OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 4, 2022
September 4, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Oklahoma City Dodgers (72-56) at Round Rock Express (71-57)
Game #129 of 150/Road #63 of 75
Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Michael Grove (0-3, 5.29)/RHP Andre Jackson (2-7, 5.27) vs. RR-RHP Cole Winn (8-5, 6.20)
Sunday September 4, 2022 | Dell Diamond | Round Rock, Texas | 1:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv
Today’s Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers close out their road series against the Round Rock Express looking to end a four-game losing streak at 1:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond in the final meeting between the PCL East Division foes this season…The second-place Express lead the series, 4-1, and now trails the first-place Dodgers by 1.0 game in the standings, while third-place El Paso is now 3.5 games behind OKC with 22 games remaining in the regular season.
Last Game: The Round Rock Express overcame deficits in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings to beat the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 8-7, in 11 innings Saturday night at Dell Diamond. The Dodgers took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Express scored the first run on a wild pitch before Sam Huff tied the game with a two-run single with two outs. James Outman put the Dodgers back in front with a two-run single in the 10th inning. The first two batters of the bottom of the 10th inning were retired before four straight Express batters reached base. After a single scored the automatic runner from the second base, three straight Express hitters drew walks to force in the tying run. The Dodgers scored one run in the top of the 11th inning before the Express scored twice to win the game in the bottom of the frame. After a RBI single by Huff tied the game, Davis Wendzel hit a chopper to the left side of the infield, allowing the winning run to score from third base when the Dodgers could not complete the play at the plate. OKC scored one run each in the fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth innings to build their lead. Round Rock’s only run through eight innings was on a homer by Huff in the sixth inning.
Today’s Probable Pitchers: Michael Grove (0-3) is scheduled to start this afternoon’s series finale…Grove is coming off a spot start for the Los Angeles Dodgers Aug. 29 at Miami. He allowed two runs and five hits over 4.2 innings with one walk and four strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision in LAD’s 3-2 win in 10 innings…Grove last pitched for OKC Aug. 23 against El Paso in OKC, throwing a career-high 6.0 innings, allowing one run and seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts. He did not receive a decision during OKC’s 7-3 loss in 10 innings…Over his last two outings with OKC, Grove has allowed one run with 16 strikeouts against one walk across 11.0 innings…Since the Al-Star Break, Grove has a 1.65 ERA with 34 strikeouts against four walks over 27.1 IP (6 R/5 ER). During that span he has posted a 0.88 WHIP and opponents have batted .202…Grove began the season with five starts with Double-A Tulsa and made the jump for a spot start with Los Angeles May 15 against Philadelphia to become the first Los Angeles Dodger to make his Major League debut straight from Double-A since relief pitcher Danny Coulombe in September 2014…He’s been recalled four times by Los Angeles and has made three appearances (two starts). He was most recently optioned to OKC Aug. 30…He was selected by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft from West Virginia University…Tonight is Grove’s third start of the season and second in the last month against the Express. He is 0-1 with a 1.04 ERA over 8.2 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits with four walks and nine strikeouts.
Andre Jackson (2-7) is scheduled to make his 21st appearance of the season and piggyback Grove’s start…Jackson started Tuesday’s series opener at Dell Diamond, allowing four runs and five hits over 4.0 innings with three walks and four strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC’s 17-8 win…During a start Aug. 2 in Salt Lake, Jackson matched his career high with 10 strikeouts over 5.0 scoreless innings, recording his third career double-digit strikeout game and his first since June 10, 2019 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga against Inland Empire…The Dodgers are 8-12 in his starts this season, with wins in five of seven. During that time, Jackson has posted a 3.86 ERA and held opponents to a .225 batting average over 30.1 IP…Jackson was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of the University of Utah and made his Major League debut last season…Tonight is Jackson’s sixth appearance against the Express this season. So far he is 0-3 with a 9.18 ERA over 16.2 innings against Round Rock with 16 walks and 13 strikeouts.
Against the Express: 2022: 15-14 2021: 16-13 All-time: 161-135 At RR: 86-68 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…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 has won nine of the last 13 games and is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings, with half of those wins in games they trailed in the seventh inning or later…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. Prior to this Tuesday, the Dodgers had won four consecutive series at Dell Diamond, going 17-7.
Close Calls: The last four losses for the Dodgers have been by a combined five runs, as Saturday’s defeat joined a 7-6 loss Wednesday, 2-0 rain-shortened loss Thursday and a 3-2 loss Friday. The Express have notched three last at-bat wins over the four games. Saturday marked the seventh walk-off loss for OKC overall, including the second straight as the Express won Friday night’s game via a walk-off home run…The Dodgers had lost just three games all season when allowing three or fewer runs (40-3) before it happened both Thursday and Friday.
Extra Charge: With Saturday night’s loss in 11 innings, the Dodgers dropped to 3-6 in extra innings this season with losses in four straight. In each of their last three games in extra innings on the road, they have taken a multiple-run lead in the 10th inning before losing…Last night marked OKC’s first game to go past 10 innings since a 5-4 win in Sugar Land June 28, 2021 that was also decided in 11 innings…The Dodgers are now 5-11 in extra innings over the last two seasons.
Amayazing: Jake Amaya finished with a team-high three hits Saturday, going 3-for-5 with a game-high three runs scored on his 24th birthday. He extended his current hitting streak to seven games, going 11-for-26, and his current on-base streak to eight games. Over the last six games, Amaya is 10-for-22 with five extra-base hits, four RBI and nine runs scored…Since his first game with OKC June 14, he leads the Dodgers and is second in the PCL with 41 walks. He has a combined 73 walks between OKC and Double-A Tulsa and his walk total ranks fifth among Dodgers minor leaguers this season…Amaya has hit two home runs in his last six games and is up to 14 homers between OKC and Tulsa, setting a career high.
Walking Papers: Entering Thursday, the Dodgers had drawn at least five walks in 10 straight games, totaling 63 walks during the time. Since then, the Dodgers have drawn a total of five walks over the last three games after not drawing a walk Thursday, two on Friday and three last night. It is the fewest walks OKC has had over a three-game span since July 15-17 in Tacoma when the team also drew five total walks…The Dodgers lead all of Triple-A this season with a team record 634 walks during the Bricktown era (since 1998) and the total ranks third in the Minors overall. As a result, OKC also leads all Triple-A teams with a .369 OBP – third among full-season teams in the Minors…Even though OKC has had just five walks over the last three games, the Dodgers have drawn 210 walks in the 38 games following the All-Star Break for an average of 5.53 per game, including 14 games with seven or more walks…The last PCL team with at least 634 walks in a season was Salt Lake (637) during the 140-game 2019 season and the last team with more walks than that was Las Vegas in 2014 (650)…On the other hand, the Dodgers pitching staff allowed 12 walks Saturday night, including six walks in the ninth through 11th innings. The 12-walk total is one shy of the team’s season-high and team-record mark of 13 Aug. 19 in Sugar Land, and it was the ninth game of the season with 10 or more walks allowed. OKC has allowed a team-record 622 total walks – most in Triple-A this season. The previous record was 591, set in 2000.
Phys. Ed: Edwin Ríos went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, two RBI and two runs scored last night. He connected on his fifth home run with Oklahoma City to break a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, notched a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and doubled in the 10th inning…The home run was the 55th of Ríos’ career with OKC, moving him into a tie with Jason Botts and O’Koyea Dickson for third place on the team’s career home run list during the Bricktown era (since 1998). He is also tied with Dickson for the most home runs during the team’s Dodgers affiliation.
Rehab Report: Rehabbing Los Angeles Dodgers relievers Tommy Kahnle and Danny Duffy each pitched one inning Saturday. Kahnle retired three of four batters faced in the sixth inning but allowed a home run. He threw 11 pitches with eight strikes. Duffy navigated a jam in the seventh inning to protect a one-run lead. After the first two batters reached base, he induced a force out, strikeout and a groundout to end the inning. Duffy threw 17 pitches, with eight strikes.
Loose Grip: After the Dodgers allowed just one run on a solo homer by Round Rock through eight innings, the OKC bullpen allowed seven runs, four hits and six walks in the ninth through 11th innings last night, including four runs with two outs between the ninth and 10th innings. The bullpen was charged with three blown saves and now has 13 blown saves in the last 25 games – most in the Minors since Aug. 6 and more than double any other team in the PCL during that time…In the last 23 games, the Dodgers have eight losses when leading in the seventh inning or later, including two during the current series. In the last 17 games, they’ve fell five times when leading in the eighth inning or later, including in four of the team’s last 11 road games.
Big Game James: James Outman picked up a hit and two RBI last night and is on an eight-game on-base streak. Over his last 10 games, Outman is 19-for-39 (.487) with 13 extra-base hits and 22 RBI, including two games where he hit for the cycle (Aug. 26 vs. El Paso and Aug. 30 at Round Rock)…Outman’s 22 RBI, 1.077 SLG, 1.610 OPS, 13 extra-base hits, 42 total bases and four triples leads all of the Minors since Aug. 23.
Buschwacked: Michael Busch went 2-for-5 and scored a run last night, and in his last six games against Round Rock is 11-for-27 with two homers and nine RBI. On Friday, he hit a game-tying homer in the ninth inning for his 17th home run with OKC and 28th homer overall this season…Among Dodgers minor leaguers, Busch ranks first with 242 total bases and 101 runs scored, while he ranks tied for first with 57 extra-base hits and is second with both 28 homers and 129 hits…His 101 total runs are tied for second-most among all players in the Minors this season.
Around the Horn: OKC has homered in seven of the last eight games, totaling 14 homers. The output immediately follows a stretch in which OKC hit just 14 home runs over a 16-game span, including nine games without a homer…In games without Miguel Vargas this season, OKC is 5-10 and has batted .228 (114×500) with 70 runs scored (4.7 rpg)…The Dodgers are trying to avoid a fifth straight loss for the second time this season. They had a season-high stretch of six straight losses Aug. 6-12…Since July 1, the Dodgers are 10-16 on the road. Over their last 13 road games, the team is 4-9 with five walk-off losses and seven last-at bat losses. Entering today, the Dodgers have lost five consecutive road series finales.
• 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.
