OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 24, 2022
September 24, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers and El Paso Chihuahuas continue their series at 7:35 p.m. CT at Southwest University Park. With five games remaining in the season, including two more head-to-head meetings between the teams, the first-place Chihuahuas have a 3.0-game lead ahead of the second-place Dodgers in the PCL East Division standings. El Paso leads the current series, 3-1, after winning each of the last three games. The Dodgers must win tonight to stay in contention for the division title.
Last Game: The El Paso Chihuahuas scored six runs within the first two innings and the Oklahoma City Dodgers could not recover thereafter during a 6-2 loss Friday night at Southwest University Park. El Paso scored one run in the first inning, but the Dodgers escaped a bases-loaded jam with one out to keep it 1-0. However, the Chihuahuas cranked two home runs in the second inning, totaling five runs. Brandon Dixon hit a three-run homer and C.J. Hinojosa later hit a two-run shot to make it 6-0. Jason Martin hit his league-leading 32nd home run of the season in the fifth inning to put the Dodgers on the board. Hunter Feduccia added a home run in the seventh inning trim El Paso’s lead to 6-2. After the second inning, the OKC pitching staff did not allow a run or a hit, but the deficit was too large to overcome for a Dodgers offense that was held to two runs and five hits for a second straight game.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Robbie Erlin (5-3) is scheduled to make his 14th start of the season and third appearance of September…During his last game Sept. 17 in Albuquerque, Erlin started and pitched 3.0 innings, allowing four runs, six hits and one walk with two strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC’s 11-8 win…Following a start Aug. 13 at home against Round Rock, Erlin did not pitch again until Sept. 11, although he remained on the active roster. In his two games since returning to the mound, Erlin has allowed five runs (four earned) and seven hits over 5.0 innings with seven strikeouts…Erlin has split time as a starter and bulk reliever this season while with OKC. In his 13 starts, Erlin is 1-3 with a 6.53 ERA and the Dodgers as a team have gone 8-5…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 a 9.08 ERA and .341 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.)…Tonight is Erlin’s fifth appearance and fourth start against the Chihuahuas in 2022. He is 1-1 with a 10.13 ERA over 16.0 IP against El Paso, with six walks and 11 strikeouts.
Against the Chihuahuas: 2022: 12-13 2021: 14-9 All-time: 40-32 At ELP: 21-19 The top two teams in the PCL East Division meet for the fifth and final series this season and for the third time at 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. 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 12-6 since (15-9 over the season series)…Jason Martin and Miguel Vargas lead OKC with 26 hits in the season series, while Martin has 10 homers and James Outman has 21 RBI…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 Dodgers are 6-10 in El Paso this season. In the six wins, they’ve allowed a total of 12 runs, but in the 10 losses they’ve allowed a total of 97 runs, with at least seven runs in seven of the 10 games. They’ve dropped six of the last seven games in El Paso…The season series has been full of momentum swings. The Chihuahuas won the first three games before the Dodgers won four straight and six of the next seven meetings. After that, El Paso won five of the next six games and six of the next eight games. The Dodgers then went on a four-game win streak before El Paso has now won three straight.
Living on the Edge: With five games remaining in the season, El Paso has a 3.0-game lead ahead of the second-place Dodgers in the PCL East Division after wins in each of the last three games. El Paso can clinch the East Division title with a win tonight or Sunday. The Chihuahuas currently lead the season series, 13-12, and by adding a win this weekend, would own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Dodgers and thus clinch the division title…If they Dodgers can rally and win the next two games, they will own the head-to-head tiebreaker and keep their postseason hopes alive…Entering Sept. 1, the Dodgers led the then-third place Chihuahuas by 5.5 games atop the division. But since then, El Paso has gone 17-4 while the Dodgers have gone 8-12, leading to an 8.5-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…Entering tonight, the Dodgers are 3.0 games back, marking the furthest they have been out of first place the entire season. Before Sept. 14, OKC had not been 2.0 games out of first place since May 10.
Light Switch Offense: The Dodgers were limited to two runs and five hits for a second consecutive game last night after scoring at least six runs and collecting at least 11 hits over their previous six games, including at least eight runs in five straight games during that span. Between Thursday and Friday, the Dodgers scored a total of four runs and batted .161 (10×62), with three of their four runs scoring on solo home runs. They also went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position…Prior to Thursday, the Dodgers had batted .341 (79×232) with 64 runs, 34 extra-base hits and 17 home runs over the previous six games. They had scored at least 11 runs in four straight games (50 R) for the first time in the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998), and the six-game streak with at least 11 hits was the team’s longest since 2017…Friday also marked the 10th time in 20 games this month the Dodgers scored three or fewer runs and sixth time with two or fewer runs scored…The inconsistency has been present throughout the month. The Dodgers scored just 29 runs over the first nine games of September before breaking out for 20 runs in one game Sept. 11 against Tacoma. They followed that up by totaling three runs and nine hits across a doubleheader Sept. 14 in Albuquerque before getting hot during the six-game stretch noted above…Over the last 13 games, the Dodgers have scored 76 runs in their six wins while batting .361 (86×238), including 21 home runs. In the seven losses, they’ve only totaled 21 runs while batting .222 (48×216), including four home runs. Since taking a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning during Wednesday’s game, the Dodgers have scored four runs and batted .163 (13×80) over the last 23 innings, with three runs scoring on solo homers. Over the first 13 innings of the current series, the Dodgers scored 23 runs and batted .387 (24×62)…This is the first time since April 24 the Dodgers have been limited to two or fewer runs in consecutive nine-inning 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 seemingly changed the course of the season. Beginning with that defeat Aug. 6, the Dodgers are 18-24 over their last 42 games, and the only team in the league with a worse record during that time is last-place Albuquerque at 13-27. The OKC pitching staff has posted a 5.39 ERA over the 42 games and allowed a total of 247 runs (fourth-most in the league). Nine of their 24 losses have occurred in games the Dodgers led in the sixth inning or later, and team’s 15 blown saves are most in the Minors during the span. Since Aug. 6, the Dodgers have also committed the most errors in the PCL (36), allowed the second-most unearned runs (31) and grounded into the most double plays (44).
J-Mart Special: Jason Martin hit his 32nd home run of the season Friday – tied for most in the league – as he finished the night 2-for-4 with OKC’s lone multi-hit game. Martin has now hit the most home runs by an OKC player during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015) and the most by any OKC player since Mike Hessman hit 35 home runs in 2012. His 106 RBI also pace the PCL and stand as a OKC single-season record during the Bricktown era (since 1998)…Martin is the first OKC player to reach both 30 homers and 100 RBI in the same season during the Bricktown era. The last OKC player overall with a 30 HR/100 RBI season was Steve “Bye Bye” Balboni in 1993 (36 HR, 108 RBI)…Martin also leads the PCL with 61 extra-base hits and 259 total bases this season, while his 98 runs scored and .939 OPS rank second and his .568 SLG is third…Martin is one of nine players in the Minors with 32 homers this season and currently ranks tied for seventh overall in RBI.
Phys. Ed: Edwin Ríos knocked a double last night and over his first nine games of the current road trip, Ríos is 10-for-36 (.278) with two homers, four doubles and nine RBI. He has collected an extra-base hit in each of his last four games…His home run Wednesday night was the 58th of Ríos’ Oklahoma City career, breaking a tie with Scott Sheldon for second place on the career home runs list during OKC’s Bricktown era (since 1998). He is now two home runs away from tying Jason Hart’s team record of 60 career home runs…Ríos’ 17 RBI pace the Dodgers in September and are tied for fourth-most in the league this month, while his four home runs are tied for the OKC team lead in September.
Dinger Details: Last night both of the Dodgers’ runs scored via solo homers as the team homered in a ninth straight game (21 HR), tying OKC’s season-long streak initially set June 11-21. The Dodgers have 26 homers over the last 12 games – second-most in Triple-A – after hitting just two homers through the first nine games of September. Before the streak began, OKC had been held without a home run in eight of their first 11 games this month…Michael Busch, Ryan Noda and Jason Martin have each hit 20 homers, marking the second time during the team’s Bricktown era there have been a trio of 20-home run hitters. The other instance was in 2019 (Kyle Garlick, Edwin Ríos, Will Smith)…On the other hand, the Dodgers have allowed at least one homer in 13 straight games (19 HR), with El Paso’s two home runs accounting for five of their six runs Friday. The Chihuahuas have hit six homers through four games of the series.
The Take on Jake: Jake Amaya has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 11-for-33 (.333) with two home runs, two doubles and eight RBI. He has also hit safely in 20 of his last 23 games, going 32-for-86 (.372) with six doubles, a triple, five homers, 19 RBI and 23 runs scored.
Fiduciary Matters: Hunter Feduccia hit his seventh home run with Oklahoma City Friday night and 15th home run overall of the season. Feduccia has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 11-for-33 (.333) with six extra-base hits. He has four extra-base hits in his last three games, picking up two homers and two doubles.
On the Mend: Reliever Yency Almonte made the second appearance of his Major League Rehab Assignment Friday night. Almonte retired the side in order in the sixth inning on just seven pitches, all strikes. He induced two pop outs and recorded one strikeout…Outfielder Kevin Pillar also continued a rehab assignment, going 0-for-4. He is now 1-for-8 over his first two games.
Around the Horn: OKC has reached 80 wins for the seventh time in 24 seasons during the Bricktown era and for the first time since 2016. All six previous teams to notch at least 80 wins won its division. The last OKC team to win at least 80 games but not advance to the postseason was in 1964, when the 89ers went 88-70…Tomás Telis is on a seven-game hitting streak, going 12-for-30 with a double, homer and six RBI during the stretch, which is the longest active hitting streak by an OKC player…Andy Burns has hit safely in nine of his 10 games this month with an at-bat, including four multi-hit games. Burns is batting .375 (12×32) in September and has reached base in nine straight games with a plate appearance…Michael Busch ranks second overall in the Minors with 116 runs scored, fourth with 277 total bases and tied for seventh with 67 extra-base hits and 106 RBI.
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