 23-28, with the Dodgers winning the series, 4-2, including the final three games of the series. The Dodgers scored at least seven runs in each of their four victories…The teams met in El Paso June 28-July 3 with the Chihuahuas winning the series, 4-2. The Dodgers won two of the first three games before the Chihuahuas won the final three of the set while scoring 41 runs. In each of El Paso’s four wins during the series, the Chihuahuas scored at least 11 runs (55 runs total)…After the teams split their first series of the season, the home team has gone 10-5 since (13-8 over the season series)…Miguel Vargas leads OKC with 26 hits and 20 RBI in the season series, while Jason Martin has nine homers…The Dodgers won the 2021 series between the teams, 14-9, including 8-4 in El Paso…Outside of 2018, OKC has won or split each season series against the Chihuahuas since Tucson’s franchise relocated to El Paso for the 2014 season.
The Back Nine: The Dodgers have won four straight games as they embark on the final nine games of the season and own the longest current winning streak in the PCL. The four-game winning streak is the first for the Dodgers since a four-game stretch Aug. 26-30 and their first four-game winning streak on the road since June 15-18 in Reno. The Dodgers last won five straight games July 22-27 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and last won five consecutive road games April 15-20, including three wins in El Paso followed by two wins in Sacramento. When trying to extend a winning streak to five games this season, the Dodgers are just 2-5…OKC has now won five of its last seven games after going 2-8 over the previous 10 contests…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 7-10 while El Paso has gone 14-4 during the same period, leading to a 6.5-game swing…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 can clinch the East Division title with at least four wins during the series, while the Dodgers can clinch the title with at least five wins. Should the teams split, the division would not be decided until next week, although the Dodgers would own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Gearing Up: The Dodgers scored 11 runs on 13 hits Sunday and have scored at least 11 runs in three consecutive games (34 R) for the first time since a three-game stretch April 9-12 (35 R). They have also collected at least 12 hits in four straight games for the first time this season, totaling 40 runs and 52 hits during their last four wins. Of the 52 hits, 19 have gone for extra bases, including 11 home runs…Over the last four games, the Dodgers have batted .342 (52×152) following a doubleheader sweep Wednesday to open the series in Albuquerque during which OKC batted .180 (9×50) with three runs and nine hits. Over the team’s first 14 games of September, the Dodgers had been held to three or fewer runs eight times…In the last 13 games, the Dodgers are 7-6. They have scored three or fewer runs in each of the six losses, while scoring at least five runs in each of the six wins, including four games with at least 11 runs. Narrowing it down further, over the last nine games, the Dodgers have scored 60 runs in their five wins while batting .359 (70×195), including 16 home runs. In the four losses, they’ve only totaled nine runs while batting .231 (27×117), including one home run.
High Score: Entering today’s game, the Dodgers sit at 892 runs scored this season through 141 games and are now just two runs from breaking OKC’s single-season team runs record during the Bricktown era (since 1998). The current record is 893 runs scored by the 2005 team over 143 games.
Dinger Details: The Dodgers have homered in five straight games (12 HR) for the first time since Aug. 26-31 and have four straight multi-homer games (11 HR) for the first time since June 3-7. They have 17 homers over the last seven games – second-most in Triple-A during the span – after hitting just two homers through the first nine games of September – fewest among the 30 Triple-A teams to start the month. 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 back-to-back home runs by Drew Avans and Ryan Noda in the third inning Sunday became OKC’s 10th back-to-back home runs of the season. They were the first for the team this month and first since Aug. 20 in Sugar Land when Hunter Feduccia and Jake Amaya hit consecutive homers in the third inning…On the other hand, the Dodgers have allowed at least one home run in nine straight games (13 HR), tying their season-long streak set Aug. 6-16 (16 HR).
Buschwacked: Michael Busch connected on a three-run homer with two outs in the fifth inning Sunday to give OKC the lead for good, and he is up to 30 home runs and 114 total runs scored this season including his time with both OKC and Double-A Tulsa…He has seven RBI over the last two games and has hit safely in five straight games, going 9-for-22 with three doubles, two homers, eight RBI and nine runs scored. He has also hit safely in 13 of his 16 games in September, going 21-for-62 (.339)…Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Busch ranks second overall in the Minors with 114 runs scored, fifth with 271 total bases and tied for seventh with 65 extra-base hits. He leads the Dodgers farm system with 146 total hits, including 35 doubles, while he is tied for first with 105 RBI and second with 30 homers…His 14 RBI, nine extra-base hits and 15 runs scored all pace OKC in September.
The Take on Jake: Jake Amaya went 1-for-3 with two walks Sunday and has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games, going 29-for-69 (.420) with five doubles, a triple, four homers, 16 RBI and 20 runs scored. Over his last 11 games, Amaya is 18-for-40 (.450) with five extra-base hits and 10 RBI…He leads OKC with 23 hits so far in September – third-most in the league this month, while his .426 AVG and .484 OBP are second in the PCL during September…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 25 games. His 16 home runs between OKC and Double-A Tulsa this season have set a career high (previously 12).
Drew Point: Drew Avans recorded a season-high and game-high four RBI Sunday as he went 3-for-5 with a home run and scored two runs. It was his highest RBI total since Sept. 19, 2021 against Round Rock when he also collected four RBI, while his three hits Sunday tied his season-high mark (7x)…Avans leads Triple-A with 11 triples this season to set OKC’s team record during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and the total ranks tied for second in the Minors overall…Avans’ 34 stolen bases this season rank fifth in the PCL and are the most by an OKC player since Jimmy Paredes had 37 steals in 2012…Avans also put together the league’s longest on-base streak since 2018, reaching base in 50 straight games June 11-Aug. 14.
Walking Papers: The Dodgers drew six more walks Sunday and lead all of Triple-A this season with a team-record 692 walks during the Bricktown era (since 1998), which currently ranks third in the Minors overall. As a result, OKC also leads all Triple-A teams with a .370 OBP – third among full-season teams in the Minors…The last PCL team with at least 692 walks in a season was Sacramento with 732 walks in 2004 (144 games)…On the other hand, the Dodgers pitching staff has allowed a team-record 671 walks this season – also most in Triple-A. 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.
Around the Horn: The Dodgers committed a season-high five errors Sunday afternoon, leading to three unearned runs. The five errors tied the team’s most during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015) – Aug. 21, 2019 against Nashville and April 16, 2018 against New Orleans with both games played at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark…Over the last seven games, the Dodgers are batting .373 (31×83) with two outs, including an impressive 15-for-32 (.469) with runners in scoring position…Ryan Noda and Tomás Telis each finished Sunday’s game with three hits. Noda went 3-for-4 with a home run and has homered in three of his last four games. Telis went 3-for-5 to tie his season-high for hits and finished with two RBI and a run scored as he hit safely in a fifth straight game (9×21)…Over his last five starts, Devin Mann is 8-for-16 with three homers, a triple, nine RBI and nine runs scored, including two three-hit games…OKC is 13-13 in series openers this season, including 6-6 on the road and 2-2 against the Chihuahuas. The Dodgers have lost four of the last five series openers overall.
• 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.
