OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 28, 2022
September 28, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Salt Lake Bees (70-79) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (83-66)
Game #150 of 150/Home #75 of 75
Pitching Probables: SL-RHP Jake Lee (0-2, 6.35) vs. OKC-RHP Jon Duplantier (5-3, 4.92)
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 12:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers play their final game of the 2022 season at 12:05 p.m. against the Salt Lake Bees at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers have won three straight games and lead the series, 2-0.
Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers picked up a third consecutive win as six pitchers combined to hold the Salt Lake Bees to one run for a second straight game in a 3-1 win Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Dodgers grabbed the game’s first lead in the first inning. Drew Avans drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second base on a walk to Ryan Noda and advanced to third base on a wild pitch before scoring when Kevin Pillar knocked a RBI single. The Dodgers added a run in the fourth inning when Hamlet Marte lined a RBI single into right field. Salt Lake loaded the bases in the fifth inning before bringing in a run on a sacrifice fly by Jake Gatewood to cut OKC’s lead to 2-1. Omar Estévez capped the scoring for OKC, hitting a towering home run down the left field line in the fifth inning for a 3-1 advantage.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Jon Duplantier (5-3) makes his 14th start and 34th appearance of the season today…He last pitched Sept. 22 in El Paso, allowing two runs and three hits over 5.0 innings with three walks and six strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC’s 3-2 loss. He overcame a rocky start, allowing hits to each of his first two batters, including a two-run homer to Brandon Dixon. He ended up throwing 31 pitches in the first inning, but after a leadoff walk in the second inning, Duplantier found his groove and retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced. He finished his night allowing two runs and three hits, with three walks and six strikeouts…Since Aug. 21, Duplantier has a 2.93 ERA over his last six starts. The stretch began at Sugar Land when he notched nine strikeouts over five scoreless innings, tying his career high in strikeouts…Duplantier moved into the starting rotation in mid-June. He is 1-2 with a 4.04 ERA as a starter (55.2 IP) with 30 walks and 68 strikeouts. As a reliever, he is 4-1 with a 6.35 ERA (34.0 IP) with 23 walks and 33 strikeouts…Right-handed batters are hitting .201, but lefties are hitting .299…Duplantier was selected by the Dodgers from the Giants in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft Dec. 8, 2021 after he had signed with the Giants just four days prior as a minor league free agent…He was selected in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft by Arizona out of Rice University…Tonight is Duplantier’s third appearance and second start of the season against Salt Lake. He’s been stung by the Bees so far, allowing 11 runs (8 ER) and 13 hits over just 4.1 IP.
Against the Bees: 2022: 7-4 2021: 7-5 All-time: 66-59 At OKC: 35-27 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 11 hits apiece against the Bees this season, while Ryan Noda has nine RBI…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 27-14 advantage against the Bees in the Triple-A version of the Freeway Series, but are 11-7 at home compared to 16-7 in Salt Lake.
I Love the 80s: Oklahoma City improved to 83-66 overall with Tuesday’s victory and have reached 83 wins for the third time in the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998) and first time since recording a team-record 86 wins in 2015 when the team finished its 144-game schedule 86-58…However, all six previous teams to notch at least 80 wins won its division. This marks the first time since 1964 an Oklahoma City team will win at least 80 games but not advance to the postseason. The El Paso Chihuahuas clinched the PCL East Division title with a win Saturday night against the Dodgers…OKC will finish the season second place in the division, and the team has finished first or second in its division in six of the seven seasons during the Dodgers affiliation. Going back to 2012, the team has finished first or second in eight of the last 10 seasons.
The Long Haul: Today marks the Dodgers’ 150th game of the season. The last OKC team to play at least 150 games in a regular season was the 1984 89ers, who played 154 games as a member of the American Association (70-84)…Including players on rehab assignment, there have been 71 different players who have suited up for the OKC Dodgers this season (23 position players/48 pitches), and not including players on rehab assignment, 22 players appeared in at least one game for the both the OKC and LA Dodgers. James Outman, Ryan Pepiot and Miguel Vargas made their Major League debuts directly from OKC…There were 208 roster transactions throughout the season and following players spent the entire season on OKC’s active roster: Beau Burrows, Jon Duplantier, Omar Estévez, Marshall Kasowski, Jason Martin, Ryan Noda, Tomás Telis and Daniel Zamora.
On the Mend: Starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin opened a Major League Rehab Assignment Tuesday and played in his first game since Aug. 23 after being placed on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List Aug. 29 with a right forearm strain. Gonsolin pitched 2.0 scoreless innings for OKC, allowing one hit to the first batter he faced before inducing a double play and ending the inning with a strikeout. He faced six batters total and recorded two strikeouts, throwing 27 pitches, including 17 strikes…Kevin Pillar continued his Major League Rehab Assignment yesterday and collected a RBI single in his lone at-bat of the night and played two innings in right field. Over his last three games, Pillar is 6-for-11 with a double, homer, three RBI and four runs scored. He was placed on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List June 2 with a left shoulder fracture.
Pitching Prowess: The Dodgers have held Salt Lake to one run in each of the first two games of the current series, as six pitchers combined to allow one run and six hits Tuesday. They issued three walks and recorded nine strikeouts…This is the first time since Aug. 17 and Aug. 19 in Sugar Land the Dodgers held their opponent to one run in consecutive games. Last night marked the third time in eight games the Dodgers allowed only one run, although before Sept. 20 at El Paso the Dodgers had not allowed a little as one run since Aug. 19. The pitching staff has allowed three or fewer runs in six of the last eight games, five of the last six games and in four straight games for the first time all season. They’ve also allowed three or fewer runs in 11 of 24 games this month after it happened a total of 11 times in July and August combined (50 games)…Last night marked the 14th time OKC has not allowed an extra-base hit in a game this season. The pitching staff has allowed the fewest hits overall in the PCL this season…Over the last three games, the Dodgers have 37 strikeouts against four walks.
Dinger Details: Omar Estévez hit his third home run of the season in the fifth inning last night as the Dodgers have now homered in 12 of their last 13 games, hitting 29 homers during that span. The Dodgers have hit eight home runs in their last three games combined and nine different players have hit the Dodgers’ last 10 home runs. Estévez’s blast was the team’s 200th of the season…OKC’s 34 home runs over the last 15 games are the most in Triple-A since Sept. 11…The Dodgers also held Salt Lake without a home run last night and have not allowed a homer in three straight games for the first time since July 5-7 against Las Vegas in OKC. Between Sept. 9-24, the Dodgers allowed at least one homer in a season-high 14 straight games.
Rewriting Records: The Dodgers have scored 946 runs this season, breaking OKC’s single-season team runs record of 893 runs by the 2005 team (143 games) during the Bricktown era (since 1998). OKC’s season run total ranks second among the 30 Triple-A teams. The Dodgers lead all of Triple-A this season with a team record 728 walks during the Bricktown era and the team also paces Triple-A with a .370 OBP. The last PCL team with at least 728 walks in a season was Sacramento with 732 walks in 2004 (144 games).
20/20 Vision: Last night Ryan Noda collected his 20th stolen base, and paired with his 25 home runs, he’s recorded OKC’s first 20/20 season since Nelson Cruz tallied 37 homers and 24 steals in 2008 and just the second 20/20 campaign during the team’s Bricktown era (since 1998). He is one of five players in the PCL this season to go 20/20…Noda paces the PCL with 92 walks and has set OKC’s single-season recording during the Bricktown era, surpassed Cliff Brumbaugh’s 85 walks in 2000…Noda ranks third among PCL leaders with a .398 OBP, fourth with 90 RBI, tied for sixth with a .876 OPS, tied for seventh with 25 homers, tied for eighth with 86 runs and ninth with 220 total bases.
J-Mart Special: Jason Martin finished with the Dodgers’ lone multi-hit game Tuesday, going 2-for-3 with a double and walk. He leads the PCL with his team-record 107 RBI this season and his 32 home runs are tied for most in the league. He has hit the most home runs in a season 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. He’s also vying to become the first OKC player since Hessman to lead the league in homers…Martin also leads the league with 62 extra-base hits, 265 total bases and ranks tied for first with 100 runs scored. His RBI total is tied for fifth in the Minors while his 32 homers are tied for sixth…He 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)
Outstanding: James Outman did not play yesterday but went 2-for-4 with a homer and double Monday. He’s gone deep in each of the last two games and has four homers in his last seven games and five homers in the last 11 games. Including his time with Double-A Tulsa, OKC and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Outman is up to 32 home runs and 109 RBI this season…Since joining Triple-A OKC June 30, Outman leads the PCL with 61 RBI and a .620 SLG, while his six triples are second and his 34 extra-base hits and 1.005 OPS are third during the span…Among Dodgers minor leaguers this season, Outman is first with a .582 SLG and .972 OPS. He’s sixth overall in the Minors with 273 total bases and tied for seventh with 68 extra-base hits.
Rundown Lowdown: The Dodgers have outscored their last three opponents, 24-5. The Dodgers have 34 hits (17 XBH) over the last three games after being held to a total of six runs and 16 hits (6 XBH) over the previous three games…Over the last 17 games, the Dodgers have scored 100 runs in their nine wins while batting .352 (120×341), including 27 home runs. In the eight losses, they’ve only totaled 23 runs while batting .217 (54×249), including four home runs…Last night marked the first time since Aug. 17 at Sugar Land (2-1) the Dodgers won a game while scoring no more than three runs. They had lost 13 straight games when scoring three or fewer runs.
Around the Horn: The Dodgers have won five straight series finales and six of their last seven…Edwin Ríos has 59 career home runs with OKC, putting him one shy of tying Jason Hart for OKC’s career home runs record during the Bricktown era…Between his time with OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Michael Busch ranks second in the Minors with 117 runs scored, tied for third with 69 extra-base hits, fourth with 281 total bases and tied for fifth in the Minors with 107 RBI…Drew Avans is up to 39 stolen bases this season, which are fourth-most in a single season by an OKC player during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and the most since Esteban German recorded 50 steals in 2010. Avans ranks fourth among current PCL leaders in steals and Avans also ranks among the league’s top-six players in triples (1st, 12), runs (6th, 93) and OBP (6th, .378)…The Dodgers are 5-2 in their day games this month, with wins in three straight.
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