OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 26, 2022
September 26, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Salt Lake Bees (70-77) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (81-66)
Game #148 of 150/Home #73 of 75
Pitching Probables: SL-RHP Davis Daniel (6-6, 4.48) vs. OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (1-1, 1.56)
Monday, September 26, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open their final series of the season at 7:05 p.m. against the Salt Lake Bees at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Three games remain on the Dodgers’ 2022 schedule as the team is playing its first home game since Sept. 11 following a two-week road trip.
Last Game: The OKC Dodgers hit five home runs and racked up 18 hits to finish their series against the El Paso Chihuahuas with a 16-3 victory Sunday afternoon at Southwest University Park. Drew Avans started the home run barrage with a three-run shot in the third inning to open the scoring. Leading, 3-1, in the fifth inning, Avans hit a RBI triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Noda. Kevin Pillar stepped up next and drilled a home run to center field to make it 6-1. A Jason Martin RBI single in the seventh inning extended the lead to 7-1 before the Chihuahuas scored two runs in the bottom of the inning. The Dodgers piled on nine runs over the final two innings. In the eighth inning, Noda hit a two-run homer and James Outman sent a towering three-run homer to right field to put OKC ahead, 12-3. In the ninth inning, Pillar nearly hit his second homer with a RBI double to deep right field. Edwin Ríos followed with a three-run, opposite field home run to finish the scoring.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone (1-1) makes his sixth start with OKC, but just his second at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark…Stone last started Sept. 20 in El Paso and earned his first Triple-A win, allowing one run and three hits over 6.0 innings with one walk and seven strikeouts. Stone needed just 58 pitches to complete his six frames. The only run he allowed was on a solo homer by Taylor Kohlwey in the fourth inning – just the third home run allowed in 115.2 total innings across three levels of the Dodgers minor league system this season…Between his time with High-A Great Lakes, Double-A Tulsa and OKC, Stone owns a 1.56 ERA – first among all qualified pitchers in the full-season Minor Leagues. He leads all Dodgers minor leaguers in ERA, ranks second with 157 strikeouts, a .209 BAA, 1.15 WHIP and 115.2 IP as well as tied for second with 24 starts and third with eight wins…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 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 Bees: 2022: 5-4 2021: 7-5 All-time: 64-59 At OKC: 33-27 The Dodgers and Bees close out the 2022 season with a three-game series and meet for their third series of the season and second at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark…The teams last played six games in Salt Lake Aug. 2-7, splitting the series, 3-3. The Dodgers won the first two games before Salt Lake won three of the last four, including back-to-back wins to close out the series. In their three wins, the Dodgers allowed just two runs, while allowing 24 runs in the three losses…The teams met at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for a three-game set June 10-12, with OKC taking the final two games to win the series. Twice in the series, the Dodgers rallied to tie the game or take the lead in the eighth inning or later…Drew Avans and Michael Busch lead the Dodgers with nine hits apiece against the Bees this season, while Ryan Noda has eight RBI and two homers…The Dodgers won last season’s series, 7-5, including wins in five of the last six meetings. The road team went 9-3 during the season series and the Bees won four of six in Oklahoma City for their first series win against OKC since 2013…The Dodgers have won or split the last seven season series with the Bees, posting a 6-0-1 record during that time…Since OKC became affiliated with the Dodgers, the team owns a 25-14 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series, but are 9-7 at home compared to 16-7 in Salt Lake.
The Dogs’ Day: The El Paso Chihuahuas clinched the PCL East Division title with a win Saturday night against the Dodgers. While three games remain in the season and the Dodgers can still technically tie El Paso’s overall record, El Paso won the season series with OKC, 14-13, and thus owns the head-to-head tiebreaker…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 18-5, while the Dodgers have gone 9-13, catapulting El Paso to the division title…Throughout the season, the Dodgers held at least a share of first place for 111 games, including every day from June 2-Sept. 9. Before Sept. 14, OKC had not been 2.0 games out of first place since May 10.
80 is Not Enough: This marks the first time since 1964 an Oklahoma City team will win at least 80 games but not advance to the postseason. OKC has reached at least 80 wins for the seventh time in 24 seasons during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and for the first time since 2016. All six previous teams to notch at least 80 wins won its division…The Dodgers’ current 81 wins are the most for the team since going 81-60 in 2016 and mark the sixth time in team history OKC has recorded at least 81 wins in a season. The team record for wins in a season is 86 set in 2015 when the team went 86-58 as part of a 144-game schedule.
Light Switch Offense = On: The Dodgers scored 16 runs Sunday for the second time in six games after defeating El Paso, 16-1, Tuesday. Sunday marked the fifth time OKC scored 16 or more runs this season after the Dodgers had been held to a total of six runs and 16 hits, including six extra-base hits, over the previous three games. On Sunday they tallied 18 hits, with nine for extra bases. It was the fifth time they’ve collected at least 18 hits in one game this season, with the previous occurrence Sept. 11 at home against Tacoma. Six players finished with multi-hit games and five players had multi-RBI games…The output came after a stretch in which the Dodgers were held to two runs in three straight games for the first time since May 26-27 against Reno in OKC and it was also the first time OKC had six hits or less in three straight games since that same May stretch. From Thursday to Saturday, the Dodgers scored a total of six runs and batted .168 (16×95), with three of their six runs scoring on solo home runs. They also went 7-for-31 with runners on base and 2-for-15 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…The inconsistency has been present throughout the month. The Dodgers scored 29 runs over the first nine games of September before breaking out for 20 runs Sept. 11 against Tacoma. They totaled three runs and nine hits across a doubleheader Sept. 14 in Albuquerque before getting hot during the six-game stretch mentioned above…Over the last 15 games, OKC has scored 92 runs in its seven wins, including six games with at least 11 runs, while batting .369 (104×282) with 26 homers. In the eight losses, OKC has only totaled 23 runs while batting .217 (54×249), including four home runs.
Dinger Details: The Dodgers hit five home runs Sunday afternoon, marking the sixth time this season the Dodgers have hit at least five homers in one game. Sunday was the second time it happened in the last six games and third time in the last 13 games (also Sept. 11 against Tacoma and Sept. 20 at El Paso). It was also the fifth time the team has accomplished the feat since Aug. 20 (32 games)…Four of the five homers Sunday were with at least one runner on base, and the five homers equaled 12 runs for the Dodgers. Five different players homered as Drew Avans, Ryan Noda, James Outman, Kevin Pillar and Edwin Ríos each went deep. In each of OKC’s six games this season with at least five homers, the home runs during each of those games were hit by a different player…The Dodgers have now homered in 10 of their last 11 games, hitting 26 home runs during that span. OKC’s 31 home runs over the last 13 games are the most in Triple-A since Sept. 11…On the other hand, El Paso did not hit a home run Sunday, snapping a season-high streak of 14 straight games in which the Dodgers allowed at least one homer (20 HR). Four of the last five home runs allowed by the Dodgers have been with at least one runner on base.
Drew Point: Drew Avans reached base four times Sunday, going 3-for-5 with a home run and his Triple-A-leading 12th triple. He set a season high with four runs scored and matched his season highs with three hits and four RBI, previously achieved exactly one week ago Sept. 18 at Albuquerque. Avans’ 12 triples are also an OKC single-season team record during the Bricktown era (since 1998). His 12 triples are also tied for most in the Minors this season…Avans stole his 37th base of the season Sunday, which leads the team and ranks fifth in the PCL. His 37 steals are the most in a single-season by an OKC player since Jimmy Paredes had 37 steals in 2012. Avans and Paredes are now tied for the fourth-most steals in a single season by an OKC player during the Bricktown era. The last OKC player to swipe more than 37 bags in one season was Esteban German in 2010 with 50.
Pillar of Strength: Kevin Pillar played the fourth game of his Major League Rehab Assignment Sunday and collected a game-high four hits, going 4-for-6 with a home run, double, two RBI and three runs scored. Pillar also had a four-hit game with OKC earlier this season May 6 against Albuquerque. The three runs yesterday tied his season high…Pillar was 2-for-12 over his first three games of the rehab assignment as he played in his first games since June 1 after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured left shoulder.
Phys. Ed: Edwin Ríos knocked three extra-base hits, with two doubles and a home run yesterday, tying his season highs with three hits and three RBI. It marked his first game with three extra-base hits since clubbing two homers and a double June 10, 2018 at Fresno. In five games during the series in El Paso, Ríos went 8-for-22 with two home runs, four doubles and eight RBI. He’s on a six-game hitting streak, going 9-for-27 with seven extra-base hits, collecting at least one extra-base hit in five of the six games…His three-run homer in the ninth inning was his 59th career home run with Oklahoma City, putting him one shy of tying Jason Hart for OKC’s career home runs record during the Bricktown era…Ríos’ 20 RBI, eight doubles, 13 extra-base hits and 45 total bases pace the Dodgers in September. His 20 RBI are tied for second-most in the league this month.
Beast Node: Ryan Noda drove in three runs with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly Sunday. He went 2-for-4 and reached base three times, as he was also hit by a pitch in the ninth inning. Over the last seven games, Noda is 8-for-22 with three home runs, a double, seven RBI, six walks and four HBP, reaching base in 19 of 34 plate appearances…Noda leads the league with 89 walks this season, setting a new OKC team single-season record during the Bricktown era (since 1998), surpassing Cliff Brumbaugh’s 85 walks in 2000…Noda has set career highs with 119 hits, 86 runs, 89 RBI and 19 stolen bases. He is one stolen base shy of recording OKC’s first 20/20 since Nelson Cruz tallied 37 homers and 24 steals in 2008.
Around the Horn: This is only the second time all season the Dodgers will play on a Monday (also July 4 vs. Las Vegas)…Tomás Telis is currently on a team-best eight-game hitting streak. During the streak, Telis is 13-for-34 (.382) with a double, homer and seven RBI. It’s his third hitting streak of the season of at least eight games…Reliever Yency Almonte made the third appearance of his current Major League Rehab Assignment yesterday. He retired two of four batters faced in the seventh inning and allowed two hits – a double and a bloop single. He notched one strikeout and threw 16 pitches (10 strikes)…Jason Martin hit his 32nd home run of the season Friday – tied for most in the league – and 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 107 RBI also pace the PCL and stand as a OKC single-season record during the Bricktown era (since 1998)…James Outman has homered in three of the last six games and four of the last 10 games. Between Double-A Tulsa, OKC and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Outman has totaled 31 home runs and 108 RBI…The Dodgers have not scored in the first inning in 13 straight games and have scored in the first inning just once in the last 23 games (Sept. 10 vs. Tacoma)…OKC has dropped three straight home series openers entering tonight.
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