OKC Dodgers Game Notes – September 7, 2022
September 7, 2022 – Pacific Coast League (PCL) – Oklahoma City Dodgers News Release
Tacoma Rainiers (61-69) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (73-57)
Game #131 of 150/Home #68 of 75
Pitching Probables: TAC-RHP Konner Wade (4-6, 5.63) vs. OKC-RHP Gavin Stone (0-0, 0.00)
Wednesday, September 7, 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 and Tacoma Rainiers continue their series with a Wednesday matinee at 12:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark during ¡Celebración Cielo Azul!…The Dodgers lead the PCL East Division with a 73-57 record and have a 1.0-game lead ahead of second-place Round Rock and a 2.5-game lead ahead of third-place El Paso with 20 games remaining in the regular season, including eight at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
Last Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers fell behind early and were held scoreless after the second inning in an eventual 7-3 loss against the Tacoma Rainiers Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tacoma jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning, taking a lead the Rainiers would not relinquish. Mason McCoy hit a RBI double before another run scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 advantage. Jonathan Villar followed with a two-run homer for a four-run lead. The Dodgers responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning as Andy Burns connected on a RBI single and two more runs scored on a single by Drew Avans coupled with a Tacoma throwing error as OKC trimmed the lead to 4-3. Tacoma then broke open the game with three runs in the sixth inning, scoring a run on a passed ball and two more on a two-out double by Derek Hill for a 7-3 lead.
Today’s Probable Pitcher: Gavin Stone (0-0) is poised to make his first appearance at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and third overall start with OKC since joining the team in mid-August…Stone last pitched Aug. 31 in Round Rock, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings with two hits, three walks and seven strikeouts on 68 pitches. He has yet to allow a run with the Dodgers through his first 7.1 Triple-A innings, while holding opponents to two hits…Stone made his Triple-A debut in Game 1 of a doubleheader in Sugar Land Aug. 19 and did not allow a run or hit over 4.0 innings. He recorded four strikeouts and retired 11 of 15 batters overall with two walks and two hit batters…The Dodgers’ No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline was promoted from Double-A Tulsa in mid-August…Between his time with Tulsa, High-A Great Lakes and OKC, Stone currently ranks first overall among qualified pitchers in the full-season Minors with a 1.45 ERA. He also currently ranks second among Dodgers minor leaguers in strikeouts (146), WHIP (1.15) and BAA (.207)…Stone made 14 appearances (13 starts) with the Drillers, 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…He pitched the majority of his first pro season with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2021, being named Low-A West Pitcher of the Week twice, before a promotion to Great Lakes in August…Stone was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft from the University of Central Arkansas, becoming the program’s highest-drafted pitcher.
Against the Rainiers: 2022: 3-4 2021: N/A All-time: 54-54 At OKC: 32-20 The Dodgers and Rainiers meet for the second of their two series of 2022…The teams are playing for the first time at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark since the 2019 season, as they did not play each other in 2021 and played their most recent series in Tacoma in July…The teams split their July 12-17 series in Tacoma, 3-3, with the Dodgers winning the first two games before settling for a series split. OKC scored eight or more runs in each of their three wins and outscored Tacoma, 42-30…Drew Avans has 13 hits in seven games, while Jason Martin has nine RBI and two home runs…Tacoma was the only Triple-A West foe the Dodgers did not play during the 2021 season. The teams were originally scheduled to play in April 2021, but the games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rainiers went on to win the league title…When the teams last met as part of the 2019 schedule, the Dodgers swept a three-game set at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, outscoring the Rainiers, 23-9. Zach McKinstry had a monster series, going 9-for-11 three doubles and three home runs along with 10 RBI…OKC is 2-0-3 against the Rainiers in the last five season series and has not lost a series to Tacoma since the 2014 season (0-4 in Tacoma)…Tacoma manager Tim Federowicz played in 25 games with the OKC Dodgers last season while splitting time playing for the U.S. Olympic Team…Entering today, Tacoma has won back-to-back games against the Dodgers as well as four of the last five meetings between the teams. Last night snapped a five-game losing streak for the Rainiers in Bricktown, winning their first game in OKC since 2017.
Home Stretch: The Dodgers enter the final 20 games of the regular season having lost five of their last six games and with 2.5 games separating the top three teams in the PCL East Division. The Dodgers are still tied with West Division leader Reno for the best record in the league at 73-57 and the Dodgers have a league-leading 40-27 home record for their most home wins in a season since 2018 when they finished 41-29 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. However, the Dodgers are 17-26 at home against West Division opponents over the last two seasons, including 9-10 in 2022. Two of their three home series losses have been against teams from the West (Reno, Las Vegas)…The Dodgers had a 5.0-game lead in the East Division standings entering Aug. 31 but have seen that advantage evaporate to 1.0 game after going 1-5 while Round Rock has gone 5-1 during the same period.
Offensive Remarks: The Dodgers were held to three runs Tuesday, marking the third time in the last five games they have scored three runs or less. Over the five-game stretch, the Dodgers have scored 17 total runs and have batted .235 (38×162), with nine extra-base hits and two home runs – both solo homers. Including last night, the Dodgers have not collected an extra-base hit twice in the five games after they had just three games all season with no extra-base hits…Despite the recent slowdown, the Dodgers’ 817 runs scored this season are second-most in all of Triple-A. It’s the third time during the team’s Bricktown era they have scored at least 800 runs in one season and the first time since 2005.
Amayazing: Jake Amaya went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored a run last night. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 13-for-32 (.406) with two doubles, a triple, two homers, six RBI and 12 runs scored…Since his first game with OKC June 14, he leads the Dodgers and is second in the PCL with 42 walks. He has a combined 74 walks between OKC and Double-A Tulsa and his walk total ranks tied for fourth among Dodgers minor leaguers this season….In seven games against Tacoma this season, Amaya is 11-for-25 (.440).
Drew Point: Drew Avans finished last night’s game 2-for-4 with a walk and RBI after going 1-for-13 with eight strikeouts over his previous four games. Avans also recorded two stolen bases Tuesday for his sixth multi-steal game of 2022 and increasing his season total to 31 stolen bases – fifth most in the league. He has the most stolen bases in a season by a Dodgers player since Darnell Sweeney had 32 steals in 2015…He leads the league with 10 triples and ranks among league leaders with a .380 on-base percentage (seventh) and with 74 runs (ninth). Avans put together the league’s longest on-base streak since 2018, reaching base in 50 straight games June 11-Aug. 14 before sustaining an injury Aug. 16 at Sugar Land.
Big Game James: James Outman picked up a hit last night as he extended his on-base streak to 10 games – the longest active on-base streak by an OKC player and his second on-base streak of the season with OKC of 10 games or more…Over his last 12 games, Outman is 22-for-47 (.468) with 14 extra-base hits and 23 RBI, including two games where he hit for the cycle (Aug. 26 vs. El Paso and Aug. 30 at Round Rock)…Outman’s 23 RBI, .979 SLG, 1.488 OPS, 14 extra-base hits, 46 total bases and four triples lead all of the Minors since Aug. 23.
Walking Papers: The Dodgers drew six walks last night for their highest total in five games. OKC leads all of Triple-A this season with a team-record 644 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…The Dodgers have drawn 220 walks in the 40 games following the All-Star Break for an average of 5.5 per game, including 14 games with seven or more walks…The last PCL team with at least 644 walks in a season was Las Vegas with 650 walks in 2014 (144 games)…On the other hand, the Dodgers pitching staff allowed two walks Tuesday and have now allowed two walks in three of the last four games. OKC has allowed a team-record 626 walks this season – most in Triple-A. The previous record was 591, set in 2000.
Phys. Ed: Edwin Ríos had Tuesday night off, but on Sunday connected on a double and scored a run as each of his last three hits have gone for extra bases. On Saturday, he collected a double and homer – his fifth homer with OKC this season. 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.
J-Mart Special: Jason Martin leads the PCL with 30 home runs and 102 RBI. He is now just one of four players during OKC’s Bricktown Era (since 1998) with at least 30 home runs in one season and just one of three players to ever collect at least 100 RBI in a single season. However, he is the first player to reach both 30 homers and 100 RBI in the same season…He is tied for the second-most RBI in a single season by an OKC player (since 1998) and has the most RBI since Nate Gold compiled a team record 103 RBI in 2007. Martin has the most home runs by an OKC player since Edwin Ríos had 31 during the 2019 season…In addition to home runs and RBI, Martin also leads the PCL with 243 total bases and 57 extra-base hits. His 93 runs scored are second-most in the league, while his .937 OPS ranks third, his .566 SLG and 62 walks are fifth…Martin is one of 13 players in the Minors with 30 homers this season and currently ranks tied for sixth overall in RBI…However, Martin has been in a bit of a cold spell of late, going 2-for-16 over his last five games.
Rehab Report: Rehabbing Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers Danny Duffy and Tommy Kahnle both continued their Major League Rehab Assignments last night. Duffy made his third appearance and pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing three runs and two hits with one walk and two strikeouts. He faced five batters and threw 23 pitches (10 strikes). He is recovering from left flexor tendon surgery performed in the offseason…Kahnle appeared in his fifth game and needed just six pitches to retire the side in order in the seventh inning. He has been on the Los Angeles Dodgers Injured List since May 14 due to right forearm inflammation.
The Rundown: Yesterday marked the 13th time in the last 26 games the Dodgers allowed seven or more runs. Over those 26 games since Aug. 7, the Dodgers are 11-15 and have allowed 167 runs – tied for second-most in the PCL during that time…The Dodgers are now 21-19 since the All-Star Break. In the 21 wins, they’ve allowed a total of 76 runs (3.6 rpg). In the 19 losses, they’ve allowed 147 runs (7.7 rpg), with at least six runs in 13 of the 19 games…The Dodgers were victimized by a four-run second inning last night and have now allowed 45 innings this year of four-plus runs, with 25 of them occurring since July 1.
Around the Horn: The Dodgers are 11-10 in day games so far this season, including a win in their most recent day game Sunday in Round Rock. They are 6-4 at home when playing during the daytime this season…Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Michael Busch ranks second among all players in the Minors this season with 102 runs scored, while his 245 total bases are seventh…After going 4-for-45 with two outs over the previous five games combined, the Dodgers went 4-for-12 last night, including 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position. However, they did not put a runner in scoring position with less than two outs Tuesday…In games without Miguel Vargas this season, OKC is 6-11 and has batted .230 (130×566) with 78 runs scored (4.6 rpg)…The Dodgers struck out four times last night, marking their fewest strikeouts in a nine-inning game since June 15 at Reno (3).
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